What is the Wiccan Wheel of the Year?

A Vision at Newgrange

I was standing for a few astounding minutes in silence, inside a miraculous 5 thousand-year-old structure at Newgrange in Ireland in 2018, which was built to mark the Winter Solstice each year (Stonehenge marks the Summer Solstice) I received the vision to paint the Wheel of the Year all 8 Pagan Sabbats in oil.

Introduction to the Wheel of the Year

These Sabbats are the 8 natural, annual, cyclical, transitional points which also have a strong relationship with the sowing and harvesting of the land in agriculture. They have been observed and celebrated for centuries across the world by many different cultures and have been the root of many rich traditions, stories, and customs.  The Wheel of the year has also been known to be part of "God's or the Goddess's Calendar" or natural time.

The Significance of the 8 Pagan Sabbats

The Sabbats are also powerful, energetic, astrological nexus points that have been, and are still used to put information and energy into the collective consciousness field. For these reasons, rituals have been, and are still often performed at these times by both positive and negative forces. They are also potent dates for personal transformation, reflection and healing. "Evil doers" also invert, twist and use these energies for their own malevolent purposes.

Harnessing the Power of the Sabbats

The Wiccan Sabbats, in particular, emerged out of mythologies, historical celebrations and customs from ancient, indigenous European religions and traditions. It was a time when people lived much closer to the land and were more at the mercy of the seasons. These were also times when communities gathered, traded, did ceremonies, celebrated and shared stories or news.

Many different religions recognize the significance of natural time and how it  reflecs the tides of our own lives: 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 - "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot."

Lessons from the Ever-Changing Seasons

Cycles, spirals, renewal, and decay are all around us: in the universe, in nature, in our bodies, within our experiences, and within various aspects of time. What can more awareness about nature and these ever-changing seasons teach or show us about ourselves and life in general? For one thing, the only thing that is constant is change.

Many different religions recognize the significance of Natural time and how it  reflecs the tides of our own lives: 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 - "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot."

Written by artist, Bonny Hut

Find out more from video clip below. Embedded from Bonny Hut's Bridge Between Worlds Youtube channel.