A History of Festivals

Yule festival is an indigenous winter festival celebrated by the Germanic peoples. It was an important holiday celebrating the longest night of the year and what it represented – the return of the sun towards the earth. The festival celebrated the eventual return of spring, life, and fertility. 

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In some traditions of Wicca and Paganism, the Yule celebration comes from the Celtic legend of the battle between the young Oak King and the Holly King. The Oak King, representing the light of the new year, tries each year to usurp the old Holly King, who is the symbol of darkness.

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To celebrate Yule festival, you can decorate your home with evergreens such as holly, ivy, and mistletoe. You can also light candles or a fire in your fireplace to represent light and warmth during this dark time of year. You can also exchange gifts with your loved ones as a way to celebrate life and love.

Imbolc is a pagan festival celebrated from February 1 through sundown February 2. It was originally a pagan festival associated with the lambing season and the goddess Brigid. Historians suggest that the saint and her feast day are Christianisation of these . Imbolc was meant to mark the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox in Neolithic Ireland and Scotland.

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The holiday is celebrated by Wiccans and other practitioners of neopagan or pagan-influenced religions.

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Here are some ways to celebrate Imbolc:

• Spring clean your house

• Clear your home of any objects that you are not happy with

• Plant seeds

• Make a Brigid cross out of leftover dead reeds from your garden or by rivers or fields

• Connect with nature by going for a walk 

• Share your celebration with others

• Light candles or a bonfire to welcome the approaching spring equinox

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Ostara is a pagan festival that celebrates the spring equinox and honours the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre. It is celebrated around March 19-23. The festival represents new beginnings and signifies a period of creativity and imagination as days become longer.

The holiday gets its name from the Germanic lunar goddess Ostara also called Eoster. She is the goddess of spring and dawn and the goddess of fertility. Modern-day pagans celebrate Ostara as part of the eight sabbats.

Some of the rituals associated with Ostara include decorating an altar using flowers, eggs, rabbits, and birds. Painting decorative eggs is also a popular tradition that originated as a way to celebrate Ostara.

Beltane festival is a Gaelic May Day festival celebrated on the first day of May in Ireland and Scotland. It celebrates the beginning of summer and open pasturing. Beltane falls midway between the spring equinox and summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. 

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To celebrate Beltane festival, you can light a bonfire to represent the return of life and fertility. You can also decorate your home with flowers such as primrose, hawthorn, and gorse. You can also dance around the Maypole which is a tall pole decorated with flowers and ribbons. 

Litha festival, also known as Midsummer, is a widely-observed pagan celebration that many historians believe has been practiced for thousands of years. It is a festival dedicated to the life-giving, regenerative powers of the sun. Litha is one of four Celtic fire festivals and celebrates the sun. 

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To celebrate Litha festival, you can decorate your home with flowers such as roses, daisies, and honeysuckles. You can also light a bonfire to represent the sun's power and energy. You can also make a flower crown or wreath to wear during the celebration. 

Lammas, also called Lughnasadh (pronounced loo'nass'ah), comes at the beginning of August. It is one of the Pagan festivals of Celtic origin which split the year into four. Celts held the festival of the Irish god Lugh at this time and later, the Anglo-Saxons marked the festival of hlaefmass - loaf mass or Lammas - at this time. By celebrating Lammas as a harvest holiday, we honour our ancestors and the hard work they must have had to do in order to survive.

This is a good time to give thanks for the abundance we have in our lives, and to be grateful for the food on our tables.

Lammas is a time of transformation, of rebirth and new beginnings.

Celebrate it by making a corn dolly, cooking a special meal for your loved ones and light gold, yellow, brown and orange candles to represent the changing of the earth from summer to autumn.

Mabon is a pagan holiday which celebrates the Autumnal equinox. It marks the first day of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere or the moment when the Sun is exactly above the Equator, meaning day and night are of equal length.

Mabon represents the second time of the year where the masculine and feminine energies are in balance, on the edge of the return of darkness. It is a time for reflection on the year’s growth, going back to the intentions of Imbolc and reviewing the ways they manifested during the year. Mabon is also known as "the pagan Thanksgiving" and is a celebration of the second harvest (Lughnasadh was the first) when farmers gathered hearty foods like gourds, pumpkins, grapes and apples.

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Celebrate Mabon by creating a cornucopia in a wicker basket filled with fruits, nuts, corn and grains. Cook a meal for your loved ones with the produce you have grown yourself. Clear your home of any unwanted items and prepare for winter.

Samhain (pronounced 'sow'inn') is a very important date in the Pagan calendar for it marks the Feast of the Dead. Many Pagans also celebrate it as the old Celtic New Year (although some mark this at Imbolc). It is also celebrated by non-Pagans who call this festival Halloween.

Samhain has been celebrated in Britain for centuries and has its origin in Pagan Celtic traditions. It was the time of year when the veils between this world and the Otherworld were believed to be at their thinnest: when the spirits of the dead could most readily mingle with the living once again.

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Celebrate Samhain by carving pumpkins and turnips. Lay an extra place at your table with food and drink for those loved ones you are remembering and invite them to be with you. Harvest your herb garden as it is bad luck to leave crops out past this time and may result in a poor harvest next year.