The calendar of festivals was originally created by an agrarian culture to mark the times of planting and reaping, as well as to mark the passage of the sun which so influenced the crops.  It is natural, therefore, that this symbology would be intricately interwoven into the Cycle of the Wheel.  However, it is important to remember that the Cycle of the Year Wheel is primarily a reflection of ourselves through the eyes of myth, and all the symbology of the Wheel is directly applicable to our own internal environment and cycles.

    The cycle of the sabbats is divided into four minor celebrations on the solstices and equinoxes, and four major celebrations on the "cross-quarter" days.  These occur literally at the cross-quarters of the Year Wheel, midway between solstice and equinox and at 15 degrees of the corresponding astrological sign.  The date of the major sabbats usually don't correspond exactly with the "traditional" Gregorian date, but we feel the symbology of the cross-quarter day counterbalances any incongruity with the common calendar.

    The Wiccan year typically begins at Samhain (pronounced sou-van), which roughly corresponds to Hallowe'en, but falls on 15 degrees of Scorpio. This is one of the most sacred days of the year for a Wiccan, and also the most misunderstood. The Veil between the worlds of form and Spirit are especially thin at this time of year, and communication with those who have passed over is at its easiest. This is the time when the Horned One (the Stag God, Cernunnos, Herne, etc.) runs the Wild Hunt, and the Dark Crone wanders the night, teaching Her Witches the secrets of magick.

    At Yule, the Goddess lies in childbirth within the realm of Death, and as the sun rises on the Solstice day, She gives birth once again to the Child of Promise, the shining Sun returned. Yule is a celebration of rebirth and renewal, when life is wrested from the realm of death and light is born of darkness. The Oak and Holly Kings battle at the solstice, and the Oak King, ruler of the waxing year, defeats His brother the Holly King. The Oak King has come to us in the present day as the New Year's baby, while the Holly King is the venerable Santa Claus.

    Imbolc (im-bullug) falls on 15 degrees of Aquarius, or about February 4th. This is the celebration in honor of the Celtic Goddess Brighid (pronounced breed), the triple Goddess of smithcrafting, poetry and healing. This Goddess was adopted into the Catholic pantheon as St. Brigit, but unfortunately for the Church Fathers, She never really "played ball" with them, remaining very Pagan beneath a thin Catholic veneer. At this point of the Year Wheel, the Lady has recuperated from Her birth-bed and now returns to the frozen earth, slowly bringing life and warmth once more to Her people.

    Ostara falls on the spring equinox, when day and night are in equal balance and life has returned in profusion. The Lord and Lady come together in sacred Union, revealing the Mystery of Synthesis of Polarity to Their children. In this union, the God sows the seed of His own rebirth, nine months later in the dark wastes of Yule. The name of this sabbat derives from the Saxon Maiden Goddess of the same name, whose totem animal and consort was a hare.  At Eostra, eggs laid by the returning migrant birds were among the first food to be had as Spring pried loose the grip of Winter, and so also became closely associated with Eostra (and, unfortunately, with the hare; so in modern tradition we are blessed by the Easter presence of egg-laying rabbits).  The equinox is one of the largest fertility festivals of the calendar, as thoughts once again turn to the Lady Aphrodite.

    At 15 degrees of Taurus (around May 1), we celebrate Beltaine, another of the two most sacred days to a Wiccan. Beltaine marks the Handfasting (Pagan wedding) of the Lord and Lady, and the biggest celebration of the Wiccan year. This is the other time in the year when the Veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, when new life issues forth in abundance from the Great Unmanifest.

    Midsummer, or Litha, falls on the summer solstice, on the longest day of the year. This Sabbat sees the refrain of the battle between the Oak and Holly Kings, but now the Holly King, young and strong, defeats the aged Oak King. Thus the cycle turns from Light to Dark once more as the sun at His pinnacle of glory now begins His slow decline into the Southlands.  The Sun King now stands between what was and what shall be, as He transitions from King to Sage.

    Lughnasadh (loo' na sah) marks the first harvest of the calendar, that of the grain. This Greater Sabbat, also called Lammas, falls on 15 degrees of the sign Leo (around Aug. 1), and is the Pagan Thanksgiving, when the corn, now grown tall and bearded like the God Himself, is reaped amidst celebrations and gratitude for the Life that arises from the womb of the Mother.  Lughnasadh is also popularly the "wake of the God Lugh" who dies in Divine Sacrifice, recalling the same sacrifice made by Tammuz, Adonis, and the Christ.

    Finally, Mabon is the celebration of the second harvest, that of the grains and vegetables, and is yet another time to celebrate with family and friends.  This Greater Sabbat was named for the Celtic God Mabon, a sacrificial Divine King, the Great Son born of the Great Mother.