Our myths tell us the story of how the world came to be - yet this is also a tale that the seasons write upon the earth and the sky every year. It is this wheel of loving and becoming that we work throughout the sabbats and the ezbats.
- At Yule, the God is reborn as the Light from the dark womb of the Great Mother. He is the light of hope within the darkness of despair - and the spark of awareness within the enfolding sleep of matter. She is the darkness of Winter and withdrawal, and yet she holds Herself full with the promise She has nurtured throughout the previous year.
- At Imbolg the light of the God has started to grow, yet He is still only a cold light within the enfolding greyness. But, in this coldest of months, life starts to stir in readiness for the spring to come - and so we remember the Goddess as threefold: Maid, Mother and Crone, and we celebrate as Diana reclaims both Her power and Her independence and becomes Maiden once more.
- Spring Equinox marks the equal point between the lengthening day and shortening night - and the strengthening light and vigour of both the Sun and the natural world. Within this dynamic balance we are reminded of the Wheel from which we are all spun - and the God becomes the priapic Pan who is the hub about which all revolves.
- This Sexual drive reaches its peak at Beltane. Both God and Goddess have come into the full flower of their youth and sexuality: the Goddess as Queen, and the God as King. They dance the chase of love as each recognises their equal - yet both also surrender to the passion that will be the source of all life for the rest of the year…
- Midsummer, and the Sun is crowned King at the height of His power whilst The Goddess swells with life and promise - the Sun's other self who will be born at the next Yule. They are the Emperor and Empress: rich and full and overflowing with splendour.
- Lammas, and the God has matured with the wisdom of rule. He realises that all power must come at a price - and so sacrifices Himself so that His people may survive the rigours of the winter. But this is already His second encounter with sacrifice: the sexual union of Beltane contains within it the sacrifice of the God's seed to the Great Mother, a reflection of the greater sacrifice He now makes.
- Autumn Equinox is the second balance point as we move into darkness. As the wheel dips, it reveals a mystery as the God journeys towards his second kingship as Lord of Death - knowing that beyond it lies rebirth.
- Samhein sees the end of His Journey - and the return of both His throne and His Queen. He is Hades, She is Persephone - and together they are the parents of matter from which we all will arise...
Within the wheel of the year is the drama of our own lives, writ large. We learn of the nature of sacrifice, and the meaning of power - the value of love and surrender, and the necessity of balance. We are taught how our own lives are interwoven with those whom we love - and how none of us can ever be alone.
We learn that for a wheel to turn it needs both rim and hub, and spokes to brace between them. A surface that is strong enough to endure the stones and potholes of life's pathway, and a centre that is still and whole so that all else can revolve around it.
And we learn that enlightenment is gained only from living - fully, freely and with love for all.