High Days

ADF High Days

The eight High Days of our Neopagan calendar are the bedrock of ADF’s tradition of public Pagan worship and a core element of our spiritual practice. Each of our Groves (ADF’s public congregations) is required to offer a public ritual on each of these holy feasts. In the same way we ask each of our solitary members to learn the symbolism of the Wheel of the Year, as it is often called, and observe these tides in personal practice.

What are the High Days?

The eight High Days are the annual round of Neopagan holy days. They consist of the four ‘solar’ holidays and the four ‘fire festivals’ or ‘cross-quarter days’ which have their best-known expression in Celtic tradition. Together they produce a calendar with sacred occasions spaced evenly every six or seven weeks throughout the year.

The Druid year begins with the October Feast, commonly known as Samhain or sometimes as the “pagan new year.” From there, we celebrate a High Day about every six weeks.


	November Feast (November 1)	The druid year begins on (or about) November 1 in the northern hemisphere. This is a time when the final harvest of the year was completed. This feast is commonly known as Samhain, the Pagan New Year, or the Feast of the Dead.
	Winter Solstice (December 21)	The Winter Solstice marks the darkest night of the year. This feast is known by many names including the Winter Feast, Yule, and the Longest Night.
	February Feast (February 1)	The first cross-quarter day of the calendar, the February Feast anticipates the nearness of spring and preparation for the growing season, even though it remains cold outside. Other names for this festival include Imbolc, Feast of the Goddess Brigid, and first springtime.
	Spring Equinox (March 21)	Light and darkness are balanced at the spring equinox and spring is in full bloom. For many, the Spring or Vernal Equinox is the time for sowing and planting.
	May Feast (May 1)	Along with the November Feast, the May Feast is one of the two most sacred days in the Druid calendar. Other names for this day include Betaine, The Hinge of Summer, and the Feast of the Sidhe/Fairies.
	Summer Solstice (June 21)	The Summer Solstice is the balance to the Winter Solstice, when the full strength of the sun is felt and the days are the longest of the year.
	August Feast (August 1)	Also known as Lughnasadh, Feast of the God Lugh, or First Harvest, this cross-quarter day marks the point in the agricultural season when harvesting begins in earnest.
	Autumn Equinox (September 21)	Day and night are once again in balance as the year turns once again toward winter. Also known as Mabon or the Feast of Reaping, this time of year was busy for our ancestors, who were preparing for the winter to come.

Where do the High Days come from?


Our sacred calendar is not taken directly from any one ancient model. It is a synthesis drawn from several sources. Here we present a short review of the origins of our eightfold calendar before we discuss how to observe the feasts at home.
European folk tradition retained memories and scraps of pre-Christian tradition in its calendrical customs. Often these customs were preserved in the Christian calendar of saint's days. For instance, the feast of St. John assumed bonfire and agricultural customs retained from the Summer Solstice, and, in Germany, St Walburga's Day fell on April 30th.
In contrast, many of those days were also associated with 'witchcraft' and all of the church's distorted memories of Pagan worship, feasting and mysteries. When folklorists recorded these seasonal complexes they found them full of the lore of spirits and land-wights, divination and magic.
Early modern scholars observed that ancient monuments such as Stonehenge and Newgrange were aligned to the solstices and equinoxes. They associated these Neolithic sites with the Celtic Druids and, though they were mistaken, the association of Druids with the solar holidays was established in the popular imagination.
In the 18th and 19th century there was a rediscovery of the native literature of Britain and Ireland. The Mabinogion and the tales of Taliesin, the Book of Invasions and the Tain Bo Cuailnge gave a new image of a Celtic and Pagan past. They contain many references to Celtic holy days that had plainly survived in the scraps of folklore.
The earliest British Druidic revival groups made the solstices and equinoxes their ritual occasions. The well-known photos of white-robed Englishmen in long beards at Stonehenge are commonly taken at Summer Solstice. When the first versions of Neopagan Witchcraft were created they began in the same way, but soon added the Fire-feasts to create the eightfold calendar still in use today.
When ADF was founded in the mid-1980s it chose to simply adopt the nearly universal Neopagan calendar. It was quickly decided to abandon the term ‘sabbat', invented by the Church as a slur against the Jews, and the term ‘High Days' was adopted in its place. The Wheel of the Year is a construct which never existed in any specific Pagan culture, yet each of the High Days is well-documented as a holy feast in a variety of Indo-European cultures. It is broadly adaptable to our goals, and widely known in the broader Pagan community that we mean to serve. The eight High Days suit both our Indo-European focus and our commitment to Neopaganism.

What do the High Days mean?

The lore surrounding each of the eight feasts is deep and complex. You will learn about them in your reading and apply what you learn in your personal path. As an introduction we will examine some of the general spiritual meanings of the High Days.

First, the practice of keeping the Wheel brings an awareness of the land in which you dwell. The seasonal nature of the feasts creates a personal feel for the life and flow of the land. We find a core spiritual value in the attunement of our minds and lives to the turn and return of the annual cycle of sun and earth.

We see the simple, public purpose of our round of seasonal worship to be the creation and maintenance of a flow of blessing from the Gods and Spirits to ourselves, our homes and our folk, and even to all the world. Pagan religion accepts the role of human ritual in maintaining the relationship between the divine and the world of common life. Our offerings, our fires, our songs help to bring us the help from the gods that we need in our lives. Our Gods love and respect us as we do them, and they use their power to aid us. As Pagans have ever done, we seek health, wealth and wisdom in our lives and wisdom, love and power in our souls.

In Indo-European cultures the annual round of feasts and sacrifices included many of the major deities and lesser spirits of the local Pagan religion. When we observe each of the feasts throughout the year we, too, work with a broad selection of the Gods and Spirits of our chosen cultures.

The powers of love and death, hearth and forest, commerce and war, of sowing and reaping, and the hunt may all be invited into our lives. A polytheistic system seeks the depth and detail of the divine power in the many beings of the spiritual world, and working a year on the Wheel leads us to invoke each of these powers in turn. This work creates a balance of the Powers in the life of the worshipper.

As we approach the Gods in worship, we awaken in ourselves their own images and presences, and glimpse some spark of the divine fire. Through the keeping of the Wheel we bring the natural balance and beauty of the seasons, and the power of the Gods, into our own lives. When we observe the High Days, even in a simple way, we open our own souls to a balanced progression of the Divine Powers.

The spiritual work of the High Days is performed on a scale of years, at the pace of sun and earth, yet there are many fine blessings for those working their first year to be gained from each day in turn. Each completed observation of a full turning of the Year places your own soul at the center of a grand mandala of all the powers of the sacred world. As with all of our rituals in this Dedicant’s path, the best way to begin is simply to begin—choose a few simple things, and turn your mind toward the land and the gods.

Understanding the practice of the High Days

As you approach your first High Day it is good to spend a bit of preparation time reviewing the lore and customs of the feast. You may decide simply to adopt one of the rituals we provide in our support materials.

These rites cannot themselves provide you with real depth of understanding of the complex meanings of each of the holy days. As in every part of our work you will need to read and study to reach a working understanding of the High Days.

Cultural/hearth options

One of the first choices you will need to make is within which Indo-Europeans (IE) culture you will work your High Day. ADF is neither attempting to recreate any specific ancient culture, nor to create a generic modern Paganism. Rather we mean to study the specific traditions of ancient peoples and to create modern systems based on them.

As part of our first century of work we have chosen to attempt to work our rites within only one ancient culture at a time. While this rule is frequently bent, we encourage you to choose just one cultural model in which to work any specific High Day rite.

You may come to ADF with a clear notion of which ancient culture excites and inspires you, or you may feel a need to experiment. It is common for new students to work one High Day in one culture and the next in another, but we discourage you from mixing elements from various cultures in any single rite.

We are still in our early stages of understanding what ancient Pagan religions were really like, and what those ways can mean to us today. ADF has always been defined by a few ‘game rules’ of our experiments—not dogmas, but self-identifying guidelines. One of those is our choice to work our rites in one specific culture at a time.

Of course ADF makes another ‘game rule’ of limiting our choices to the Indo-European peoples. If you wish to work in Chinese or Incan systems we may be interested in the results, but it won’t be an ADF ritual. To choose which culture to work in for your first efforts you can simply select one that interests you.

You may already be drawn to the Celtic, Hellenic, Slavic or some other culture or ways. You may have a connection through ethnic heritage, or simply by fascination with a body of mythology. ADF places no importance on ethnic, genetic or ‘blood’ background—feel free to choose from the long list of Indo- European cultures. You may be drawn to some part of your family heritage or to another culture entirely. In your early efforts you need not overthink your choices. Simply pick a pantheon that interests you, and begin.

The Land & the Seasons

Your local climate and landscape should influence how you approach the High Days. Druidry is always a local religion, grounded in the soil we walk on, not in cosmic principles that transcend landscape. The land, water, weather, plants and beasts of your environment will be the presence of the divine in your High Day experience.

As each High Day draws near be sure to observe the actual changes in the material world around you. Our High Days are generally based on cultures that lived in somewhat northerly places. Even in the tropics the stars wheel with the seasons, and winds and waters vary their patterns. Learn about your local growing seasons, what crops and resources are harvested in what times and how the major native animals live through their year.

Gods and Spirits

As you prepare for a High Day you will need to decide which of the Gods and Spirits you will address. You should make an effort to examine the myths and customs of the Pagan culture you prefer to find hints of which Gods are proper to the Day. Folklore tends to disguise the Old Gods behind medieval saints and wonder-tales and these tales are full of hints and snippets that resonate with older lore.

We have formal calendars preserved from some IE Paganisms that list Gods proper to each season. The Roman and Hellenic calendars, for instance, are very detailed, but do not fit with great ease into our eight-fold year. In many other cultures you must choose for yourself what Gods you will worship based on your reading and intuition.

Some Pagans prefer to choose a God and a Goddess for each feast, others do not concern themselves with gender balance in that way. Some High Days in some cultures are plainly devoted primarily to a single deity. In other cases the lore may focus on one of the other Kindreds—on the Ancestors or the beings of the Land. We offer some simple support materials but in the end you must choose for yourself which of the Gods and Spirits you will honor.

Customs and Lore

Each of the seasonal holy days is observed with a variety of customs. Songs, dances, fires, purifications, handicrafts and meals along with nearly every other sort of human activity are employed by various cultures for the feasts. You will choose just a very few customs to observe for your first High Days.

Once again the easiest way to focus your choices is to draw upon a single Pagan culture. Use your sources—books and internet articles—to locate two or three customs that you can accomplish on a small scale. You might choose to dye eggs for Spring Equinox, along with blessing seed or ground for your year’s garden. You might choose a warrior’s hike for Lughnassadh along with baking a loaf for offering.

Seasonal customs can be divided into offerings and blessings. It is always proper to give offerings to the Gods and Spirits, whether food for the Dead at the November Feast or flowers for the Landwights at the Summer Feast. We always look for their blessings in turn, whether the purifying fire of May or the peace and feasting of Winter. As you review your sources you might look for one custom to use for offering, and one for blessing.

Working the High Days

In our Groves we often make a festive liturgical occasion of a High Day. Robes, tools, symbols and songs come together in well-worked group ritual. As a student of Druidry you have the chance to learn to work fully developed solitary Druidic sacrifice.

You will create your own sacred tools and hallows, pour offerings and sing chants. In many ways the work of creating your own Druidry is the work of becoming your own priest.

Even for a brand-new student, keeping the seasonal feasts is one of the simple pleasures of the Pagan way. From the very first days of your Pagan journey, even when you do not yet feel ready to work full ritual, you can find easy ways to bring the power of the year’s cycle into your life. Homely customs based on food and fire, land and family, are easily done by beginners.

As you approach your first High Day you can choose from several levels of complexity. At the simplest you can add a simple seasonal invocation to your daily or weekly practice, perhaps along with a seasonal household handicraft. If you have introduced yourself to our full Druidic ritual structure (perhaps through the Self-Blessing ritual) you can choose to work a simple seasonal rite at your hearth or home shrine. As you become comfortable with our ritual forms you may wish to set up a full Nemeton (ritual space) in a room or outdoors, and work a full rite with family or friends.

Preparing For a High Day

No matter which level of work you begin with, you will need to prepare for the day in advance. You should spend some time in study, looking at what reliable sources have to say about the symbolism and customs surrounding the season and its feast. Note the phase of the moon and the nature and condition of the soil, plants, water and beasts. Choose very specifically which ceremony, customs, charms or prayers you will use. Make good copies of the texts whether or not you plan to read from them during the actual work. Be sure your ritual tools are ready, and make or obtain any unusual props or symbols called for by the ritual before the day.

On the day before the High Day make certain that you have each and every item that you mean to use. Have your text ready, and read it frequently to become familiar with it. Prepare the indoor or outdoor space you mean to use. If possible spend the evening before in quiet reading, meditation and rest.

A Simple High Day

If you don’t feel ready and able to work a full ritual for your first High day you can still be open to the season’s blessings. Customs based in home and hearth can be combined with simple bits of ceremony. The key is to be mindful of the season and the living earth, and diligent in your reading and study of the seasonal lore.

When you rise on the High day you should bathe and then work some simple centering or devotion. If you have a regular morning practice then you should do that. Otherwise a rite from this guide, such as the Simple Devotion or even the First Rite should be performed. If you wish you can add some simple statement of intent for the High Day, such as:

Hear me all Kindreds; today I will keep the feast of (Samhain).
Let the wisdom of the land be clear to me, the memory of the
Old Ways grow strong in me and the blessings of the Powers
flow and shine in me on this feast of (the Honored Dead).

During the day you can keep whatever customs you have chosen. Perhaps you can walk in a patch of woods and spend a while reading poetry or story from the culture in which you’re working. At your evening meal you might set aside a portion of food for the spirits, with such words as you like.

Once you have established a shrine in your own home you can celebrate each High Day by decorating it for the season. Flowers, greenery and symbolic objects can be combined artfully to bring the feel of the High Day to your home altar. This is a simple but gracious expression of the season that can be extended to your whole house, if you wish.

Some people choose to make the evening meal the most ritualized moment of an informal High Day. It can be a time, especially with family or a small group, for lighting candles, passing cups and recitation of prayers. Another good time for the performance of customs is sunset. If you can be outdoors in the gloaming of twilight, especially if alone, it can be a powerful moment for a small seasonal charm or invocation. We give a small selection of such charms in this guide, and our internet resources offer a wealth of material.

Conclusion

The Wheel of the Year is one of the core mysteries of Our Druidry. The eight High Days combine the realities of the local land with all the deepest mythic patterns of the Old Ways. As you work a few years with the Wheel you will begin to feel the spiritual rhythm of the cycles, and your understanding of the High Days will continue to grow throughout your life.