Turning the Wheel

My personal religious tendencies partially led to this model, but I think the model has also colored those tendencies: it's very hard for me to understand the inclination toward a hard line approach to any religious stance after seeing how well these rituals have worked. Sarah and I have done a Celtic Lughnasadh, a Roman Harvest Home, a Norse Yule, a Greek Midsummer, and, as I started this column with, an Egyptian Candlemas. Each one of those rituals was an education for me: a lesson in the meaning of the sabbat, an exploration of a mythology, and a chance to connect with the rich history of the pagan past.

We have only three to go now: Ostara, and then the two great festivals of Beltaine and Samhain. Then we will have made our way through the Wheel of Year, a project nearly a decade in the making.

And then . . . Well, then I guess we'll have to find a new project. It's a thing you have to have.

9/4/2011 4:00:00 AM
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  • Eric Scott
    About Eric Scott
    Eric Scott was raised in St. Louis by Coven Pleiades, a Wiccan group based in the Alexandrian tradition. His fiction and memoir explore the joys and doubts of being a second-generation Pagan in the modern world. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Missouri. His work has appeared in or is forthcoming in Ashe! Journal, Kerouac's Dog Magazine, Caper Literary Journal, and Witches & Pagans. He is also a Contributing Editor at Killing the Buddha.