In the first post of this series, I shared how seasonal healing is rooted in cultural traditions across the world, and how many of our ancestors lived in rhythm with the Earth as a way of sustaining physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. In this post, I’m focusing on one particular lineage that’s personal to me: the Celtic Wheel of the Year.
The Wheel is a calendar marking eight sacred Celtic festivals throughout the year. These include the solstices and equinoxes, as well as the cross-quarter days that fall between them. These festivals weren’t just a way to track time—they were a way to honor nature, community, spirit, and the inner shifts that mirrored the seasons.
The Wheel itself is a modern calendar that draws from ancient festivals once observed by Celtic and pre-Christian communities across the British Isles. Though its current eightfold structure was largely popularized in the mid-20th century by figures in the modern Pagan and Wiccan movements, it’s rooted in seasonal rhythms that go back generations. In other words, it’s both new and very old–a contemporary framework built on ancestral memory.
The eight festivals are:
Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, and Mabon.
As someone with both Scottish and Irish ancestry, reconnecting with the Wheel has been a meaningful way to explore where I come from while also tending to my own healing. It offers a framework that is both spiritual and practical. These festivals speak to cycles of life, death, rebirth, and renewal—not just in the land, but within us.
Samhain: Returning to the Roots
The first time I fully stepped into this tradition was during Samhain, which marks the Celtic New Year and the thinning of the veil between worlds. It is a time for honoring the dead, acknowledging grief, and preparing to enter the quiet rest of winter.
That particular year, I had experienced the loss of three family members. My grief was heavy and layered. I was searching for a way to hold it that felt both grounded and sacred. Samhain came as an invitation to pause and feel, rather than bypass or compartmentalize.
I created a simple ancestral altar using family photos, candles, and offerings. I spoke aloud to those who came before me, including the loved ones I had recently lost. I lit a fire and burned slips of paper that held the names of things I was ready to release—patterns, fears, and old narratives that had run their course. I sat in stillness and listened.
There was a deep sense of belonging in that ritual. I didn’t feel like I was doing something new. It felt ancient, familiar, and grounding. Practicing Samhain in the midst of deep personal loss allowed me to hold space for grief without rushing to fix it. It gave me structure, meaning, and connection when everything felt tender and raw.
Why the Wheel Matters in Healing Work
Integrating the Wheel of the Year into my seasonal healing has helped me shift from fighting the natural changes in life to working with them. Winter has become a time for quiet restoration, spring a time to plant both literal and metaphorical seeds. Summer encourages growth and presence, while autumn invites letting go.
In my work as a therapist, I see how many people experience a sense of disconnection during transitions—especially when we are encouraged to push through instead of pause. The Wheel offers an alternative. It helps us remember that change is cyclical, not linear. That rest is part of the process. That grief and joy live side by side.
The Celtic Wheel doesn’t belong to me alone, but it does live in my lineage. Connecting with it has given me both a cultural root and a spiritual rhythm. And in a time when so much feels fragmented, returning to the turning of the seasons has offered a quiet kind of coherence.
I invite you to reflect on what seasonal healing might look like for you. Whether or not you share Celtic ancestry, there may be parts of the Wheel that resonate. Start where you are. The Earth is always turning, and we’re always invited to turn with it.
Learn more!
https://www.history.com/articles/samhain
https://www.theclearspace.co.uk/blog/the-wheel-of-the-year-1
https://energetictarot.co.uk/beginners-guide-wheel-of-the-year/
