Wheel of the Year, Cross Quarter Days, Solstices and Equinox Flags Set


New! Wheel of the Year Cross Quarters Flag Set 20 inches wide by 24 inches top to point Candlemas, May Day, Lammas, and Samhain Designed for display at each of the cross quarter days, these will fit on a flag pole outside your house, in your window or on a wall. Includes four large pennants for Candlemas, May Day, Lammas and Samhain. First Quality Rayon Batik made in Bali, Indonesia. $49.00 Add To Cart #KA-FST3
	February 2 Spring begins-- Brigid or Imbolc (Oimelc) As the days' lengthening becomes perceptible, many candles are lit to hasten the warming of the earth and emphasize the reviving of life. "Imbolc" is from Old Irish, and may mean "in the belly", and Oimelc, "ewe's milk", as this is the lambing time. It is the holiday of the Celtic Fire Goddess Brigid, whose threefold nature rules smithcraft, poetry/inspiration, and healing. Here she carries a burning torch symbolic of her eternal flame that was kept burning always at her temples. Her healing aspect is making a brew of herbs, in a cauldron adorned by the totem animal of a wolf. Her crone aspect composes poems with a raven feather, as the snow begins melting on the hills and a few violets begin to bloom. The heart reminds us of Valentines Day, an ancient holiday of love and sensuality from Roman times. A good time to seek healing, visions, and tempering.
	May 1st Summer begins -- Beltaine (May Eve) Folk dance around the Maypole, emblem of fertility (the name "May" comes from a Norse word meaning "to shoot out new growth"). May 1st was the midpoint of a five-day Roman festival to Flora, Goddess of Flowers. The name "Beltaine" means "Bel's Fires"; in Celtic lands, cattle were driven between bonfires to bless them, and people leaped the fires for luck. This was a celebration of the pleasures of life and sexuality. The goddess and god, now the May Queen and her beloved Sun Prince are wed. This was a day of sexual freedom, blessing the fields fertility, and joy in living. A time to enrich any aspect of your life requiring fertilization and to celebrate abundance.
	August 2nd Fall begins -- Lammas (Lughnasadh) This is one of the Celtic fire festivals, honoring the Celtic culture-bringer and Solar God Lugh . Often known as the "Feast of Bread" or "Loaf Mass", this celebration brings the god in his aspect of the Harvest King along with the Mother goddess, now full with child (just as the fields and trees are full with ripening bounty). As the first blows are struck with the sickle to reap the grain, so the Harvest King begin to weaken, and to sacrifice himself willingly so that others will survive the dark infertile winter season. There are many old tales of the sacrificed king, stemming from this archetype. This image shows the stag, the sickle used for reaping, and harvest bounty. This is a time for aiding the survival of your community through charitable contributions, and other efforts intended for the betterment of your self and your neighbors.
	October 31 Winter begins -- Samhain Pronounced "Sow-in", or "Sah-vin" if you speak Scots Gaelic. Ancient Celts considered a day to begin with sundown, so the year begins with the first day of Winter. This eve of the Celtic year was a very holy time when barriers between the worlds of life and death are thinnest, allowing the ancestors to walk among the living, welcomed and feasted by their kin, giving blessings. Celts put out food and drink for dead ancestors with great ceremony. They left their windows, doors, and gates unlocked to allow spirits free passage into their homes. Not all of these spirits were friendly, so Celts carved the images of spirit-guardians onto turnips, and set these jack o'lanterns by their doors for protection. Later this custom changed to using pumpkins. Black cats are thought to be particularly magical. This is a time to use divination to gain guidance for the future, and to honor the dead.
The Wheel of the Year in the Celtic Goddess tradition is comprised of eight solar holidays or Sabbats (same as Sabbath), four major ones (the solstices and equinoxes) and four secondary, referred to as the cross-quarters.