The Western Gate

The Ritual Year
Kiera Chapman, Lulah Ellender, Rebecca Warren
Granta Publishing

From Granite To Sea
Alex Langstone
Troy Books

Two books herewith about the wheel of time, more specifically the customs associated with the calendar.
Though I could say I was born on a particular day and that day evermore would be its anniversary, what if, I were born on the day of an equinox or solstice, or a full moon after a solstice etc, would it follow that that day, which fluctuates, would in fact be my anniversary true? October 31st isn’t really Samhain every year, for it is the midpoint between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice, and that changes, it is the fellowcraft and journeyman who rounds it up and the master who is precise. Does it matter? In truth the wayfarers follow those long-shadows cast by the Solar dance and with them the ebb and wane of the lunar reflection, that is the wheel of the year. (“and what about the winds Davey boy, don’t forget the prevailing and movement of the wind… “)
Llewellyn, for example, publish yearly the coming years guide to moons and whatnot, though the times maybe in EST or Pacific specific not so terrific. These Almanacs have their uses, Sunrise guide times, Sea tide warnings, and of course the moons.

For my sins, around September I craft next years wheel of the year, being the start at the Winter Solstice. I will place every new moon and full moon accordingly and also the start of each Octave sign, Capricorn beginning at the Winter Solstice and so on. All this information is also entered into a yearly Cell By Cell data on an excel spreadsheet so I can add gigs and football matches and other essential reminders. job done.
The celebrations throughout Britain of course are relevant, and each area is different, just as the practice and perfection of the crafte is familiar to each area, there is no common Wiccan dance applicable to the world, how can there be? Indeed, my garden in the exile of West London differs from my neighbour, thus, my medicine cabinet is an altogether stranger to my common folk on the other side of the ‘picket fence’. Am I splitting hairs.
Alex Langstones Granite to the Sea is regional, to the area of Bodmin and East Cornwall. Some of My ancestors from Pengersick and The Michaels Mount were from West Cornwall, and others from Clovelly North Devon, so Langstone’s book shouldn’t serve my hereditary waltz well, but these books are not here to tap into our inner DNA, but the more general feel for celebration. And celebrate each passing we must.

Make every rite with joy and grace,
Keep living fire in time and place,
A feast for life, a feast for death,
A feast in every heart and breath,
( Adapted from Liber AL Ch.2, as performed by Creepy Carrie on III-Fuck the OTO)

The Ritual of the Year by contrast is a broader view and each chapter created by one of three (auspicious) authors. There are familiar themes more known obviously in the common mind.
For my part, I’m not after the common or the accepted but the peculiar and the strange, that lonely path where my only other companion if ‘twin flame’ were a concept true, is nature herself. Never complimentary or synchronous, but dynamic, ever changing as the moon across the dance of the Sun, and yes, repeats somewhat throughout the year but never truly returning until the grand dance of 19 years elapses, whence the sun and the moon return to their starting point and the age of ‘man’ spirals outward to its next incarnation, of adult or elder, trickster or death. Its not so much a wheel of the year as dance of longshadows through nineteen gates. Cyclical time is simple, a year, and a day. But, such a peculiar book as I infer , with reference also to my local flora and fauna is that which can only be guided by my own hand, and it’s of no use, perhaps, to another, not even the accusing eyes of that neighbour over yonder fence.
The Ritual Year by the thrice authors lists various celebrations from Scotland down to Cornwall. Some 72 passages of various rites spread throughout the year, many of which will appeal more to the tourist than the rootfinder eldenfarer. The ‘at a glance Ritual finding map’ is a handy reference, though would be better served to list the page numbers of each, but its not that difficult to find in the book.
From Granite to Sea, deals specifically with events in a much smaller locale, and this really gives flavour of celebration, local, inherent, ancestral, regardless of whether you have an affinity with the folk or area or not. These chapters arranged throughout the course of the Solar Year. Being more exact, Granite to Sea is the more favourable of the two but The Ritual Year, being more broad in scope would probably be the more popular. In effect, one is Macro and one is Micro, but does the concept ring true, As above so Below, in essence all ritual follows nature. The common themes of life death and renewal, and the local themes being reflective of the flora and fauna in tandem with that cycle. The theatre, the plays, the mummers and rituals. The symbology and archetypes drawn into folklore/folktale
The Ritual Year is a guide, a brief overview and each a wiki-like entry. From Granite to Sea collects in more detail the lore and tales, and the journey is told with the mind being filled with imagery from the areas spoken of, a wainwright view. Of course, following this template in The Ritual Year would have to entail a 12 volume set to fully expand each section of Britain. you gets what’s able to be given. We can but fill the shelf with likewise books as Alex Langstone provides and also- as indexes, the broad church such as The Ritual Year and Britains Folklore Year.
And then consider, the rest of the world? there’s a lot of merriment to be had.
Every 10th of May at 3:12 a strange dance is held in the East End of London, whereby in tandem all the young men fall upon their arse and nod forcefully towards an unseen goal. It is in fact derived from Trevor Brookings header that delivered the winning goal against Arsenal in the FA Cup that very same day and moment in time. Such is the anniversary, such is remembrance.

Header Image: The Seasons : Alphonse Mucha (1896)