Imbolc is observed on 1st February (in the Northern hemisphere) and is a celebration of balance; a gentle transition from winter to spring, midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Imbolc is a fire festival, which pays homage to the sun's return. It is a time for cleansing and purification, to release what we do not wish to carry forwards, to reflect on the past and let go, honouring and healing. We pause in contemplation and appreciation of past achievements and inner growth, present in this moment between the frozen chill of winter and budding spring energies; a moment pregnant with possibility, as Imbolc means 'in the belly'. We tune into life beneath the cold earth, getting ready to burst outwards with the sprouting of new hopes.

Like the seed which lies underneath the snow, we are in preparation for what is yet to come. We are well rested, having nourished and nurtured our creative spark and are readying ourselves to bring our light into the world. We embrace the freshness of new ideas as the earth reawakens and our energetic flame reignites. Our aspirations emerge from the darkness, our potential begins to unfold. We may ask, what will make my heart sing, moving forwards? We shift from the stillness, as new growth pushes through the melting ice. We give gratititude for the promise of new life, as harsh winter recedes.

This sabbat is associated with Brigid, the Celtic goddess of the warmth of hearth and home, of fertility and renewal. She is the imminent growing light as tender new buds push upwards through the soil. She is the fire, a burning flame, returning vitality and vibrancy to the Earth. She embodies pure illumination and may be depicted with a radiant glow of both sunlight and winter warmth.

Snowdrops and other white flowers adorn the Imbolc altar, representing the freshness and clarity of new beginnings. Green, newly budding spring plants in pots and bowls of seeds symbolise life emerging from the frost as Earth awakens from slumber and the stirring of new ideas beneath the surface. Sun symbols and lit candles can be placed to honour the hope we feel in the returning of the light and the sun's strengthening power. Green, white and soft spring hues are appropriate colours to work with on our altars. Bowls of snow may be placed too, symbolising  purity. We can call upon the goddess by adding Brigid corn dolls and Brigid crosses, invoking her blessing and her powers of illumination and rebirth as she chases away the coldness.

Imbolc invites us to journal on our intentions for the coming year and to engage in simple cleansing rituals for releasing what no longer serves us. It is the perfect opportunity to align softly with the cycles of life and the rhythms of nature, fostering a quiet and restful connection. In gratitude for the peacefulness of the season, we are encouraged to begin to tune into the excitement of our forthcoming rejuvenation, feeling inspired and embracing this new beginning with positivity, feeling alive and ready for our next chapter.

Imbolc affirmation...'My soul is refreshed and renewed with signs of the returning sun'. 

Ostara celebrates the vernal equinox on 21st March (in the Northern hemisphere) and a balance between the light and the dark, the sun and the moon. Days and nights are of equal length, masculine and feminine energies are in harmony. The lighter days bring feelings of optimism.

The Earth has reawakened and is now beginning to bloom along with the promise of new beginnings, growth and adundance. We find our inner equilibrium here and align with the changing of the seasons. We begin to reap the benefits of what we wished to manifest as we move towards brighter days. This is a new dawn and a resurgence of life.

This sabbat is associated with the goddess Eostre (from where we derive the word, Easter), who is symbolic of rebirth, renewal, fertility and new life. Hares and rabbits are also common and are seen as messengers between our world and the realm of the goddess, announcing that spring has arrived. 

The Ostara altar is laiden with spring flowers such as the daffodil, crocus and tulip and vibrant greenery represents the potential for abundance. This sabbat calls for soft, pastel colours in blues and lilacs, delicate pinks and yellows. As this is a solar festival, sun symbols are appropriate but also those of the moon to symbolise harmony and divine feminine energy.  Add figurines of rabbits and hares, lambs, birds in nests and decorated eggs. Include butterflies and faeries for transformation and leave them an offering of honey. Seeds in pots and herbs such as lavender can also be placed on the altar. Crystals such as aquamarine and amethyst will reflect spring colours and black and white candles can represent the balance of fading darkness and growing sunlight.

We are invited to visualise our intentions (set during Yule and Imbolc) taking root and coming into fruition. Plant seeds, holding our new goals in our mind as we water them and nuture the baby plants. This is a time to find our inner balance as we paint eggs in pastel colours and take mindful nature walks, noticing the signs of spring now emerging. Cultivate a sense of vitality, creativity and playfulness. Freshen up your home by decluttering. Rejoice in the new ideas that begin to take shape.

Ostara affirmation...'With balance in my heart, my ideas now blossom into reality'.

Beltane is a sacred festival celebrated on 1st May (in the Northern hemisphere) signifying the beginning of summer. It falls halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. Beltane means 'bright fire' and honours the blossoming of nature. The Earth has been reborn and blooms in fullness. As earth and sun reunite, we celebrate their power to rejuvenate the land.

This is a time for merriment, bonfires and feasts. Celebrations include dancing around the maypole, lighting fires and coming together to enjoy nature's bounty. We rejoice in the pure ecstasy of our existence. The natural world is at it's peak. The veil between the human world and the realm of faeries and nature spirits is thinnest now and these beings are believed to be at their most active. The world is rich with their magick and all things are possible. The Earth is wide awake and sweetness of life surrounds us.

This festival honours the sacred union bewtween the God (often referred to as the Greenman, Herne or Cernunnos) and the maiden Goddess as they bless the land with life, beauty and divine masculinity and femininity. It is therefore symbolic of love, passion, fertility and sexuality and is the perfect time for weddings and handfasting ceremonies (the Celtic binding of hands for commitment). It is also about cultivating our wider relationships, community gatherings and self love rituals.

The Beltane altar is a joy to behold! Adorn it with flowers of every kind in the brightest colours. Add fresh, wild, vibrant greenery. Place ripe, seasonal fruits for Mother Earth's abundance. Leave offerings for the Fae - honey or something sweet is preferred. Make a flower wreath or garland, interwoven with coloured ribbons to place on the altar and honour Flora, the goddess of flowers. Glowing candles, sun symbols, a cornucopia and sculptures of the Greenman are appropriate. Colours include all the hues of the rainbow - yellow for the sun, red for passion, green for growth and purple for our illumination.

We are invited to make wishes to the Fae and see our dreams as fully manifested. Immerse ourselves in nature, engaging all of our senses; smell the roses, dance in the sunlight, frolick in the fields and sing freely to the trees. Make flower crowns and woven bracelets to wear. Attend maypole gatherings. Engage in love making. Listen to our bodies, practicing love and kindness towards oursleves. The time has come for the birthing of our creativity and ideas. We may ask, what do I most value in my heart now and how may I align with this? Symbolically burn any negativity in the flames of cauldron fire rituals and speak your dreams aloud.

Beltane affirmation...'I welcome abundance into my life and now I thrive'.

Litha is a summer celebration which falls on 21st June (in the Northern hemisphere) on the summer solstice. This is the longest day of the year and Litha literally means 'Midsummer'. It is a pivotal day where the sun is at it's peak power. Nature is flourishing in the full glory of the light.

This is a time of high energy, positivity, strength, empowerment and joy, a vibrant celebration of fire and the sun as the source of life. A turning point in the year, the cosmos is in balance and the Holly King surrenders his rule to the Oak King who will now take over until Yule and the winter solstice. This represents the dual nature of the sun's cyclical journey in the heavens, as the light from here on begins to slowly wane.

Magic is in it's potency here and this is a good time to meditate, connecting with spirit guides and the realms of the Fae, seeking mystical encounters. Uniting with these energies makes us an unstoppable force as we recognise that we are in our own inner power, shining brightly. This is the expansion of our soul. The sun's vibrancy brings healing to all aspects of our being as we give thanks for the revitalisation of the Earth. We may ask, what aspects of our lives do we want to bring light to in the coming months?

Litha altars come alive with bright greens, yellows, reds, oranges and golds and are adorned with sunflowers and daisies. Symbols of life such as the Spiral goddess (the divine feminine Earth Mother) and the Greenman (for rebirth and growth) are highly appropriate. Make a sun wheel and add crystals such as sunstone or citrine. Pay homage to the abundance of the seasons with vegetables, fruits, berries and honey. Yellow and blue candles will represent the sun's radiating strength and the clarity, purity and tranquility of the summer sky. 

We are invited to connect with the summer's prosperity by taking walks at dawn to greet the sunsrise or picnics with loved ones, pausing to breathe the freshness of the air and basking in the light. Create floral garlands, build bonfires to honour the sun's peak, visit a sunflower field and plant sunflower seeds. Make sun tea by infusing lemon and herbal bevarages with the sun's vitality. Add lavender and cammomile to rituals to soothe the summer's heat and drink seasonal fruit punches for coolness.

Litha affirmation...'I am bathed in radiant light, knowing this will sustain me in the months ahead'.

Lammas is celebrated on 1st of  August (in the Northern hemisphere), halfway betweeen the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. It is the first of three harvests and is associated with the abundance of the year's crops. 

We now reap what we have sown and show our appreciation for the gifts of the land. This is a time for celebrating life and the Earth's cycles by attending community feasts and helping each other prepare for the winter.  In this way, we acknowledge the interconnectedness between humans and nature. We honour with gratitude, the warmth, energy, power, growth and overflowing abundance that we have experienced during the summer months. 

The word Lammas means 'loaf mass' and describes the first loaves of the season. This festival is also known as Lughnasadh after the celtic god Lugh, a god of harvests and skilled craftmanship. It aligns with the gathering of the harvest with hopes for a good crop or preparing to supplement the winter stores if needed.

A Lammas altar is abundant in bread, grains and corn. Golden yellows, oranges, reds and greens are the colours associated with this sabbat. Corn dolls and harvest symbols, such as scythes and sickles may be placed upon the altar, along with nuts and acorns, apples and summer berries, sheaves of wheat, dried flowers and seasonal vegetables. Much like Litha, sunflowers and orange florals are abundant on the Lammas altar, reminding us to be grateful of the sunlight and nature's bounty.

We are invited at Lammas to bake fresh bread, collect seeds, preserve fruits, make jams and enjoy home grown foods. Burn bonfires and feast with friends. Engage in traditional woodland crafts and share the gifts you have made. This is a good time for journalling and contemplation as we ask ourselves, what has grown within us that is now ripe for the picking? What am I harvesting this year? We may now reap the rewards of the seeds we planted within ourselves.

Litha affirmation...'With gratitude, I now connect to that which gives me sustenance'. 

Mabon is the second of the harvests, celebrated on 21st of September (in the Northern hemisphere) on the autumn equinox and is a midpoint between the summer and the winter solstices. This is a shift in the season and a preparation for for the cold and dark winter months ahead. We finish gathering the harvest and begin to settle down to a slower pace of life.

The waning sun goes into her resting phase now and night will continue to grow until Yule. This is the perfect time for drying flowers, preserving the harvested foods of the summer, eating rich, hearty, warming stews with pumpkins and feasting with loved ones. We remember our blessings, pausing to appreciate the fruitfulness of the summer.  Here, we shift our energies from an outward to an inner focus and a time to cultivate self reflective practices. 

Mabon means 'son of the Mother goddess'; a divine youth who triumphed over darkness and represented the equal balance of day and night at this time of year. This assists us in striving for balance in our own lives, as both light and dark are needed for wholeness. 

Mabon altars are filled with root vegetables such as guords and squashes, sunflowers, dried flowers and seed pods, acorns and oak leaves. Adorned with warm autumnal colours in reds, oranges, bronzes and browns as well as darker greens and purples, dried fruits, pomegranates, berries, pears and apples may also be added. Using apples in rituals adds power, as when cut in two, these contain the sacred symbol of the pentacle. This five pointed star is symbolic of the balance of earth, air, fire, water and the spirit within. We may also place on the altar, Earth symbols, yin and yang symbols for balance, baskets of fallen leaves, glowing candles, ears of corn and corn dolls.

Mabon invites us to embrace the change by reflecting on the past year, perhaps creating a gratitude journal of the summer's abundance. We are invited to honour our shadow side and emotions, holding a candle to light the darkness and asking, what hides within us that we can bring illumination to? Here, we sit in the reflective silence and begin to set our winter intentions, preparing for a gestational growth by planting the seeds of new ideas. 

Mabon affirmation...'I prepare for my deepest nourishment until new life is restored to me'.

A powerful sabbat for the beginning of winter, Samhain is the final harvest and the Celtic new year and is celebrated on 31st of October (in the Northern hemisphere). Summer is over, the harvest is complete and we embrace the darkness that is now upon us. 

A liminal time, this is when the veil between the earthly and spirit worlds is at it's thinnest, allowing dearly departed souls to visit and impart their guidance. We remember our ancestors and honour them by placing their photographs on our altars, sharing stories of their lives, leaving food offerings and lighting candles to guide them home.

Samhain altars are symbolically rich with death and rebirth items, including crystal skulls, bones, smoking cauldrons, scrying and divination tools, alongside root vegetables, apples and autumnal flowers. Figures of witches' familiars may also be added (supernatural and animal companions, such as cats, crows and toads) to assist with magical workings. Black crystals, such as obsidian, are appropriate to work with. Colours are rich, deep and dark and include black, purple, burgundy and dark green alongside the harvest shades of orange and gold. 

The most common item associated with this sabbat is the carved pumpkin. Traditionally, this was a turnip, carved with a grotesque face and placed in windows in order to ward off harmful spirits that may attempt to visit. The pumpkin is also a longevity food, known for it's sustenance through the winter and providing nourishment in soups, stews, stocks and pies, sweet treats made with pumpkin flesh, pumpkin puree and toasted pumpkin seeds.

We are invited to embrace moody lighting, bob for apples, build bonfires to chase away mischievous spirits and honour Hecate, the crone goddess of magic, witchcraft, the supernatural and the night. This is a major time for a symbolic death of all that no longer serves us and we may engage in releasing rituals, writing lists of that which we wish to let go of and burning them in the cauldron at midnight. Herbs such as mugwort and wormwood may be added to our rituals for heightened magical power. At this time, we work mainly with themes of death, the underworld, transition and ultimately, rebirth as we cleanse our sacred space and make way for brand new intentions.

Samhain affirmation...'I release what no longer serves me and connect to my magical power within'.

Yule (or Yuletide) is the winter solstice celebration which takes place on 21st December (in the Northern hemisphere). This sabbat honours the longest night of the year and the triumph of light over darkness. It is an ancient festival of gathering together for feasts, winter story telling, wassailing (singing, dancing and blessing the orchards) and exchanging gifts. As the sun begins it's long journey back, we honour the season with a sense of joy.

This is the perfect time of year to practice grounding and for working with crystals such as black obsidian, smokey quartz and gold pyrite. We may use smoke cleansing as a way to create an energetic fresh slate, then looking forwards, set our intentions for the coming year. Resting is key as well as consuming warming and seasonal foods such as dried fruits, spiced cider, fruit puddings and gingerbread. Make hearty meals to feel comforted and nourished. Create simmer pots with Yule herbs and spices such as cinnamon, star anise and pine to fill the home with the scent of the season.

On the Yule altar, we place winter foilage, bringing nature inside to remind us that life will renew again. Include evergreens to symbolise endurance, resilience and adaptability, holly and mistletoe, berries, ivy garlands, pine cones and orange slices. Further decorate with robins, stags and bells. Yule trees are traditional and represent the tree of life as well as wreaths placed on the front door for winter protection. Add symbols of the Holly King (who now rules) and the Oak King, the Greenman (or horned god) and pillar candles in the Yule colours of red, green and gold. Alternatively, we may opt for blues, whites and silvers to reflect snowy landscapes and winter's simplicity and place bowls of snow or symbols of snowflakes upon our altar. A traditional wooden Yule log can be placed in the home, holding candles to represent the sun's long path of return. Both candles and fairy lights illuminate the shortest day of the year, bringing hope for renewal.

Yule is inviting us to be at one with the season, creating a warm and cosy atmosphere and engaging in rest and reflection. We hibernate and find peace in a slower pace. It is a time for recharging our energies, biding our time and waiting for longer, brighter days to come. We may engage in shadow work, create reflective journals or simply meditate on the past year. We may ask, what can I do to love and rejuvenate myself? How may I embody this time of stillness? What can I accept in this moment?

Yule affirmation...'I allow myself to align with the season, nurturing and nourishing myself fully'.