Cycles and Traditions

Something that has been on my mind lately is the lack of seasonal events in the course of my year. I recently watched a television show called Victorian Farm, where three historians chose to live on and run a farm using Victorian technologies for one year. It was so beautiful to see how their lives were completely ruled by the seasonal changes, as were their celebrations. In that setting you can really see the wheel of the year come to life and understand why it was such an important thing.

We, however, are no longer Victorian farmers. How many of us begin six weeks of gruelling work to harvest our wheat crop after Laghnasadh, and end in a celebration feast at Mabon? In a modern society most fruit and vegetables are available to us all year round, we easily adjust the climate in our houses to suit our needs and we can easily become disconnected from natural cycles. The changing of the seasons can become a nonevent due to the way we live our lives and so I have been thinking about how to incorporate teaching my daughter the importance of cycles into family traditions and yearly events.

In spring I began planting vegetables in my back yard. Growing my own food has been a great way for me to get back in touch with natural rhythms and I think it is something I will encourage Violet to participate in. I have also been thinking about rituals and habits that were key parts of the a farmers year and how they can still be relevant to our house hold. Spring cleaning is a great one, I have decided to bring in the practice of intentionally and consciously cleansing the house room by room each spring, if I dedicate a week to do this and involve everyone in the family we could end in a big celebration and invite friends and family to welcome in the warmer months. I also love the idea of picking fruits to make into jam at the end of summer, and even use some of these jams in a feast at Yule. This was a wonderful suggestion from a beautiful witch friend of mine.

I think these will be great ways to teach Violet and will pass on the greater understanding of cycles and our connections to the natural world. It is no longer satisfying to simply celebrate a sabbat because it's a sabbat and so these are the plans I have for my family, and if you know of any other seasonal activities I could incorporate into our yearly calendar I would greatly appreciate the suggestions.