Wheel of the Year

This page lists articles I have written on witchcraft, paganism, and spirituality. Some articles are listed under multiple headings.

These articles all relate to the natural cycles of the wheel of the year and sabbats holiday and seasonal observations.

Equinoxes and Solstices

Winter Solstice and Finding Balance in Extremes, article by Sidney Eileen on TheBalancingPath.blog

Winter Solstice and Finding Balance in Extremes

As an extreme, the winter solstice can teach us a great deal about how to move through life and retain balance even in the most trying of times. Read More

Transient Balance and Duality of the Equinoxes - Mabon and Ostara, article by Sidney Eileen on TheBalancingPath.blog

Transient Balance and Duality of the Equinoxes – Mabon and Ostara

The equinoxes are a balance of day and night and a duality of spring and fall, as every equinox is both an Ostara and a Mabon, one waxing and one waning. Read More

Ostara

Including Queer and Genderqueer Fertility, article by Sidney Eileen on http://TheBalancingPath.blog

Including Queer and Genderqueer Fertility

Ostara through Beltane in pagan circles tends to include a deluge of fertility themes. This time of year also usually includes a dominating emphasis on male-female sexual pairing, especially cis binary sexual pairing, yet they are far from the only kind of pairing or fertility that exists. Read More

Samhain

Mourning and Commemorating Transitions at Samhain, article by Sidney Eileen on http://TheBalancingPath.blog

Mourning & Commemorating Transitions at Samhain

We don’t get to choose to what we mourn.  We can’t help the fact that we mourn not only other people, but animals, objects, places, relationships, activities, our previous selves, and anything else we place personal value upon.  When we value something, anything, and it leaves our lives, it is natural to mourn it. Read More

Why I do not Formally Venerate my Ancestors, by Sidney Eileen

Why I Do Not Formally Venerate My Ancestors

These are my personal reasons for not formally venerating my ancestors, and some things I have done instead to root my practice and connect with death. Read More

May Samhain Blessings be Upon the World, article by Sidney Eileen on TheBalancingPath.blog

May Samhain Blessings be Upon the World

I do not feel much like celebrating Samhain this year, but there is a great deal to observe, and there are still Samhain Blessings to give. Read More

Yule / Winter Solstice

Title: The Longest Night, Artist: Sidney Eileen, Medium: white pencil on black paper

Revisiting The Longest Night

My 2012 drawing, The Longest Night, is a dedication to the deeper meanings behind the sabbat of Yule, of the winter solstice, of the longest night of the year. That symbolism is relevant throughout the year. Read More

Spiritual & Practical Reasons to Have an Artificial Yule Tree, article by Sidney Eileen on TheBalancingPath.blog

Spiritual & Practical Reasons to Have an Artificial Yule Tree

It may seem counter-intuitive to include a plastic tree as a sincere spiritual component of Yule, but it makes sense to me for some very specific reasons. Read More