Heathens, Pagans and Witches discussion

Everyone celebrates different events at different times, so I was wondering which festivals members personally follow.

Personally, I acknowledge the four fire festivals and the two solstices.

What about othere members? What calendar events do you celebrate?

We tend to follow the eight seasonal festivals - four fire, two solstice and two equinox. It seems that different tribes of Celts on different geographic regions celebrated different festivals. Some 4, some 6 and some the full 8.

Another fascinating festival related question arises. Over the years we all build up personal meanings with the festivals - which means the most to you and why?

For me, it is probably Beltane (May Eve/Day) as many of the most important and wonderful things in my life started at this time! :)

Anyone else?

I mark the 8 traditional holidays of the Wheel of the Year, along with several specific Egyptian calendar holidays. The ancient Egyptian calendar is very different than the one we are used to, and matches its festivals to the inundation of the Nile, so it's a little tricky to translate sometimes.

I celebrate Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh. The most important one for me is Samhain.

I celebrate the solstices and the equinoxes. I've always liked the winter solstice best. I don't know why.

In response to Gary's question about which festival means the most to me and why, I'd have to say it's Samhain, which happens to coincide with the Feast of Sekhmet and Bast. I've always felt a strong connection to the days when the veil is thinnest between the worlds.

I also follow the solstices and equinoxes, but I LOVE Beltane and Samhain. Oh who am I kidding I love a part of each of them. And as for the why of it, I tend of have personal reasons or experiences.

I hold the Vernal Equinox (Ostara), Summer Solstice(Midsummer Night's Eve), the Atumnal Equinox (Mabon), & Winter Solstice (Yule) dear, but have the strongest connection to Samhain as I am sensitive to the thinning of the veil. I celebrate these days as they are days of interconnectedness.

I think I'm fondest of Yule, because the lights and candles add so much sparkle to what might otherwise be a dreary time of year. But I'm also fond of Samhain for the same reason. And Beltaine comes right after tax season, when I really, really need rebalancing.

I follow the main 8, plus a few deity specific holidays, such as the Feast of Epona and Festival of Epona, Feast of Rhiannon, Mannannan Mac Lir, Saturnalia, Lupercalia, and a couple of others. .

I like them all. It's the fire I love most of all. Candle or raging bonfire.

Agreed. Anything to do with the fire festivals or the summer solstice I'll deffiantly love love love.

Regarding pagan holidays, I just thought I'd suggest a website I use quite often. It's http://pagancalendar.co.uk/ and you can specify your time zone to customize it. I've gone as far as to format it into .pdf and have it professionally printed. I hope you like it!

I checked out the website that William posted. It is indeed very nice. I couldn't find Boston, though New York is close enough. Maybe I just missed it. Thanks for this. I'm always looking for the moon times, and this has it.

The list of cities is short...I had to use Los Angeles, since neither Sacramento nor San Francisco is on the list. I was disappointed that I could not easily convert the icals to forms that I can read on my Palm. I'll go back and figure that one out later.

Here's another good site for festival dates and times: http://www.archaeoastronomy.com/

A few years ago I was working on a calendar project and got a lot of help from NASA's websites. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/phase/ph...

I/we celebrate the the quarters, cross-quarters, and 12th night. I like all of them for different reasons, but I guess I enjoy yule most of all.

I feel that different times of the year are important to different people. One date in the year may evoke strong fellings and provide genuine workable energys in one person and may mean nothing to another.I feel that Samhain, Yule,Imbolic, Ostara,Bealtaine, Litha Lughnasadh, Mabon and the phases of the moon depending on the energy that is intended to be generated are important to me because i have always celebrated these times of year and held them sacred. I enjoy Samhain most of all, it is the most fun time of year, the good feeling in the air is different that anyother time. Although it can be said that each of the sabbaths have a different feel to them but Samhain i always my favourite :D

I celebrate all 8 but my favorite one is Mabon. I think I just love that time of year and I love all of the farmer's markets and things that go on (at least in most of ohio). This fall fest feeling (wow alleteration!) bleeds into Samhain, which is my favorite holiday (halloween).

I celebrate both the Northern Hemisphere and the southern hemisphere traditional holidays (its a party all yaer round!!!lol). Seriously, i celebrate Northern Hemisphere solstices and the equinoxes, due to the fact that they are quite close to your mainstream holidays(christmas, halloween, easter etc.) and as my family don't know about my beliefs, this is the perfect way to celebrate with family. for the southern hemishpere i have a private observation. mainly consisting of sitting and reflecting on the meaning of that particular holiday. my favourites are Yule and Samhain. I just love the opposites of them. and the energy that surrounds those holidays is peaceful, and homely like...i love it!

i've provided a link that shows the differences in the wheel of the year.
http://www.themodernwitch.com/timings...