02/10/2026
This right here speaks to why I do not observe the "Celtic"/Gaelic Pagan holidays on fixed calendar dates.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FRqbXVrGK/
The lunar calendar and Gaelic lore reckons imbolc or Imbolg as not on a fixed calendar date.
This is the kind of chat that doesn’t make me popular at parties or on the internet, but who needs pals, eh? Imbolc wasn’t a set calendar date. It was set by the New Moon, and falls this year on the 17th - 19th of February. I say this as the dark moon is on the 17th, but some folk wait for the first sliver of silver moon in the sky to acknowledge it, which is a couple of days later. We also have this spoken a lot about in Scottish Gaelic lore, too -especially in the Carmina Gadelica.
Also, according to the Gaelic lore, Imbolc is not regarded traditionally as the midpoint between the Solstice and the equinox its actually the quarter day between Bealtainn and Samhuinn, marking it the middle of winter. You can see this mentioned in the Tochmarc Emire ( the wooing of Emer) in these words… following the date, a set of winds were discussed which helped the Gaels work out when to plant or not, like the name for February is named after one of these winds, An Gearran Gelding month, and the moon after the new moon is called Gealach a’ ghearrain if you like.
“That I shall fight without harm to myself from Samuin, i.e., the end of summer. For two divisions were formerly on the year, viz., summer from Beltaine, and winter from Samuin to Beltaine.” Meyer mentions Oimelc as the beginning of spring in their translation, but also mentions how its wetness is not winter wetness. We are right in the middle of winter right now, moving into warmer climes, which Bealtaiin marks the last of the frosts. Following the lunar calendar means Bealtainn will begin on and around the 16th of May this year. Like pals, no wonder you are tired, we aren’t meant to be moving as fast as all that just yet…
Why do I get outspoken about this? Well, the modern wheel of the year massively appropriated and changed Gaelic culture to fit an imposed ideology which wasn’t there in the first instance. Entire generations of pagans unquestionably conformed to a new understanding and broke our already damaged traditions in Scotland. I discuss this at length in my book and writing so feel free to dive in.
Honestly I don’t write about these things to be annoying on purpose it’s an important thing to think about. These festivals are still living traditions, important cultural markers, and a survival of a transhumance animist relationship with people and place. You might be inclined to view the imposition of the 8 festivals and pagan wheel of the year as an erasure of historic and cultural identity, you might even see it as removing us from the natural rhythms of place and space, which I'm entirely sure isnt the intended aim of the wheel of the year in modern paganism.
