A Wiccan Bible - Exploring the Mysteries of the Craft from Birth to Summerland

(^132) A Wiccan Bible
Now to make things just a little bit more confusing, everything that has been said
above this sentence is for the Northern Hemisphere. South of the equator we see a
different story:
Summer Solstice Solar Quarter December 21 or 22
Lughnasadh Solar Cross Quarter February 2
Fall Equinox Solar Quarter March 21 or 22
Samhain Solar Cross Quarter April 30 or May 1
Winter Solstice Solar Quarter June 21 or 22
Imbolg Solar Cross Quarter July 31 or August 1 or 2
Spring Equinox Solar Quarter September 21 or 22
Bealtaine Solar Cross Quarter April 30 or May 1
Because Wicca was born/reborn in the Northern Hemisphere and due to the influ-
ences of larger religions, these Holidays are not typically respected in this way. Now, do
not take this to mean that Wiccans south of the equator do not make an effort to
celebrate the Sabbats in accordance with this concept. However, consider the south of
the equator Wiccan who celebrates Yule at Summer Solstice when the rest of the non-
Wiccan community is celebrating Yule at or around Winter Solstice. Because the cul-
tural Holiday of Christmas is celebrated on December 25th by most Christian cultures,
the sense of a larger community is lacking at Summer Solstice. The sense that all of
humanity is rejoicing, without regard to specific religion, is missing.
This state is sad, as it is a further distraction from the concept of Lord and Lady.
The Christian religion with its concept of god being set only in the masculine does not
allow for the balance of masculine and feminine principles, so of course it is not built
into their Holidays. Those masculine and feminine principles are at the very founda-
tion of the Wiccan religion, and thus built into our Holidays. The confusion only comes
in with the idea of static dates. If we are in the Northern Hemisphere we see that the
Holidays are:
Holiday Counterpart Approximate Date
Samhain (masculine) Bealtaine (feminine) October 31
Winter Solstice (masculine) Summer Solstice (feminine) December 21 or 22
Imbolg (masculine) Lughnasadh (feminine) February 2
Spring Equinox (m & f) Fall Equinox (f & m) March 21 or 22
Bealtaine (feminine) Samhain (masculine) April 30 or May 1
Summer Solstice (feminine) Winter Solstice (masculine) June 21 or 22
Lughnasadh (feminine) Imbolg (masculine) July 31 or August 1 or 2
Fall Equinox (f & m) Spring Equinox (m & f) September 21 or 22
p WB Chap 08.p65 132 7/11/2003, 5:52 PM