Today is the 34th day of Chaos, and in a few hours the solar peak of one of the holidays of the astronomical Wheel of the year will occur. This holiday is known by various names: Imbolc, Gromnica, Badger Day, Groundhog Day, Hedgehog Day, and so on. The wheel of the year is a neo-pagan concept of an annual cycle that divides the year into eight equal periods, corresponding to the solstices.
Many peoples of the Earth have long celebrated the winter and summer solstices (the shortest and longest days of the year), which divide the year into two parts. Many peoples celebrate the spring and autumn equinoxes (days when the length of daylight and darkness are equal), which, together with the solstices, divide the year into four parts. The idea of the eight-part ‘Wheel of the year,’ an additional division of these four parts to mark eight equal periods of time, is attributed to the English-American neo-pagans Gerald Gardner, Aidan A. Kelly and others, who linked them to Celtic mythology.
For brevity, let us refer to the two solstices and two equinoxes as the four main solar holidays of the year (among Western European neo-pagans, they are called Yule, Ostara, Litha, and Mabon), and the four days between them as intermediate holidays (Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain). As it later turned out, many peoples still celebrate the intermediate holidays of the wheel of the year under other names, for example, ‘Halloween‘ in Western Europe, or ‘Labour Day‘ in Eastern Europe.
It is worth noting that, according to modern data, in many ancient calendar systems, the year began on the day of the equinox or solstice, meaning that the question of determining equal intervals of the year based on the Sun was not as complicated as it is with modern Christian calendars.
It is also worth noting that at the equator, where it is equinox all year round, a lunar system of time orientation is traditionally used, dividing the year into 12 parts. Some neo-pagans contrast the solar (expressed in the Wheel of the year) and lunar (expressed in the Muslim and Jewish calendars) calendar systems on some metaphysical level, which, in my opinion, is unnecessary, since both systems are essentially solar: the visible moon reflects sunlight rather than emitting its own.
It is believed that all eight holidays of the Wheel of the year are associated with the corresponding Christian holidays in the calendar. For example, Samhain coincides with the Catholic All Saints’ Day, and today’s Imbolc is associated with the Christian Candlemass. For example, the shortest night of the year among the Eastern Slavs, the holiday of Ivan Kupala, is identified with the Orthodox Christmas of John the Baptist. At the same time, the difference between the astronomical event of the solstice (this year it will be 21 June according to the Gregorian calendar) and the corresponding Christian calendar date (this year the Nativity of John the Baptist will be 7 July according to the Gregorian calendar) is more than 15 days.
Some neo-pagans, realising the astronomical and religious inaccuracy of orienting themselves to the Christian calendar, celebrate the solstices and equinoxes in accordance with the Sun, that is, annually checking the data on the specific time of these events with observatories. However, the vast majority of them celebrate the four other, intermediate solar holidays in accordance with the Christian calendar, rather than on the astronomically corresponding days. As far as i know, at the moment, only orthodox erisians celebrate all eight solar holidays in accordance with the Sun, rather than the Roman Pope’s calendar.
Several years ago, i wrote a programme for such celebrations that calculates the exact time for all eight solar holidays, dividing the year into eight equal parts, for any year in the near centuries. The source code of the programme is open, and the source data for the calculations was taken from the French Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Computation of Ephemerides (IMCCE):
https://is3.ussr.win/wheeloftheyearThe difference between the calendar dates of the intermediate solar holidays and their immediate astronomical events can vary by up to 7 days. Of course, one may not see anything deliberate in all this, or one may. For example, a deliberate attempt by the Christian church to desynchronise the flocks of non-equatorial peoples from the natural solar cycle in favour of its own religiously syncretic solar-lunar cycle with 12 months (like 12 apostles or 12 tribes).
Also, as i studied past and present events, i began to notice that certain significant events in world history coincide precisely with astronomical solar holidays. This applies not only to the obvious equinoxes and solstices, but also to intermediate holidays. For example, 25 October 1917 according to the Julian calendar (also known as the Day of the Great October Socialist Revolution) was the astronomical Samhain (although the calendar Halloween was a week earlier). For example, 6 May 2023 according to the Gregorian calendar was designated as the coronation date for the current king of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, and this date was also the astronomical Beltane (although the calendar Walpurgis Night had passed a week earlier).
If the first example in this regard can be considered from the perspective of Soviet cosmologist Alexander L. Chizhevsky as a ‘physical factor of the historical process,’ then the second example is more like the use of ritual natural synchronisation with the solar cycle by an initiated minority. In any case, you are free to use this programme for any personal purposes. If you notice similar coincidences between certain other historical events and the dates of astronomical solar holidays, i would be grateful if you would let me know about them.
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