The Wheel of Solstice and Equinox is as follows: Winter Solstice (known as Yule); to Spring Equinox (known as Ostara); to Summer Solstice (known as Litha); thence to Autumn Equinox (known as Mabon).
This is the Solar/Earth Wheel.
We ritually acknowledge the solstice and equinoctial processions to align ourselves with these cycles, both personally and environmentally.
The mythological symbolism is very important, as it is the image of the cycle that is out there that allows each witch to personalize the sacred drama as it
begins to unfold.
The cycle is, therefore, also a process and a progression of the initiate, both as person and priesthood, that spirals you out to dance the season of the Earth.
The way of a witch is irrevocably interwoven with these progressions, the point being that all that is runs through your veins, and to celebrate this is what your priesthood is about.
It is also important to understand that our planet, supporting as she does the myriad and diverse life forms and patterns, must be empathized with to be understood.
She is not just a patch of dirt to be exploited for her bounty.
Living the Wheel enables us to flow more freely with our individual destinies. It enables us to achieve by flowing with the pattern rather than with the dominant paradigm.
The Solar/Earth progression akens (after the sleep of darkness, marked by Samhain) at the Winter Solstice (the first phase of the waxing year) and continues through spring, summer, and autumn.
Interwoven with these Sabbats are the Fire Festivals.