Wheel of the Year

Ohhhhhh thheeeeeeeeeeeee
Wheel of the Year turns round and round,
Round and round,
Round and round,
Oh the Wheel of the Year turns round and round,
All through time!

M1 asked me last night why she's considered a summer baby as mid-September is totally Fall territory in our minds.  I told her it's because we've lost the cross-quarter days of an agricultural calendar & the general population is confused and calls June 21st, Summer Solstice, "The first day of summer," when in fact it's mid-summer, (hence it's other name, 'mid-sommer').  May 1st/Beltane is the first day of summer, and spring begins way back in February as the days slowly begin to be noticeably longer, and (some) seeds and bulbs start germinating in time for mid-spring to be in March at the Vernal Equinox.

Yes, that means that fall is upon us, in August!  The second major harvest festival of the year! And we have another two harvest festivals -- Autumnal Equinox to catch the dog days of summer, and Halloween where we thank our ancestors and all for another year of harvests, & put the earth to bed.  And winter begins after Halloween when the cold, damp darkness hunkers down for the year.

But because we've lost the observation of the quarter days as seasonal changes (rather than religous and festive dates), we have this silly thing where summer begins at midsommer & winter waits all the way until the longest night of the year to say, "ok, now it's srs bizness."

Another thing we discussed was people are allowed to have their opinions.  Their opinions may be wrong, but they're allowed to have them.  :)

And still the Wheel of the Year spins round & round...