Festival Dates

The Festival Date Debate

Lá Bealtaine sona daoibh go leir!

     The calendar date debate arises from the celebrations being on the 1st of the respective months of February, May, August, November. There are references dating back to the 11th century for people still celebrating Lúnasa, Bealtaine, and Samhain on what is called 'kalends' (1st day) of those months. We also know this from handed down folk traditions. The confusion around these 1st of the month traditions arises when there was a switch from the Julian to the Gregorian. This shift of dates occurs in 1752 within the Isles, and moved everything back 11 days, meaning what was once the 1st of Nov. is now the 12th by our current calendar. 

    We know that even up until recently, a hundred years ago there were people still celebrating these festivals in rural parts of Ireland and Scotland on the 12th, not the 1st showing a continuation of a time period when there was the calendar shift. 

     Another school of thought is that even before these festivals were connected to calendar dates they were simply based on local detailed agricultural observations. Such as Imbolc happens when the ewes in that region begin lactation, when the milk flows, and when the lambs were born. Also things like the cattle returning to summer pasture in the upper elevations until they come down at Lúnasa. Things like the 1st blooming of the Hawthorn in May. Samhain at the 1st hard frost of what is now Nov. and Lúnasa being when ripeness of crops was optimal for 1st Harvest. Much like our local Eden Corn Festival each year here in WNY which is always held around Lúnasa. This means often times a place would be celebrating something in a region whereas in another region it could be 2 weeks later or such. 

    ~ There is no standard or agreed view on these festival times for celebration and much debate about when and which is correct. No one really knows for certain and each was actually correct depending on the time period being referenced. It boils down to what is best for the dynamic of the group in todays context. Some people like to work with dates because they have larger groups; people need to schedule time off, while others might live in more rural areas and focus on details of that local area. Each has merit. 

Neart inár lámha, fírinne ar ár dteanga, glaine inár gcroí

My personal views:

     What gets me heated as a Gaelic Polytheistic Tribalist (Sinnsreachd) is 'how' the modern Pagans are celebrating these "fire-festivals." Most of them haven't a clue about why these things were celebrated historically even beyond their made-up esoteric ritualized trappings. What irks me to the core is the mispronunciation or anglicizing of these festivals. Seeing them treated so poorly without any Gaelic cultural influence by neo-druids and wiccans is sad. You try and educate them and all of a sudden you're fundamentalist. For those Neo groups it's all about some form of ritual that has no Gaelic format or tradition, etc. It's NOT Bell-tain, we say Be-ALL-tinn-uh. ;-) It's not all about having a 'ride' in the woods and getting stoned by a bonfire, although it could be argued that such things do have a place ;-) 

     For those not 'in the know' of the traditional customs of the Gael, it's better to just have a get together, and have a feast. 

Be 'a people', work together in the kitchen, have fun, tell stories, play games. Make some offerings to The Gods (The Tuatha Dé Danann), The Ancestors, and The Sidhe. Say some words, share some music and poetry, it's that easy! Don't complicate it by looking to foreign cultures for your rituals. Don't rely on Wiccan or Neo-Druid ritual formats to fill in gaps for your lack of education as their formats are far from accurate depictions of Gaelic culture. 

     Please remember these festivals are Pre-Christain Gaelic traditions, and as such they should be honored and respected by keeping them traditional. This is to ensure the survival of our cultures customs & traditions to be passed down into future generations without romantic or foreign influence. For us this is not just a branch of pagan spirituality; this is our culture, and our cultures faith. It is not something we just casually do for festivals. Our culture is everyday, all day long. Please see my useful links for more on this. GRMA.

Go raibh beannacht na ndéithe agus ár sinsir ar thú!

*Useful links:  

A look at this thing people call "Druidry" http://dreoilin.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-look-at-this-thing-people-call-druidry.html

Starting a Druid group. Can it really be done? http://dreoilin.blogspot.com/2017/04/starting-druid-group.html

Celtic Feasting Customs http://dreoilin.blogspot.com/2017/01/celtic-feasting-customs.html

Suggested Celtic Reading List http://dreoilin.blogspot.com/2017/01/suggested-celtic-reading-list.html

Useful Celtic Links http://dreoilin.blogspot.com/2017/01/celtic-links.html

Refrenced/Cited: 

Irish Paganism - Morgan Daimler (pg 42)

Celtic Myth & Religion - Sharon Paice MacLeod

Cattle Lords & Clansmen - Patterson

The Apple Branch - Kondratiev

The Celtic Heroic Age - Koch & Carey