The Wheel of the Year observes the four solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the four seasonal festivals between them, marking the cycle of the seasons. Each of these celebrations is called a sabbat.
Ancient Europeans celebrated some or all of these markers as part of their agriculture/husbandry-centered societies. As a city-dweller, I’m far removed from the agricultural cycle. All the same, I’ve found it valuable to observe the cycle of the seasons.
Doing so helps me appreciate and enjoy any season we happen to be in. In the past, I’ve resented the weather, but now find I am more harmonious with it. I appreciate the lack of conflict with something so entirely out of my control!
This collection of paintings represents personifications of the eight sabbats. Each spirit carries the symbols of her place in the cycle.
Each rises, and declines in turn, making way for her successor, knowing she will rise again.
Click on each image for more about the painting and the sabbat.
