The Southern Hemisphere Celtic Year

Australia and the Southern Lands experience the passage of the seasons in an off-set manner compared to the Celtic homelands of Europe and the Northern Lands. For Celts and those who mark the Celtic passage of time, the marking of the Fire feasts and the progress of the Celtic calendar presents a dilemma. For at the time of Beltaine and Calan Mai on the eve of May, the southern seasons are turning to the winter; at Samhain and Calan Gaeaf on the eve of November, the southern seasons are at the time of rebirth at the start of summer.

The offset seasons have presented their dilemma for all of the time of European settlement in the Southern lands, and the seasonal affinities of great Christian celebrations such as Easter and Christmas have continued to be marked with springtime and snowflake imagery in deference to their northern origin. Some development of southern seasonality has seen Santa adapting quite well to the warm summer nights around Christmas where takes his tea from the billy with a stockman and inquisitive kangaroos.

The Celtic calendar and the four Celtic fire feasts are deliberately associated with the seasons and are celebrations of life and the world about us as well as ourselves and our aspirations. As such, the southern seasons present their dilemma more profoundly: It is simply not appropriate in May to feast for the summer, at the start of the southern winter; Nor does it make any sense to reflect in assembly in November when the land has just come alive. In the Southern lands, November is the lucky summertime; The flourish of red bottle-brushes is at full bloom, oak trees have placed on their green mantles and migratory birds have returned from the north.

This transformation is clearly manifest in the direction of the Sun's path through the Southern skies, rising to the north and traversing a counter-clockwise course - deosil in the Southern hemisphere is a leftward motion and so the natural action in describing a circle. From the east the path travels to the north and warmth, setting from that direction to the west and returning under the earth through a southerly poleward motion back to dawn in the east.

The Wheel of the Year followed by Wicca, neo-Druids and similar groups is similarly offset by the seasonal progression in the southern hemisphere. The Wheel of the Year symbolises a cycle of life, death and rebirth and derives eight key turning points called Sabbats and Esabats from Celtic, Germanic, Egyptian and Latin mythology. The Wheel is generally held to begin at the start of the winter half of the year, coinciding with Halloween, or less often the winter solstice around Christmas. While the Wheel differs to the Celtic tradition of a summer start to the year, the seasonal dilemma met in the southern hemisphere is just as great.

At first glance, there appears to be a simple solution. Seasonally, the European feasts are able to be transposed by six months and successfully celebrated in complementary fashion. November eve marks the Southern year's first weather-movement of summer, its cét-Soman, its Samon moon, its opening of Samhradh. As such the Celtic Fire Feast of Beltaine is on this basis able to be marked with great satisfaction at November eve - 'Southern Beltaine'. May eve marks the Southern year's repose, its Giamon moon, its opening of Geimhreadh. So the Celtic Fire Feast of Samhain is able to be celebrated in like manner, as a May assembly at summer's end. High summer and the Lughnasadh are seasonally matched at February eve; and Springtime's feast of Oimelc/Imbolg and Brigid's fiery inspiration are attendant at the eve of August. Seasonally these all may be marked under their traditional Celtic names, six months off-set to their true dates and labelled 'southern'.

On the Wheel of the Year, this offseting solution has been followed, and consequently southern "Samhain" is marked on May eve, southern "Yule" at the winter solstice in June, southern "Imbolg" on August eve, southern "Ostara" at the vernal equinox of September, southern "Beltane" on November eve, southern "Litha" at the summer solstice in December, southern "Lughnasa" on February eve, and southern "Mabon" at the autumnal equinox in March.

The ancient sources show us that in addition to the waxing and waning of the seasons, the Celtic year was also clearly linked to the stars: The start of the Celtic year is associated with the rise of the Pleaides just as strongly as it is with the start of the season of summer, so astronomically and astrologically there are greater considerations. Both North and South, the Celestial Sphere remains constant, the stars rising in their order throughout the turn of the year. In this aspect the Southern Hemisphere dilemma comes to the fore, for while the seasons may anticipate the Fire Feasts by simple transformation of date, the Stars do not.

The Celtic calendar feasts are therefore not translocatable, and are set in their European context. In no different a way than that of January modernly marking the start of the Gregorian calendar throughout the world, the Celtic calendar has a single world-wide beginning, namely the lunation of May, or in its Gregorian form May 1st. And just as January 1st occurs in the days following the summer solstice in the Southern lands, so too does Samon and its feast of Beltaine occur in the first days of winter in the Southern lands.

Because the Celtic calendar's celebrations are overtly seasonal and devoted to life responding to light, and recognising that it is the Celtic tradition and its celebrations rather than indigenous traditions whose developments were moulded by the southern seasons and the southern skies, a solution is offered here that may provide a satisfactory Southern Celtic response.

Caer Australis proffers the names Teine Samhradh Deas, Teine Grian Deas, Teine Geimhreadh Deas and Teine Earrach Deas for the Southern Fires of Summer (November, at Samhain), High Summer (February, at Oimelc), Winter (May, at Beltaine) and Springtime (August, at Lughnasa) respectively, which recognise that each season's celestial arrangements in the South run opposite to those of the Celtic homelands and the Northern lands. For the Celtic calendar, the month of Samon may be referred to as the Southern Giamon Lunation, and so on throughout the calendar year. This arrangement of Southern Fires and Lunations express the southern seasons in Celtic terms, while recognising the Celtic Fire Feasts and the months of the year are European in origin and design.

Understanding that the Celtic year commenced at Beltaine across the Celtic world, knowing the day of the moon when the months began, and pin-pointing the start of the 30 year age allows the provision of the calendar of correspondences to the current Gregorian year.This is presented in our Celtic calendar section, with an outline of the Celtic month names given by comparing the Gaulish language to Irish and Welsh, etymology and myth in the Celtic Year 2009/10.

After the expansion of Rome, the Celtic calendar was supplanted by the calendar of the Empire and Christianity. In Ireland, Patrick usurped Beltaine for Easter in AD433, and four centuries later in AD831 All Saints day was moved to November, so co-incident with Samhain. However, the Celts maintained their important days of their culture and so even today, marking the Celtic fire feasts keeps Celtic calendar alive.

The exploration and expression of the Southern Celtic Seasons is widespread and well developed across Australia. Here are some links to further interpretations and views from the Southern perspective that will stimulate further thought:

Temple of the Dark Moon - Sabbats Down Under
Shadows of Oz - Wheel of the Year
Temple of the Silver Oak - A Green Witch's Calendar
Blackthorns Wicca Pages - The wheel of the year
Kids.Net.Au - The Wheel of the Year
Spritual.com.au - Wiccan Sabbats
Spiral Dance - 'The Quickening' Music CD

Links to wheel of the year sites - south and north
links to herb and urban ecology sites

Reaching to Celtic roots and myth is one way of finding meaning, understanding and fulfilment in life. Presented here are Spiritualistic, Wiccan and Pagan sites that also endevour on the same journey of discovery. Some of the people behind the links have been supportive of Caer Australis over the years, others are excellent starting points as they provide links to network within Australia. If you believe there is a Link that should be included, please submit via our Contact Form.

The following links on this page are to sites providing information about the rich storehouse of edible and meicinal herbs and practical advice for their growth. The principle of growing and using whole plant parts include the simple pleasure of tending to the garden, good for the mind and the soul, the inclusion of variety and flavour in the diet, and, for the medicinal aspect, low doses of principal active agents and the inclusion of additional secondary agents.

The following links are to sites each in their own way concerned with sustainable ecological solutions where participation by people takes place. The principle of re-earthing is that of living in a way where we identify with the earth - recognising, realising and acting. We live in a way as if we were separate from the earth, and each of us can redirect our manners toward re-earthing.