The Wiccan Wheel of the Year is divided into a "light half" and a "dark half". The Goddess is traditionally associated with the light half and the God with the dark half. Although the God rules in the dark half of the year, this does not mean that he is dead in the light half (and the same applies to the Goddess). During the light half he is fully active in his feminine aspect, just as the Goddess is active in the dark half in her masculine aspect.

Each half of the year is further divided into four seasons, or cycles. These are marked and celebrated at the eight Sabbats in the year. The Sabbats are classified as Greater or Lesser Sabbats.

The greater Sabbats fall on the quarters and are: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh.

The lesser Sabbats occur on the cross-quarters and these are: Yule, Spring Equinox (Ostara), Midsummer and Autumnal Equinox or Mabon.

These equinoxes are great reminders that the bleak days of winter and the long heady days of summer are both temporary, that all things have their seasons, and that none will last forever.

Samhain
Samhain marks the beginning of the season of death, Winter. The Goddess of Agriculture relinquishes her power over the earth to the Horned God of the Hunt.
The fertility of the summer fields gives way to the winter forests.
Samhain is the Celtic feast of the dead, honouring the Aryan Lord of Death, Samana.
It has developed into a festival celebrating the spirit world in general.
Some Witches leave offerings of "soul cakes" for deceased ancestors. To celebrate this magical night, fires were lit on the sidhe, the fairy mounds in which spirits dwelled.
Among the ancient Celts, skulls were not seen as frightening, but served rather as a reminder of mortality and immortality, and often candles were lit inside skulls on this night. Samhain Eve, is both a night of death and of rebirth. Celtic legend states that all those who die each year must wait until Samhain before crossing into the spirit world, The Summerland. The type of magic performed at Samhain is usually divinatory.

Yule
Yule is celebrated around the Winter Solstice. In the northern hemisphere this is the time when the sun is furthest away from the earth.
Yule is a time of merriment and gaiety.
Witches see Yule as a time of the rebirth of the God, seen as the Sun. It marks the midpoint of winter and from now on, the hours of daylight grow longer, until Midsummer.

Imbolc
Imbolc is the time when Witches celebrate the recovery of the Goddess.
It is a time of purification and of reverence for the renewing fertility of the earth. Most Witches celebrate some sign that the winter is passing. Bonfires may be lit to honour Brigid, the Celtic Fire Goddess, who keeps the hearth fires burning.

Ostara
The Vernal or Spring Equinox is known to Witches as Ostara. Witches celebrate the balance and harmony that exists in the passing of the seasons and the cycles of night and day. This is the time of the year when the days and nights are of equal length. The last signs of winter are disappearing to give way to Spring. At this time of year, ancient tribes people of Europe honoured Ostera, or Esther, the Goddess of Spring, who holds an egg in her hand and watches a rabbit play at her feet. It is also a time to begin the garden that will grow the ingredients for our rituals, spells and potions.

Beltane
At Beltane the fertility ritual of the God and the Goddess is celebrated with Maypoles, music and general gaiety. At Beltane, Witches wear green and light fires to honour the Celtic God, Belenos (Beltane means the fire of Belenos). We leap over the fires to show enthusiasm and joy for the coming season. In the springtime, sexual forces abound, with animals going into season and young men and women everywhere falling in love. Symbolically, Witches celebrate the forces of the season by erecting Maypoles, around which young men and women dance, entwining multicoloured ribbons, weaving themselves together as they wrap the pole in bright colours.

Midsummer
Midsummer Night is the shortest night of the year, when Puck and Pan and all kinds of faeries and elves are about. With such a little time to sleep we confuse dreams with waking reality. These days and nights of the Summer Solstice are filled with great power and magic. This is the time to hold rituals to luxuriate in the season of Summer. At the beginning of the harvest, the Lord weakens as the first grains and fruits of the year's crop are cut.

Lughnasadh
Lughnasadh is a time of Thanksgiving and gratitude to the Earth for her bounty and we ask that all living creatures share in it. This is also the festival of bread, and Witches place freshly baked loaves of bread. This celebration is also known as Lammas. We honour the great grain Goddesses like Ceres and Demeter. Lughnasadh is also a festival honouring the Celtic warrior God Lugh. In his honour games are played and Witches compete at sporting events.

Mabon
Autumnal Equinox, or Mabon is the time when the sun crosses the equator and the days become shorter as the arrival of the Winter months nears. It is the time of the second and last harvest of the Summer months Wiccans celebrate life and the cycles of life. Each milestone in life is greeted with joy and reverence . Here are some basic rituals that a Wicca might celebrate in his or her life. There are also rituals for other milestones in life, like when a girl becomes a woman, or a boy becomes a man, when a woman enters menstruation or becomes pregnant. No cycle or element of life is considered dirty or sinful.

Wiccaning
A birth is celebrated by a Wiccaning, where the child is named, blessed and dedicated to the God and Goddess or to a specific deity. The child receives 3 names, one for everyday use, one for his/her tree companion, a sapling tree that is offered as a gift from his/her father, to serve as a friend and companion to the child as it grows, and a secret, or craft name, known only to the parents and kept from the child until it is ready.


Handfasting
Handfasting, the Wiccan term for marriage, is celebrated when a couple wish to be united with the blessings of the God and Goddess and their friends and family. Traditionally, the bride wears red. Handfasting may not be legally binding, but it certainly is spiritually and magically binding, and the couple must accept the responsibility that they are starting a new path together and that all joys and burdens from then on will have to be shared.


Passing Over or Requiem
The passing over ritual takes place when someone dies. Death is a quiet and reverent cycle for most Wiccans, as it signifies the ending of an old cycle and the beginning of a new one. Most Wiccans are buried skyclad, the way they came into the world. It is customary for a friend or family member to place coins in the coffin on the day of the funeral, these are to pay the ferryman who carries the dead to the underworld across the river Styx A tree is planted in remembrance of the one who passed, if possible on the grave, but if not, in some wild and remote place or a garden. Sheaves of wheat can also be placed on the grave, as a symbol of rebirth. Most Wiccans do not visit the grave of a loved one after the funeral, as this is the time when souls move on to higher planes.

"Death has no power, the immortal soul to slay,
That when its present body turns to clay.
Seeks a fresh home & with unlessened might
Inspires another frame with light & life."
Pythagoras.