Wheel of the Year calendar

What is the Wheel of the Year?

The Wheel of the Year is an eight-festival seasonal cycle used by many contemporary Wiccans and Pagans. This calendar combines common fixed observance dates with calculated equinoxes and solstices. It helps you plan a year of observances while leaving room for the dates and customs of your own community.

Choose a year and the seasonal cycle you follow. Each card links to a guide with context and an original practice. The hemisphere selector changes the seasonal placement of the festivals; it does not claim that everyone living in that hemisphere follows the same calendar.

Which dates does this calendar use?

• Read about the eight Sabbats and local adaptations ↗

Why another calendar may show a different day

A solar turning point happens at a calculated instant, which can fall on different local dates around the world. Our calendar displays the date in your browser’s time zone. A community may also hold its gathering on a nearby weekend rather than at the astronomical instant.

For the four other festivals, our fixed dates are planning conventions. Some people observe the preceding evening, February 2 rather than February 1, or an astronomical cross-quarter midpoint. This tool does not calculate those midpoint dates. Follow your community’s published date when attending a shared event.

Download and use the calendar

1. Select the year and seasonal cycle first. Check a familiar festival to confirm that you chose the intended hemisphere.
2. Choose “Download calendar.” The .ics file contains eight all-day events for the selected year, using the local dates displayed here.
3. Import the file into a calendar application that accepts .ics files. A separate calendar is useful if you want to show or hide these observances together.
4. Add your own preparation notes and reminders. The file is a one-time download, not a subscription; it will not automatically update itself.
5. Before importing another version, check for existing events so you do not create duplicates. Download a new file for each year you want to add.

A practical way to plan your first year

Choose one approaching festival and allow a small preparation interval. For example, before Mabon you might set aside twenty minutes to review a practice shelf and choose what is enough for the coming season. Keep the observance in your calendar and put the preparation on an earlier day.

You can add all eight dates without committing to eight elaborate rituals. A meal, a short journal entry, or a local observation may fit a busy year better. In climates with wet and dry seasons or other local rhythms, record those changes alongside the named observances.

Sources and calculation scope

Astronomy Engine supplies the equinox and solstice calculations. The seasonal themes draw on explicitly identified contemporary Pagan accounts, including Circle Sanctuary’s locally situated approach. These sources serve different purposes: a calculated solar date does not validate a particular ritual interpretation.

• Astronomy Engine documentation ↗
• Selena Fox: a contemporary seasonal cycle at Circle Sanctuary ↗
• Plan a small ritual for your next observance ↗