When you imagine the night sky, one of the first things that comes to mind is the Moon “glowing” in the darkness. The Moon has always held a special place in our imaginations and in daily life. Even thousands of years ago, humans drew pictures to track the changes of the Moon. Then, people used these observations of the Moon to create calendars. A “Lunar” calendar is based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases “lunations”, in contrast to a solar calendar whose annual cycles are based on the solar year. One Lunation lasts approximately 29.5 days, so most Lunar calendars alternate 29 and 30 day months. A 12 Lunation year would be 354 days, about 11 days shorter than a 365 day solar year. The most commonly used calendar today, the Gregorian calendar, is a solar calendar system that originally evolved out of a lunar calendar system. When a Lunar calendar system includes an intercalation (like a leap day or month) to bring them into general agreement with the solar year, they are “Lunisolar” calendars. Most calendars referred to as "lunar" calendars are in fact lunisolar calendars.
A lunisolar calendar was found at Warren Field in Scotland and has been dated to c. 8000 BC, during the Mesolithic period. Some scholars argue for lunar calendars even earlier. Many cultures in history, and most modern religions use Lunar and lunisolar calendars, resulting in their holidays moving around the Gregorian Calendar. For Example Easter is the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the Spring Equinox. Similarly some modern Heathens used a lunisolar calendar, marking their Blots with each Full Moon, but still making observances of the solar seasonal cycles. The Yule celebration is traditionally celebrated on the Full Moon closest to the Winter Solstice, marking the end of the year.
Historical Pre-Christian Heathenry: When were the Blots?
The Traditional pagan wheel of the year holiday cycle is on a solar calendar, tying the holidays to the Solstices and Equinoxes, and the four quarter day festivals between them usually at the start of a Month, like Beltane is always on May 1st.
We have created a modern Lunisolar calendar that combines traditionals from the solar pagan wheel of the year holidays, and the Heathen lunar Blot cycle. We use the Astrological Seasons to divide the year into four, at each Solstice and Equinox. Each quarter year has three lunations. A lunation starts with the new Moon, but it’s Full Moon marks what season it is in. Each Lunation can be identified by the traditional Moon Names. When a quarter year has four Full Moons, the fourth is the Blue Moon. The first Lunation of the year is the first Full Moon after the Winter Solstice (usually on December 21st).
See the 2023 Lunar Calendar
The Pagan Quarter Holidays are observed on the closest Full Moon to the Solstice or Equinox. For Example, some years Yule will be before or after the Winter Solstice, depending on when the Moon is full.
The Pagan Quarter Holidays for 2023:
Yule 22'/23' - Cold Moon - Dec. 7th - Full Moon
Ostara 23' - Worm Moon - Mar. 6th - Full Moon
Litha 23' - Buck Moon - Jul. 2nd - Full Moon
Mabon 23' - Hunter's Moon - Sep. 28th - Full Moon
Yule 23'/24' - Wolf Moon - Dec. 26th - Full Moon
The Pagan Cross-Quarter Holidays are observed on the closest Full Moon to their solar calendar dates.
The Pagan Cross-Quarter Holidays for 2023:
Imbolc 23' - Snow Moon - Feb. 5th - Full Moon
Beltane 23' - Flower Moon - May 5th - Full Moon
Lughnasadh 23' - Sturgeon Moon - Aug. 1st - Full Moon
Samhain 23' - Beaver Moon - Oct. 28th - Full Moon
