Eight turnings. Eight rites. The old calendar that women kept long before it had a name — solstices and fires, the first milk and the last harvest, the thinning veil and the quiet return.
Jól
Winter Solstice
December 21
The longest night. The hearth is tended, the dead remembered, the sun begins its slow return.
Dísablót
The First Stirring
February 1
Ewes milk at last. The disir are honoured. The first promise of spring, still under frost.
Sigrblót
Spring Equinox
March 20
Light and dark in equal measure. Seeds are blessed. A sacrifice for the year's victory.
Valborgsmässa
The Fire Festival
May 1
Fires on the hill. Cattle driven between them. The old rite of fertility, flame, and becoming.
Miðsumar
Summer Solstice
June 21
The longest day, the high sun. Herbs gathered at noon. The turning toward the dark begins.
Freyfaxi
First Harvest
August 1
The first grain is cut. Freyr is honoured. Bread blessed — the land gives back what was given.
Haustblót
Autumn Equinox
September 22
Balance tilts. The last of the harvest is in. Thanks offered for the year's abundance.
Vetrnætr
The Thinning
October 31
The veil is thin. Ancestors walk close. The old year is laid down; the dark half begins.