Earth Holidays

Solstices, Equinoxes, and Celtic "Cross-quarter" holidays

The Celts and other ancient cultures marked the turning of the year with combinations of eight pagan holidays, some of which were later incorporated into modern religions. The most visible markers were the Equinoxes and Solstices, which mark the actual movements of earth around the sun. But, from the prehistoric point of view, it was the sun that rose into summer and warmth and later fell below the horizon into cold winters with long nights.

The other four holidays were the Cross-quarter Days, which fell halfway between the solar holidays, and marked more subtle changes in climate and the growth of the green world. These mandalas combine goddess symbols and spirit animals from European prehistoric art which are appropriate for these cycles. The goddesses images chosen are versions of the "Venus of Willendorf," actually a great earth goddess, and the bird-headed Nile goddess, a direct "ancestor" of Isis and other winged Egyptian goddesses, which in modern women's spirituality has come to represent the moon goddess as well.

In keeping with the esoteric spiritual traditions of numerology, the numbers of repetitions in each mandala have been designed to also symbolize movement through the yearly cycle of life.

Matted black and white prints in two sizes fit either a 10 X 10 or 14 X 14 frame.

The Spring Equinox

Beltane

The Summer Solstice

Lammas

The Fall Equinox

Samhain

The Winter Solstice

Candlemas