The Turning of the year: Pagans and the Celebrations that mark the season
From the Hedgewitch's Journal
The Turning of the Year:
Pagan Celebrations and the Herbs That Marked the Seasons
"The old calendar was not written on paper. It was written in blossom and berry, in the first frost upon the fields, and in the herbs gathered before sunrise."
Long before clocks divided our days and calendars filled our walls, people measured time by the land itself.
They watched the hawthorn bloom.
They listened for the return of swallows.
They gathered the last berries before the first frost.
The seasons were more than weather—they were a sacred rhythm. Across Britain and Ireland, Celtic communities, Anglo-Saxons, and later medieval villagers celebrated the turning of the year with feasts, fires, and the gathering of herbs. While the names and customs varied from place to place, one belief remained constant:
The earth provided what was needed, exactly when it was needed.
For the hedgewitch, every season brought new medicines, new rituals, and new reasons to walk the hedgerows.
Imbolc – The First Stirring of Spring
Winter still held the land, but beneath the frozen ground, life was quietly returning.
Associated today with Brigid and the first signs of spring, Imbolc was a season of hope. The first lambs were born, milk returned to the table, and healers began planning the year's herb garden.
Herbs of the season:
🌿 Rosemary – remembrance and purification
🌿 Angelica – protection and renewed strength
🌿 Bay Laurel – inspiration and new beginnings
Bundles of dried herbs gathered the previous summer were often burned or replaced, welcoming the growing light after the long darkness.
For the cunning woman, this was a time to prepare—not merely the garden, but the spirit.
Beltane – When the Earth Burst Into Bloom
Few festivals celebrated life more joyfully than Beltane.
Bonfires blazed across hillsides, cattle were driven between the flames for blessing, and flowers decorated homes, doorways, and village greens.
This was the season of abundance.
The hedgerows overflowed with medicine.
Herbs and flowers of Beltane:
🌸 Hawthorn blossoms
🌼 Daisy
🌿 Sweet Woodruff
🌿 Thyme
🌹 Rose
The hawthorn tree was especially revered. To many, it marked the boundary between the ordinary world and the realm of the fairies. Wise women gathered its blossoms carefully, treating the tree with deep respect.
The countryside itself felt enchanted.
Midsummer – Gathering the Sun's Medicine
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If there was one day a medieval herbalist treasured above all others, it was Midsummer.
Many believed herbs gathered on the eve of the summer solstice possessed their greatest strength.
Whether gathered before sunrise or beneath the lingering twilight, these plants were dried for use throughout the coming year.
The herb basket filled quickly.
Traditional midsummer herbs included:
☀️ St. John's Wort
🌿 Mugwort
🌼 Yarrow
🌿 Vervain
🌿 Betony
🌼 Chamomile
These herbs found their way into remedies, protective charms, and bundles hung above cottage doors.
For the hedgewitch, Midsummer was harvest day for the year's most precious medicines.
Lughnasadh – The First Harvest
The grain ripened.
Blackberries darkened along the hedgerows.
Fields turned gold beneath the summer sun.
Named for the Irish god Lugh, Lughnasadh honored the beginning of the harvest season and reminded communities to give thanks for what the earth had provided.
Herbs gathered now included:
🌾 Meadowsweet
🌿 Fennel
🌿 Hyssop
🌼 Calendula
🌿 Dill
The first seeds were collected.
Leaves were tied into drying bundles.
Roots were marked for autumn harvest.
Nothing was wasted.
Autumn Equinox – Balance
The days and nights stood in quiet balance before winter slowly reclaimed the land.
The frantic pace of summer eased.
Herbalists turned from gathering leaves to collecting roots.
Autumn medicines:
🍂 Burdock root
🍂 Dandelion root
🍂 Valerian
🍂 Horseradish
Roots carried the stored strength of the growing season.
They were dug carefully, washed, sliced, and dried beside the hearth.
Samhain – When the Veil Grew Thin
No festival captures the imagination quite like Samhain.
For many Celtic communities, this marked the end of one year and the beginning of another.
Livestock returned from pasture.
The harvest was complete.
Darkness settled earlier each evening.
Stories tell us the boundary between this world and the Otherworld grew thinner during these nights.
Whether taken literally or symbolically, Samhain became a time for remembrance.
Herbs associated with the season:
🌿 Sage
🌿 Rosemary
🌿 Juniper
🌿 Mugwort
🌿 Rowan berries
Juniper was burned to cleanse homes.
Rosemary honored memory.
Mugwort appeared in traditions connected with dreams and protection.
The hedgewitch prepared for winter knowing the garden would soon sleep beneath the frost.
Yule – Evergreen Hope
Winter Solstice
The longest night reminded people that darkness never lasted forever.
Evergreens decorated halls because they remained alive even in winter.
Candles filled cottages with warmth.
Families gathered close to the hearth.
Plants of Yule:
🌲 Holly
🌿 Ivy
🌲 Fir
🌿 Mistletoe
🌿 Bay
Though little grew in the frozen earth, dried herbs gathered throughout summer sustained both body and spirit until spring returned.
The hedgewitch understood something every gardener eventually learns.
Winter is never the end.
It is simply the season when the earth dreams.
The Hedgewitch's Calendar
What fascinates me most about these ancient festivals is not whether every custom can be traced to one culture or another.
It is the way they encouraged people to notice the world around them.
To gather herbs when they were at their best.
To rest when the fields rested.
To celebrate the first blossom.
To honor the final harvest.
The seasons themselves became teachers.
For the hedgewitch, the calendar was never separate from the garden.
One shaped the other.
From the Pages of The Midsummer Women
When I write about the women of The Midsummer Women, I imagine them living by this older rhythm.
Their lives are measured not by appointments or deadlines, but by flowering hawthorn, ripening elderberries, the scent of drying lavender, and the first frost silvering the fields.
The herbs they gather are more than medicine.
They are reminders that every ending carries the promise of another beginning.
Perhaps that is why these ancient festivals continue to speak to us today.
They remind us to look up.
To notice the seasons.
To walk a little more slowly through the hedgerow.
And to remember that the oldest calendars are still written in the language of the earth.
Until Next Time
"The wheel of the year turns whether we notice it or not. The hedgewitch simply chooses to walk beside it."
May your shelves always hold a well-loved herbal, your garden always offer something in bloom, and your heart always find wonder in the turning of the seasons.
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