Important Dates and Celebrations

May Day occurs on May 1 and refers to any of several public holidays. In many countries, May Day is synonymous with International Workers’ Day, or Labour Day, which celebrates the social and economic achievements of the labor movement. As a day of celebration...

Walpurgis Night is a traditional Pagan holiday, Roman Catholic Saint’s day, and Satanic [1] holiday celebrated on April 30 or May 1 in large parts of Central and Northern Europe The current festival is in most countries celebrating it named after Saint Walpurga,...

Around June 21Alban Heruin, or “The Light of the Shore,” is also referred to as Litha, Midsummer’s Day or The Summer Solstice. The longest day and the shortest night of the year, is a time of triumph for the light. It is the time when the Sun reached...

April 30 / Mayday is celebrated on the first of MayPronounced “bel-ten-ya” or “bel-chen-ya” depending on the Gaelic dialect. The word means literally ‘the fire of Bel’, a deity related to Belinus. the festival went by many names:...

Whatever names we give to them now many of our modern day festivals owe their existence to hallowed festivals long before Christianity. Long ago they marked the dates of key Celtic festivals in the rural year, for example days when planting occured or when harvesting...

In 1897, the Gaulish Coligny Calendar was discovered in Coligny, France along with the head of a bronze statue of a youthful male figure. It is believed to date from around 50 BC, and appears to be the remains of a Romanized Gaulish model of a Celtic lunar and...

February 1“Imbolc” is from Old Irish, and may mean “in the belly”, and Oimelc, “ewe’s milk”, as this is the lambing time. This is considered the first of spring. In Ireland the first stirrings of spring are said to be...

August 1 (July 31 August Eve)(loo-na-sa)  Lugnasad was the beginning of the harvest and was a celebration of the first fruits of the harvest, it is decline of Summer into Winter. Many grains, seeds, herbs and fruits were harvested and dried at this time. This...

November 1Samhain is pronounced as ‘sow-in’ (in Ireland), or ‘sow-een’ (in Wales), or ‘sav-en’ (in Scotland), or (inevitably) ‘sam-hane’ (in the U.S. where we don’t speak Gaelic) meaning Summer’s End. ...

December 21(“The Light of Arthur”) The winter solstice was the shortest day of the year and coincides closely with the Christian Christmas celebration. The name ‘Arthuan’ is interesting in relation to Arthurian legend, as King Arthur was...