The Wheel of the Year
As for many pagans, the Crow Women’s ceremonial life revolves around the eight sabbats of the pagan year. Four of those holidays are solar holidays: the summer and winter solstices and the spring and fall equinoxes. These four holidays create a solar cross dividing the year into 4 quarters. Halfway through each quarter is a cross-quarter day. Between winter solstice (Yule) and spring equinox (Ostara) is Imbolc, then between spring equinox and and summer solstice (Litha) is Beltane. After summer solstice and before fall equinox (Mabon) is Lammas (also called Lughnassad). Finally, after fall equinox but before winter solstice is Samhain (also known as Halloween). In our own Crow Women circle tradition, we begin our Wheel of the Year with Imbolc. Other pagans might start their Wheel at Samhain or at Winter Solstice.
Our third album, Seasons: A Pagan Journey Around the Wheel of the Year, is all about the eight Sabbats. This blog post about the song that leads off the album is a creative tour of the pagan year. When we were choosing the theme for this album, we found that we had many songs that we had created for these important holidays. You’ll find many posts on our blog about particular songs, as well as some ritual ideas and recipes, too. Click on a Sabbat to jump to the page devoted to that Sabbat, where you can find more information as well as all our blog posts related to the holiday.