I try to be a good Heathen, but as a Wiccan convert I am sometimes confused about when I should observe my faith according to Heathen holy days (henceforth “holidaysâ€). When I first chose Heathenry over Wicca, just because it is a better fit for me, I figured the Wheel of the Year was a standard Pagan calendar and not much would change in the cycle of observance. I was wrong.
There is no Heathen Wheel.
There are days that overlap, to be sure. The major observances – the winter and the summer solstices — seem to be universal holidays in Pagandom. But beyond that, Heathens observe holidays in a fast-and-loose sort of way. I don’t mean that as a dismissal or as a slight. IMO, even among Pagans we Heathens are “rebels†because our observances are not always tied to seasonal changes. Our holidays do not ebb and flow on a six-week cycle in relation to astronomical events. Observance days — the dates and the occasion — are much a guideline for us. I mean, holidays are guidelines in any faith, but Heathens don’t share a consensus on when observances are timed, what they are called, or which ones are most important, if any (as far as Jax and I know).
Even so, Iz be Pagan and Iz be diggin’ Pagan holidays. As I said in the beginning, though, I still get confused about when I should observe Heathen holidays. Since I came out of the broom closet Wiccan, I’m sort of indoctrinated into that paradigm – and honestly, I find it helpful to keep track of time. So I’ve constructed a Heathen to Wicca crosswalk. I’m not the first to do this, but I think this is perhaps more thorough than what’s out there to date. This crosswalk is not “gospel†and it is not “official.†It’s just me trying to get a better handle on my choices of Heathen holidays, using a rubric of sorts that is easy to follow – the Wheel of the Year.
We’ve actually written a lot about Heathen holidays on TPP. Well, Jax has written a lot.  🙂 Here are some great resources if you’d like to learn more:
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Winter Nights / Elf blot (Jax talks about the vagaries of Heathen calendars in here, too):
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Modranicht (Mother’s Night)
What do you think, fellow Heathens? Do you find the Heathen holidays confusing or unstructured? What about fellow Pagans…did you know Heathens don’t subscribe to the wheel?
1 comment
Savana says:
Apr 7, 2014
Thank you for posting this. I have had a lot of trouble with the Wiccan Wheel of the year. Because the Wiccan dates and actual event dates do not match up. I am no longer Wiccan, and I do not know really anything about Heathenism (Hedonism?) being Heathen. Anyway, For instance, Midsummer. Makes sense, if you think about it, Beltane is considered the beginning of Summer according to History, so Midsummer must mean the middle of summer, but wait! Don’t all northern hemisphere calenders say that June 20-22 is considered the Beginning of Summer? So then is Beltane suppose to be in June? But then Yule is the Winter Solstice and Yule according to the calendar is suppose to be opposite of Midsummer, so then does that make Yule Midwinter? but then the calenders say it is the beginning of Winter. So then is Midwinter in February, where the next holiday is? So then Ostara is the beginning of Spring and Beltane the End of Spring Beginning of summer? So then is Ostara in March or May? This is too confusing.
I have come to only care about the Solstices and Equinox and to hell with the rest of the holiday or a specific agricultural event, that happens in a country I have NO familiarity with because I live in the middle of a desert.
I enjoyed reading what you had to write. I just discovered you blog and have already read many pages! I love it!