Do you celebrate cross-quarters?

[Birdy]

Several people in this forum have said they celebrate solstices and equinoxes, but no one has mentioned the cross-quarters. Are they a strictly Wiccan/Celtic thing? Did anybody else do Imbolg today, (or whatever day it is when you read this?)

If so what do you/did you, do?

[peggyelizabeth]

I do.
Last night I had a solitary Candlemas ritual, just me, my candles and my finger labyrinth. I visualized the cold winter as I "walked" in (not hard to do w/ the temps below 0F) and visualized the beginings of spring as I "walked" out.

Tonight, I made an ice lantern and watched it until the wind blow out the candle. I'm planning on crapes for breakfast tomorrow.

If I'd had some extra time I might have made some candles or if it was warmer I might have gone to the St. Paul Winter Carnival-it's the mythic battle between King Boreas (winter) and Vulcanus Rex (summer) - if that's not a pagan festival I don't know what is!

[ravenscape]

I celebrate the cross-quarters, especially Imbolc. DH and I were married on Imbolc 24 years ago. At the time, we both only thought of it as Groundhog Day.

[Agaliha]

Do you celebrate cross-quarters?

No, I don't really celebrate much of anything. I didn't even realize it was Imbolg till someone on my LJ Flist mentioned it. Heh. I don't really celebrate equinoxes or solstices either. The only one that comes remotely to "celebrating" is the Autumnal one as it marks my favorite season and my B-day is usually three days after. I decorate my altar-ish thing with seasonal things...is that celebrating? Anyway. I don't see a problem with Pantheists celebrating cross-quarters, solstices or equinoxes. I would if I were more of the celebrating type :)

[Eleisawolf]

Yes, I celebrate the cross quarters. I believe in the transition periods between stopping points as much as the stopping points themselves, and that's what cross-quarters symbolize for me.

:)

[cheddarsox]

I celebrate the crossquarters. I live in a temperate climate, so they match up with significant turning points in the seasons, and the daylength, both of which have a big affect on me. I don't use the Wiccan/European terminology for them,because I don't follow their symbolism or mythology.

Feb 2-3 has always been a significant day for me, even when I was a kid and I had no idea about solstices, equinoxes or crossquarters. I couldn't figure out why groundhog day felt so weighty to me, lol, but it always did.

Now I use it to start a fast that lasts until Equinox, and a time of special spiritual rigor and "work". I guess this serves the same purpose as Lent, but it fits better with my seasonal cycles. I use it as a time to purge my life, mind and house of the flotsam that has collected over the past year. My fasts are not always from food.

My altar is nearly bare, but I will add and take away items throughout the next six weeks that will remind me of the "tasks at hand".

I agree that the eight spokes of the wheel provide a good opportunity for us to pause and tune in to where we are. They give form to my year, like stopping to see the view along the way on a journey, they let me know where I am, where I've been, what the lay of my spiritual land is. The year does not go by in a blur, it is broken into manageable chunks. In our family we often refer to time according to these dates..."oh, that was just before the crossquarter..." etc.

A friend of mine says that she thinks it is just the normal human cycle to "need something to celebrate" every six weeks or so.

cheddar

[Windsmith]

I'm just going to steal my musings on Imbolc as posted over at the ardentpantheism list, 'cause I'm a lazy mofo like that.

Imbolc has always been the hardest Sabbat for me to connect to. I could never find a place to "hook into" it; to find what meaning it held for me.

Over the past few months, I've come to better articulate my view of the Sabbats. The Equinoxes and Solstices celebrate events that happen no matter what humans do - that happened when there were no humans and will continue after we're gone. The 4 cross-quarter days celebrate how humans interact with the rest of the world, and with each other: sex and birth at Beltane; harvest at Mabon; death and mourning at Samhain; art and regeneration at Imbolc.

So much is changing now. Winter is far from over, but I sense the change in the air as the awareness of the animals and plants begin slowly to rise of from the depths of Winter sleep. People move from the restful patience of Yule to a restless urge to be doing something. And now that daylight has increased enough to be noticable, we feel more inclined to do anything.

Within myself, I feel the rumblings. Cabin fever, my grandfather called it. From Yule to Imbolc I put myself under a self-imposed moratorium on starting large art projects. I finish what I can; I do little one-off afternoon projects, but nothing long-term. Around Imbolc I long for something big and meaty to sink my creative teeth into. After the Yule rest period, I'm ready - re-energized and bursting with creative fire. Most likely, I will dive headlong into a project that will engage me until the Spring Equinox - when I will look around, blink at the unexpected light, and step outside once more.

[Lunacie]

I used to suffer from depression from November until March or April. I loved finding out about the holidays that celebrate each spoke on the wheel of the year, and over the years since then I've especially come to appreciate this one. We call it Imbolg in my tradition and its the celebration of the return of the light - the Sun King. Looking forward from the darkest night of the year at Yule to the nights getting shorter and the dawn coming sooner, especially noticable by this time of the year, has done much to allievate my winter depression.

Our coven celebrated on Saturday night by each taking a small new-leaf green candle. The high priestess lit her candle and then turned to the high priest, lighting his candle, and passing the light around the circle this way. It was very nice and symbolic. I baked cinnamon bread for our feast and we had butter with it to represent the milk for the new lambs.

[equinox2]

Yes, I celebrate both the quarter and cross-quarters, for purely scientific reasons. The cross quarters are just as scientifically "real" as the quarter holidays. Here is something I wrote about that a couple years ago:

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Why do I celebrate the cross quarter Sabbats (Imbolc – Feb 2, Beltane – May 1, Lammas – Aug 1, and Samhain – Oct 31)?

First, let’s look at the regular quarter Sabbats (Yule, Ostara, Litha, Mabon). These are of course the solstices and equinoxes – they days with the shortest daylight, the longest daylight, and when daytime is exactly as long as nighttime). Celebrating makes sense on these special days, which are picked out of the year by our sun and earth themselves. On the wheel of the year, they divide the year into nice quarters, nice clear seasons. So are the cross quarter Sabbats then just the ½ way points in between? Was this just some thing where we wanted more Sabbats than 4, and thought 8 would be a nice number?

No. As you probably have noticed, it takes a while for our earth to heat up or cool down in response to the hours of sunlight, so the temperature sine wave lags the daylight sine wave. You can see this by noting that the equinoxes, though they have the same amount of sunlight, are very different in temperature (March is much cooler than Sept). Depending on local terrain, this lag will usually be between 5 and 8 weeks. So, while the solstices are the “peaks” of the daylight cycle, the cross-quarter Sabbats are the “peaks” of the temperature cycle – thus Imbolc commemorates the coldest time of the year, the peak of winter, or the “winter thermstice”, making Beltane the spring equitherm, etc. So the cross quarter Sabbats are the peaks of the seasons, and the quarter Sabbats are the boundaries between the seasons – it all works together nicely.


**********OK, this next part is complicated. You’ll want a wheel of year in front of you to follow along. ********

This also means that each section of the year is unique. Imagine slicing the year into 8 sections, between each of the 8 Sabbats. One might, at first glance, think that the 1st section (Yule to Imbolc) is just like the 8th section (Samhain to Yule) since they both are equally dark, bordering on the darkest day of the year (Yule or the winter solstice). So if I listed the 8 sections according to light level, they might go like this (going through the year): dark, dim, light, bright, ((summer solstice)) bright, light, dim, dark ((winter solstice)). Make sense?

But remember that the temperature cycle lags by about 1/8th of the year, so the same year goes like this for temperature: cold, ((Imbolc)) cold, cool, warm, hot, ((Lammas)) hot, warm, cool. So putting them together, going from the first through the 8th sections, you get: ((winter solstice)) dark & cold, dim & cold, light & cool, bright & warm, ((summer solstice)) bright & hot, light & hot, dim & warm, dark & cool. So, each part of the year is unique – no two are alike! I love it. During the year, this keeps me connected, helping me appreciate the glory and joy of each part of the year.

*************************************************

For Imbolc this year my family did our usual celebration - a candle ritual in the stone circle (candles in the snow), then candle making.

May you be touched by each of our beautiful seasons-

-Equinox

[Lunacie]

Yes, I celebrate both the quarter and cross-quarters, for purely scientific reasons. The cross quarters are just as scientifically "real" as the quarter holidays. Here is something I wrote about that a couple years ago:

**************************************************
<snipped>

*************************************************

For Imbolc this year my family did our usual celebration - a candle ritual in the stone circle (candles in the snow), then candle making.

May you be touched by each of our beautiful seasons-

-Equinox

Thank you for that explanation - that's a new way of looking at the cross-quarters for me and I like that. It really makes sense to me.

And candle-making for Imbolg besides candle-lighting. I may offer to lead the Imbolg ritual next year and incorporate that into the ceremony OR do a class a couple of weeks before and make the candles to be lit for Imbolg. Coolness. :thumbsup:

[peggyelizabeth]

((winter solstice)) dark & cold, dim & cold, light & cool, bright & warm, ((summer solstice)) bright & hot, light & hot, dim & warm, dark & cool

That's brilliant. It really puts things into perspective in a logical way.

[Marcasite]

I don't celebrate the cross-quarters. Andrew celebrates Samhain and Beltane but usually forgets about the other two. We do celebrate the solstices & equinoxes. Although strangely enough on Imbolc, I had a dream that we were celebrating it.

[peggyelizabeth]

Ok, so many of us celebrate the quater & cross-quater days that recognize the cycle of the sun, but what about the cycle of the moon? Do you celebrate this? How? Why?

Personally, I haven't celebrated the moon cycles, but mostly that's because I don't know where to start. The cycle is so much shorter than that of the sun, if I recognized every stage, I'd go ritual crazy!:ahhhh:

[Lunacie]

Some Pagans only honor the Moon when she is at her fullest, some do honor her at her darkest as well. Often it depends on what energies you are planning to use in your ritual or working. Banishing rituals are often done at the dark of the moon, like breaking a bad habit. New projects are often blessed at the new moon. The ritual of Drawing Down the Moon (allowing the goddess energy to possess you) is generally done at the full moon.

I don't do any particular lunar rituals myself, but I tend to notice what aspect the moon is in every few days and honor her within my heart.

[Windsmith]

Ok, so many of us celebrate the quater & cross-quater days that recognize the cycle of the sun, but what about the cycle of the moon? Do you celebrate this? How? Why?

Personally, I haven't celebrated the moon cycles, but mostly that's because I don't know where to start. The cycle is so much shorter than that of the sun, if I recognized every stage, I'd go ritual crazy!:ahhhh:I love honoring moon cycles, though I only do "rituals" for new moon and full moon. Even at that, they aren't full-blown rituals like we do at the Sabbats; usually we just cast a circle and spend some time meditating on lunar energy. Sometimes we might create a talisman to represent things we want to bring to fruition in the coming month, or "charge" a glass of milk or lemonade with lunar energy. But usually we just sit (outside when the weather's good enough, which it definitely is not right now).

I find so much yummy food for thought in the metaphors of the moon. The wax and wane teaches me so much about the need to balance periods of gung-ho "let's do it!"-ness with periods of relax, repose, and reflection. Plus, the moon pulls the tides of the planet's bodies of water, and we are mostly water, so how cool is it to imagine the moon pulling us? Then there's all that luscious stuff about dreams, intuition, and the way nothing looks the same at night. Heady stuff. ::swoon::

It helps me stay a little more connected. Even though they're only about 6 weeks apart, I find that when I only celebrate the Sabbats, I lose track of the cycles of things pretty quickly. It's Imbolc, and the snow's coming down, and now all of a sudden it's Vernal Equinox, and there are crocuses poking up, and where the heck did the time go? Using the shorter moon cycles as an anchor within the longer solar cycles keeps me more aware of the way things are always changing around me.

[peggyelizabeth]

I find so much yummy food for thought in the metaphors of the moon. The wax and wane teaches me so much about the need to balance periods of gung-ho "let's do it!"-ness with periods of relax, repose, and reflection. Plus, the moon pulls the tides of the planet's bodies of water, and we are mostly water, so how cool is it to imagine the moon pulling us? Then there's all that luscious stuff about dreams, intuition, and the way nothing looks the same at night. Heady stuff. ::swoon::

you're so right! I guess I've always been fascinated by and connected to the moon-both as a child and as a woman. There's a very strong pull from moon to me, just not sure what it's all about.


It helps me stay a little more connected. Even though they're only about 6 weeks apart, I find that when I only celebrate the Sabbats, I lose track of the cycles of things pretty quickly. It's Imbolc, and the snow's coming down, and now all of a sudden it's Vernal Equinox, and there are crocuses poking up, and where the heck did the time go? Using the shorter moon cycles as an anchor within the longer solar cycles keeps me more aware of the way things are always changing around me.

YES! I feel a need to take a momment out of my life more often that every six weeks, but doing so on a Saturday or Sunday feels somehow artifical to me.

I'm going to start charting how I feel (spiritually, mentally, physically) and see if it has any correlation to the moon. Then I should be able to figure out when recognizing the moon is right for me.

[cheddarsox]

I celebrate the sun cycles because they have beucoup affect on my own cycles and on whats happening in the world around me.

I don't notice so much affect of the moon on my personally.

I do pay attention to the moon cycles aestetically, and notice whether the night is dark or not, but I don't have rituals for it.

I am thinking about an eclipe event though...more for fun than for religious purposes.

sun cycles are not the only things I celebrate, I do ritual for other things that have an authentic noticable place in my life.

Some people do seem really hooked into moon cycles.

I notice the # of road kills seems to follow the moon cycle.

[Windsmith]

I'm going to start charting how I feel (spiritually, mentally, physically) and see if it has any correlation to the moon. Then I should be able to figure out when recognizing the moon is right for me.That's a fantastic idea. Mind if I borrow it?

Keep track of your dreams over this time - when do you have vivid dreams, when do you know you had a dream but can't recall it in the morning, when do you have nightmares, when do you not remember dreaming at all. I'm not sure if it's lunar or menstrual, but I have a definite dream cycle that I'm trying to track a little more closely. Not sure what it'll tell me, but it's interesting to know.

[peggyelizabeth]

by all means, borrow away.
I borrowed the idea from having charted my migraines!
I've already found some interesting things just by looking at my calendar and the relationship between my menstrual cycle and that of the moon. I know seeing any patterns will take a long time, but who knows what I'll find.

Adding dreams into the mix makes a lot of sense, will have to do that.

[peggyelizabeth]

To follow up on my last post, I did celebrate the Full Moon this past week (and the eclipse) Although it was the simplest ritual I've done since starting to write things down, it was by far the most moving.

I also stumbled onto this website: http://www.technoharp.com/Wisecraft/moon.htm which has an interesting chart of how the moon affects people. Don't know how accurate it is, but it's interesting none the less.

[Against The Tide]

Cross quarters I do celebrate :)

[Lunacie]

To follow up on my last post, I did celebrate the Full Moon this past week (and the eclipse) Although it was the simplest ritual I've done since starting to write things down, it was by far the most moving.

I also stumbled onto this website: http://www.technoharp.com/Wisecraft/moon.htm which has an interesting chart of how the moon affects people. Don't know how accurate it is, but it's interesting none the less.

It looks interesting but that font is too difficult for me to read. :(

[peggyelizabeth]

It looks interesting but that font is too difficult for me to read. :(

I agree. If you are viewing it with Internet Explorer, go up to "view" at the top, then "text size" You will then be able to choose a larger font. It doesn't work on all sites, but it does on this one.

[Windsmith]

To follow up on my last post, I did celebrate the Full Moon this past week (and the eclipse) Although it was the simplest ritual I've done since starting to write things down, it was by far the most moving.

I also stumbled onto this website: http://www.technoharp.com/Wisecraft/moon.htm which has an interesting chart of how the moon affects people. Don't know how accurate it is, but it's interesting none the less.Glad the ritual went well for you! Would you be willing to say anything more about it - what you did, and suchwhat?

You might be interested in another thread that's floating around, about the moon's effects on human behavior (http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=152367). I think the link you posted would fit very well there.

[equinox2]

Windsmith -

I checked out that thread. As expected, there's a lot of (useless) anecdotal "evidence", and no real mechanism proposed (the tidal effect on the water in our bodies is of course pointless, since a beer in one's hand has a greater tidal effect on one's body than the moon does).

A few people posted links that purport an effect, those I should check. However, the main reason I'm taking the time to post now is to say what a great post you contributed! While many just added anecdotes and armchair pronouncments, you actually helped contribute to the rationality of the conversation. Thanks!

ETA: I do sometimes celebrate lunar cycles. I think we've evolved some mental effects from seeing the moon,and it's a good idea to take advantage of these, in working our own mental "magic".

[peggyelizabeth]

I modified the words found here: http://www.midnightmoonchild.com/moonchildlunarcalendarpage.html
(in pink at the bottom of the page)
I sat outside on the front steps of my house, with a candle and a glass of white wine. I really just took time to take in the beauty of the full moon and to acknowledge the power of the moon on the earth's tides. I watched the moon's reflection in the wine. It was a peaceful and very moving moment (if rather cold)

ETA: just read the moon's affects on human behavior thread- interesting reading, but I don't think it's changed my way of looking at things. I'll still be tracking my mood, health, productivity, etc. and seeing if *for me* there is any correlation. I wouldn't presume to think that what's true for me would have to universal. I have friends who feel best when it's hot, sunny & humid, but I'll take cool, damp & rainy over that any day.

[Windsmith]

(the tidal effect on the water in our bodies is of course pointless, since a beer in one's hand has a greater tidal effect on one's body than the moon does).Now I have an urge to start a thread on "The effects of the beer cycle on human behavior." :cheers:


However, the main reason I'm taking the time to post now is to say what a great post you contributed! While many just added anecdotes and armchair pronouncments, you actually helped contribute to the rationality of the conversation. Thanks!Well, thank you. I don't know how much impact I had, if any - sometimes I feel like people will just continue believing what they want to believe, no matter how much evidence they're presented with. I'm guilty of that, too, but I try to be aware of it, and I try to improve. I like to keep my mind open enough that new information can come in, but not so open that anyone can chuck any ol' piece of crap into it.

I also confess that, though my post may have been good, my motives were far from pure. I wasn't all that interested in contributing to the discussion, but the original post's way of comparing belief in SAD to belief in the lunar effect had me steaming. I guess sometimes good things can grow from less than noble motives.


I modified the words found here: http://www.midnightmoonchild.com/moonchildlunarcalendarpage.html
(in pink at the bottom of the page)
I sat outside on the front steps of my house, with a candle and a glass of white wine. I really just took time to take in the beauty of the full moon and to acknowledge the power of the moon on the earth's tides. I watched the moon's reflection in the wine. It was a peaceful and very moving moment (if rather cold)That's beautiful. Thanks for sharing!