The School of the Seasons

grounding, guidance and earthy goodness

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It’s a brand new year with new opportunities to live in ways that bring joy and nurture our souls.

Seasonal living, noticing, honoring, and celebrating the changing seasons is a way of life that is open to everyone. Though often associated with Neo-paganism, the Wheel of the Year is essentially a way to mark natural events that would have been important to past agricultural societies. These are things like the solstices and equinoxes, which we know our ancestors, at least as far back as the Neolithic, were aware of and marking in various ways, think Stonehenge, Chaco Canyon, and Newgrange.

The cross-quarter days fall at the mid-points between the solstices and equinoxes. The origin of these festivals can vary by location, and some are older than others.

Over time and across locations, religious practices were embedded into these yearly markers. We now may think of them as myth or folklore or not. Whether you want to attach the honoring of any deity to each seasonal festival is entirely up to you. At its core, the seasonal wheel is a way to honor and mark the changing seasons.

Because the seasons are tied to the sun's movements and have a relationship with the constellations, they also have astronomical and astrological components.

Beyond the confines of the Wheel of the Year (its Celtic form is most familiar), seasonal living in the Hedge Mystic School of the Seasons also takes advantage of newer seasonal practices, like Thanksgiving as a time of gratitude and New Year’s as a time for resolutions and intentions, along with new ways of creating nature-based ritual, meditation, and awareness.

Seasonal living is a much needed antidote to our techno-machine-driven world. It invites you to slow down, adopt the pace of nature, become aware of the natural rhythm and flow of the earth, and take a break from screens and the artificial world of social media. It’s an invitation to be present with reality. When you accept that invitation, be prepared to be filled with awe and admiration for nature's astonishing beauty, order, and magnificence.

Participating in the observance of the Wheel of the Year celebrations brings comforting predictability, solidity, and grounding to your whole being. It's wholesome and nourishing and brings us back to a more human way of living.

Many of you arrived at Hedge Mystic because you saw the offer of a free seasonal guide on social media. There is now a complete set of eight Celtic Wheel of the Year guides. You may have collected those as they were offered in Hedge Mystic posts throughout the year.

I like making guides and have created others, such as the Celtic Advent Guide, the Lion’s Gate Portal Guide, and the Year End Reflection Guide.

The Hedge Mystic School of the Seasons also includes self-guided creative retreats called Explorations & Experiences that will deepen your relationship with each seasonal festival on the Wheel of the Year.

Now, all these resources and more are available in one place, so you can download and use them whenever you like.

There is now a hidden page on Hedge Mystic called The Hedge Mystic School of the Seasons.

Secret Page for subscribers only »»»»»» The Hedge Mystic School of the Seasons

Bookmark this page, or search the Archives or Topic Library for this post anytime in the future to come back here and get the link.

I have one request: please don’t share the link or any materials with anyone who isn’t a Hedge Mystic Subscriber. These resources are meant to be a significant part of what benefits and brings our community together. Please encourage anyone interested to join us by subscribing to Hedge Mystic (it’s free).

Once you get to the School of the Seasons page, scroll down and get a feel for everything there. Any text in green is a link to a resource.

If you’ve been a Hedge Mystic subscriber since the beginning, you may have, or at least may have, seen much of what is there, but no worries! I will add more resources to the School of the Seasons over time.

If all goes as planned in 2025, I will create a new series of seasonal guides based on the Anglo-Saxon Early Medieval Wheel of the Year, which follows the Early Medieval festivals attached to the agricultural wheel. These would be Candlemas, Lady Day, May Day, St. John’s Day, Lammas, Michaelmas, All Hallows, and Christmas.

The School of the Seasons is a labor of love, but upgrading to a paid subscription or donating is always deeply appreciated. Both options are available at the bottom of the School of the Seasons page.

If you have ideas about what you’d like to see included in the School of the Seasons, let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear what interests you…more myths and folklore, poetry for the season, recipes, music, crafts, guided meditations, book recommendations, seasonal tarot, or something else.

The comments section is a safe and welcoming space to share your insights and experiences.

Comments and conversation are always appreciated and enjoyed, so feel free to let your voice be heard. I read them all and try to respond to each one.

Thank you for reading Hedge Mystic and participating in this vibrant and growing community of creative, spiritual humans. You are always welcome here, appreciated, and loved. 

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