Gorsedh Ynyswitrin

In Glastonbury we celebrate the eight modern seasonal festivals, consisting of the two solstices, equinoxes and four cross-quarter days. The precise dates of these festivals, particularly the cross-quarters are constantly under discussion, some people prefer to synchronise them with lunar phases or hold celebrations exactly six and a half weeks apart. This means that in actual practice, the festivals tend to go on for about a week and Winter Solstice extends into the Christmas period with the main events being held on the closest weekend to these dates.

Beltaine and Samhain are the oldest divisions of the year, being the times when cattle were moved between summer and winter pastures. The ancient Celts split the year into three parts originally with the introduction of Imbolc to celebrate the lambing season. Lughnásadh was a later development as the agricultural harvest increased in importance. The Solstices were not observed until Dark Age times and the Equinoxes are likely to be a relatively modern invention to complete the wheel. Each clan would have its own private variation on the names of the festivals, which would be passed on as part of their hereditary knowledge.

The table below lists the Celtic language names for these festivals. The modern Wiccan terms were introduced by Aidan Kelly in the 1970s, the modern Druidic ones were dreamed up by Iolo Morgannwg in the late 19th century. The extinct Gaulish terms are reconstructed from information in the Coligny Calendar and as such are highly speculative. Additions and corrections from native speakers of these languages are welcomed.

In addition to these dates, we also celebrate:

March 1st

St. David’s Day

March 17th

St. Patrick’s Day

May 19th

St. Dunstan’s Day – Patron saint of Glastonbury

June 17th

St. Hervé’s Day – Patron saint of Bards

Jan 17th

Old 12th Night – Wassailing