This is a list of Observances for Sanctuary of the Phoenix.

Table of Contents:
1. The 8 Sabbats
2. Esbats
3. Path Observances
4. Awareness Observances
5. Full Moons
6. Celtic Tree Months
7. Notes

The 8 Sabbats

The 8 Sabbats also known as “The Wheel of the Year” are for many Pagans the primary holidays of their beliefs. Solstices, equinoxes, and cross-quarters are astrological events. Though The 8 Sabbats are both an ancient and modern invention with ancient and modern roots through contributions from Gerald Gardner, Ross Nichols, Aleister Crowley, Cormac Mac Cárthaigh, James George Frazer, and Margaret Murray, they became better known around 1974 by Aidan Kelly’s Wheel of the Year.
Aidan Kelly’s Wheel of the Year was largely based on the work of the many who contributed to the wisdom and knowledge of the ancient cycle but was extended and enhanced to fill in unfinished and undefined aspects. Unfortunately, Aidan Kelly’s invention of The Wheel of the Year was very broken and inconsistent with facts, further departing those who choose to observe it from the actual ancient roots of these observances and the religious significance they hold. It is known, that astrological alignments were observed as Holy Days by ancient Pagans of various beliefs around the world. The significance of these 8 astrological alignments varied by region and beliefs. What we do know, is that the ancients used the position of the Sun to determine when to hold these observances. They did not use static days or the Gregorian Calendar, it was the alignment that was significant. Aidan Kelly moved the Cross Quarters to Static Days and chose to use dates of Christian holidays and church-run celebrations. To further cause confusion and misinformation, Doreen Valiente in 1978 wrote the book “Witchcraft for Tomorrow”. In it, she Christianized the names of the Cross Quarters into Candlemas, May Eve, Lammas, and Hallowe’en. Three of which are are the Christian holidays Aidan Kelly aligned to and the other is aligned to May Day which celebration of is largely run by Christian churches. None of this sounds very Pagan, would you agree?

At Sanctuary of the Phoenix, we have worked hard to repair and revise The Wheel of the Year to be more consistent with the timing the ancients would use and at least a little more consistent with known Pagan observances in the ancient world by omitting known modern inaccuracies. Aidan Kelly did the best they could at the time with the knowledge they had to devise a solid way to bring the Pagan community together. We respect this spirit and hope our revised version can bring us together in accuracy with the knowledge that has since come to light.

In our Sanctuary, we generally hold our Open Rituals the Saturday before or Saturday of the alignment.
In some rare cases, Open Rituals may be held earlier or later than the standard Saturday plan.
We intend to help people prepare for their own observances on the day of a Sabbat just as much as providing a religious service through our Open Rituals. Our Open Rituals are usually less formal as we welcome questions from viewers and participants and often have discussions.
In areas where we have a building or other property, we may elect to provide Closed Rituals on the exact date of alignments for Coven members.

Imbolc – Cross Quarter

Northern Hemisphere: Sun at 15° Aquarius – 315° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: February 3^rd – 5^th

Southern Hemisphere: Sun at 15° Leo – 135° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: August 6^th – 8^th

Summary:
Details coming soon.

Ostara – Vernal Equinox

Northern Hemisphere: Sun at 0° Aries – 0° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: March 19^th – 22^nd

Southern Hemisphere: Sun at 0° Libra – 180° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: September 21^st – 24^th

Summary:
Details coming soon.

Beltane – Cross Quarter

Northern Hemisphere: Sun at 15° Taurus – 45° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: May 4^th – 6^th

Southern Hemisphere: Sun at 15° Scorpio – 225° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: November 6^th – 8^th

Summary:
Details coming soon.

Litha – Summer Solstice

Northern Hemisphere: Sun at 0° Cancer – 90° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: June 19^th – 23^rd

Southern Hemisphere: Sun at 0° Capricorn – 270° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: December 20^th – 23^rd

Summary:
Details coming soon.

Lughnasadh – Cross Quarter

Northern Hemisphere: Sun at 15° Leo – 135° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: August 6^th – 8^th

Southern Hemisphere: Sun at 15° Aquarius – 315° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: February 3^rd – 5^th

Summary:
Pronounced (LOO-nuh-sah)
First Fruits – the first harvest Sabbat of the year.
Sacred to the God Lugh and the Goddess Tailtiu.
We celebrate the bounty of the first harvest, berries, and grains.
Colors: Yellow, Gold, Orange, Brown, Green.
Direction: West.
Altar Tools: A Boline or a Scythe to represent the harvest. A Cup or Chalice to represent abundance.
Symbolism: Corn, Wheat, Bread, Lugh’s spear, Solar Symbols, Corn Dollies, Sacrificial God Symbols.
Stories: John Barleycorn.

Autumnal Equinox

Northern Hemisphere: Sun at 0° Libra – 180° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: September 21^st – 24^th

Southern Hemisphere: Sun at 0° Aries – 0° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: March 19^th – 22^nd

Summary:
Details coming soon.

Samhain – Cross Quarter

Northern Hemisphere: Sun at 15° Scorpio – 225° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: November 6^th – 8^th

Southern Hemisphere: Sun at 15° Taurus – 45° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: May 4^th – 6^th

Summary:
Pronounced (Saa-win)
Details coming soon.

Winter Solstice

Northern Hemisphere: Sun at 0° Capricorn – 270° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: December 20^th – 23^rd

Southern Hemisphere: Sun at 0° Cancer – 90° Solar Ecliptic Longitude
Typical Date Range: June 19^th – 23^rd

Summary:
Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year and coincides with various Path-specific beliefs.
While some look at this as the point where the Oak King begins to regain control as opposed to the Holly King, it is generally a period of rest, reflection, and rebirth in many Paths.

Esbats

An Esbat is generally accepted as any meeting of a Coven that is not for a Sabbat. This could include initiations, moon rituals, rank advancement, and general business handling.

Path Observances

Many Paths of Paganism also have observances of their own. We will be compiling many of those observances into this list over time.

Heathen

Modern Yuletide

Northern Hemisphere: Starts on the day before December Solstice
Southern Hemisphere: Starts on the day before June Solstice

Yuletide is a modern creation. in our variation, we observe 12 nights +1 day starting on the day before winter solstice relative to the hemisphere you are located in. The additional day is a day of rest. In antiquity, after Yule, there would be a gathering of the remains of the Yule Log to be the starter for the next year’s Yule Log. It was also a day in antiquity when contracts entered would begin and take effect.

The meaning behind most Nights of Yule is subject to reforms as we further develop meanings that work best for our Sanctuary.
Currently, we follow a mix of traditions, observances, and meanings derived from the many variants in the greater Heathen community.

Ancient/Traditional Yule

Ancient/Traditional Yule is always on the first Full Moon after the first New Moon after the Winter Solstice and lasts for 3 Days/Nights.

Druid

While we are working to better understand Druidry, it is mostly agreed that the changing of the season through the “Wheel of the Year” is generally observed while in place of the Solstices and Equinoxes are major observances.

Buddhism

Miscellaneous and Awareness Observances

Full Moons

Celtic Tree Months

* Graves’ version uses the dates November 25 to December 22 to add an extra day between months. This is to make “A Year and a Day”.
We omit this. The reason we omit this is due to inconsistencies. The Celtic New Year was Samhain is an example of such inconsistency.

Notes

As with all of Pagan History that is now known, it is fraught with inaccuracies. Some inaccuracies were malevolently done by Abrahamic Colonialism, some by ancient wars, and some histories were just not diligently kept or were written from what was left of a fading and inaccurate oral tradition. This has had a devastating effect on what is known about ancient observances and their timing, often we rely on archeology to iron out inaccuracies and inconsistencies presented in various texts. It is important to realize, that often the people writing the history were of a different faith, often an aggressor of their writing subject. They often used calendars that were different from that of the subjects they were writing about, and in earlier writings, using calendars we do not use today. For some of these writers, they purposefully got dates and descriptions wrong as the faiths and beliefs they were writing about were being eradicated by their conversion efforts and they wanted the only record remaining to be their very broken account so reconstruction or resurgence of a faith was less likely. This is why written history is often not consistent with archeological evidence. This is also an issue in academia, in academics we know these things, we know that they were looking at the position of the Sun for when observances like the 8 Sabbats took place, but they also perpetuate information they know to be false and inconsistent with what historians know and with archeology. Such as Imbolc taking place from February 1 through sundown on February 2 being widely accepted. Academia is well aware this is false as well as many other similar subjects, but contesting these would be an attack on the validity of this or that monk and thus make all their writings subject to further scrutiny and renewed peer review, so it gets swept under the academic rug for various non-academic and Abrahamic religious reasons. Often, these very broken and inaccurate accounts are all we have until there is archeological evidence. This being the case, it makes Pagan religious history in effect a very corrupted and inaccurate topic that is unlikely to be sorted out by accepted academia in our lifetime. It is up to us as the faithful to in the meantime look at the whole picture and find the ring of truth in all the evidence and new discoveries we have until academia catches up.