Spinning in Place: A Secular Humanist Embraces the Neo-Pagan Wheel of the Year

Bart Everson

Apr 2016 · Frowning Cat Books

About this ebook

Draw a circle to represent the year: one complete revolution around the sun. Make a mark at the top and the bottom, the left and the right, dividing the circle into four equal quarters. Let these represent the solstices and the equinoxes. Now rotate the whole thing about 45º and make the marks again. These marks fall midway between the others, dividing the circle into eighths. Call these the cross-quarter days.

You’ve just sketched the Wheel of the Year, a cycle of eight observances spaced evenly throughout the calendar. Call them celebrations, commemorations, recurrences, festivals, feasts, holidays, holy days, sabbats, or whatever you like. What are they, what do they represent, and why do they matter?

About the author

Bart Everson helped found the Green Party of Louisiana as well as Friends of Lafitte Greenway, the Earth-Based Spirituality Action Team of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, the Earth-Centered Special Interest Group of POD Network, the Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition, and the Crescent City Gaian Guild. He is the author of Spinning in Place: A Secular Humanist Embraces the Neo-Pagan Wheel of the Year. In 2021, he ran for New Orleans City Council At-Large.