Essay 2: ADF High Days
High Days
By Kristy Tackett
January 28, 2025
The High Days are 8 days on the Wheel of the Year that pagans in general tend to celebrate throughout the year. They are made up of four quarters and four cross quarters. The four quarter days are set on the Solstices and Equinoxes, and the four cross quarter days are set in between them. When exactly they are depends entirely on whether or not you follow the modern solar Gregorian calendar or the more traditional lunar calendars, like our ancient ancestors did.
Each High Day celebrates different things, from seasons to entities. Let's take a little look into each of these High Days. Unlike most pagan and druid Wheels of the Year, I start mine with February 1st, instead of November 1st because I follow the Gregorian New Years instead of the various new years of our ancient ancestors.
Imbolc - February 1
Imbolc is a time of renewal and is associated with the arrival of spring in Ireland, when the sheep began to calve and produce milk, which was just as important to the people for survival, as it was to the calves.
This High Day is also associated with a goddess of many cultures, names, and domains: Brigit. A jack-of-trades Goddess of Hearth, Healing, Poetry, Prophecy, and the Forge.
When I attend Three Cranes Grove's Imbolc rites, they honor the Gaulish Brigando and tell many stories about the Goddess. They have a little doll of her laying in a basket, with a wand, that represents her bed. They also have a quilt that was made by some of the grove and is blessed with healing energies by Brigando. Three Cranes honor Brigando as Flame Keepers by keeping a flame that came from a temple sacred to St. Brigid in Kildare, Ireland.
Spring Equinox - March 20-22
Also known by a few names, such as Ostara and the Vernal Equinox, this High Day marks the Gregorian Calendar’s First Day of Spring. It is a time of rebirth and renewal, as well. One of two equinoxes, this is a day of balance of light and darkness. It is a season when animals return from their migrations and others begin to awaken from their wintery dens to find mates and continue the cycles of life.
The sun is higher, the days are a little longer, and the temperatures are slowly getting somewhat warmer…depending on the unpredictable rules of Global Warming, that is. This is a time when many Spring and Nature entities are seen waking up or returning from a Lands of the Dead, such as Persephone and Dionysus.
Some people celebrate by dyeing eggs with natural colors, doing egg hunts with their families, performing different egg magiks, and gathering for rituals and feasts.
Beltane - May 1
This is another springtime High Day, sometimes called May Day. The weather is usually nicer and feels more like spring than the Spring Equinox. Birds are singing and mating, some are building nests, and some animals are already caring for their young.
It's warmer with greenery and pops of color. It's a time of fertility and joy and life, as well as purification and protection of family and livestock. It's also almost time to clear out the old garden for new planting.
This is one of those holy days associated with the fae and with fire. According to Anne Franklin, "Bealtaine means bright or lucky fire" and is connected to the Gaulish Sun God, Belenos (4). It's also time for the flower crowns and the May Pole Dance, by erecting a giant pole with different colored ribbons and dancing, weaving them around it.
Summer Solstice - June 20-22
Known more popularly as Midsummer, this day marks the First Day of Summer in the Gregorian Calendar. It's another High Day associated with the fae and fire, and celebrates solar entities, such as Helios and Sunna. This solstice marks the longest day of the year and the end of the light half of the year. But for this solstice, this day celebrates the fruitfulness of Summer! The heat, the life, the lushness, the vibrant colors, the cookouts, family and community.
For this High Day, I tend to focus more on the Nature Spirits than the deities. Always have. Course it wasn't until the ritual above that I really connected to any solar deity, which ended up kicking off one of my deity focuses since then. It'll be interesting to see how this year's Summer Solstice will go.
Lughnasadh - August 1
Lughnasadh once marked the end of Summer and the beginning of fall and the harvest season. It honors the Sun God Lugh and his foster mother, Tailtiu. It's a celebration of his marriage and her sacrifice.
It is also the first of the big harvesting times, as this day is often called First Harvest and First Fruits, as well as Lammas, or "Loaf Mass". It's a day known for the grain harvest, as well as the harvesting of corn, grapes, and honey. Other Agricultural deities like Ceres, Dionysus, The Melissae, Freyr, Thor, and Sif, and of course the Nature Spirits are also honored.
Lughnasadh is a celebration of the hard work and dedication it takes to care for your crops from seedlings to our pantries. In addition to honoring the Kindreds, I also like to celebrate the farmers and all of those in between the fields and my plate.
Fall Equinox - September 20-22
Popularly known as Mabon, Second Harvest, and Pagan Thanksgiving. This day honors deities ranging from Death to Life. It is the second equinox of the year–the balance of dark and light. Since the Summer Solstice, the days have slowly been getting shorter, the sun lower in the sky, and the days chillier and windier. Deities like Dionysus have sacrificed their bodies to sustain us through the coming winter months. Persephone and others begin their journey back to the Lands of the Dead once more.
It's a wonderful time of visual transition, much like spring. Leaves are changing and falling, animals are grouping up for migration, and others are preparing for winter, be they sleepers or those who endure the wild winters of Global Warming.
It's a time of harvest, of preparation, of hearth and bounty.
Samhain - Nov 1
Also known as Ancestor's Day, Feast of the Dead, Summer's End, and the Witch's New Year. This is a day to honor our Ancestors of blood and spirit, known and unknown. I also like to include pets, friends, and people I didn't know, but had a positive impact on me.
In October, the family makes jack-o-lanterns to guide our ancestor’s home, where they're welcomed by the ancestral shrine with coins, and their favorite foods and drinks. I also honor the Dark Entities, such as Death, Hekate, Hades, Persephone, and Hel, as well as the Psychopomps, like Hermes and The Melissae.
It's both a solemn and a happy time. We look through photo albums and our online family trees learning more about them. It's a joyous time for us, and one of our favorite holy days.
Winter Solstice - December 20-22
More popularly known as Yule, Midwinter, and Longest Night. It's also the Gregorian Calendar's First Day of Winter. This is a favorite in the house, too, and not just for the gift exchanges, and it goes all December long. Our family has a lot of Yuletide traditions, from Krampus to an Odin and Sleipnir Wild Hunt Advent Calendar to burning a Yule Stick Bundle for the New Year.
This second solstice, opposite of Summer, is both the longest night of the year and the end of the dark half of the year. It's the Return or Rebirth of the Sun, a time of renewal, joy, hope, charity, celebration, and warmth. And you probably guessed it, family and community, too.
There they all are, all eight of the High Days, researched from a mix of druid, general paganism, and a little of my own experiences. I look forward to your feedback.
Resources
- Ar nDraiocht
Fein. Our Own Druidry. 2009.
- Dangler,
Michael. The ADF Dedicant Path Through the Wheel of the Year. 5th
Edition. 2016
- Dangler,
Michael. The Fire on Our Hearth: A Devotional of Three Cranes
Grove, ADF. Second Edition. 2010
- Franklin,
Anna. The Hearth Witch's Year: Rituals, Recipes & Remedies
Through the Seasons. 2021
- Order of Bards
Ovates & Druids. Lughnasadh. 28 January 2025.
https://druidry.org/druid-way/teaching-and-practice/druid-festivals/lughnasadh
- Restall Orr,
Emma. Ritual: A Guide to Life, Love & Inspiration.
2000.
- Three Cranes
Grove. The Deities of Three Cranes. 27 February 2025.
- Three Cranes
Grove. Wheel of the Year: High Holy Days. 27 February
2025. https://threecranes.org/ritual/high-days/
Comments
Post a Comment