TX Wheel of the Year

Live Oak UU's Women's Spirituality Circle Spring 2002 Project

For January through May 2000, we decided to focus our study on the "wheel of the year" -- the traditional seasonal celebrations that people have celebrated in various cultures. We read a book entitled Wheel of the Year: Living the Magical Life, by Pauline Campanelli, and also drew from other reading for information on non-Western traditions, especially Native American ones. As we went through the year, we realized how many of the celebrations we read about were based on the seasons as experienced in northern Europe--the colors, symbols, and activities were based on harvest and planting schedules that make sense in England or Ireland. They didn't make a lot of sense here in central Texas, however.

So, we decided to learn all about the traditions of other places, and learn about the times of year most celebrated (sabbats and cross-quarter days) as well as all sorts of other holidays and celebrations. THEN, we worked to see how we could apply what we learned to the seasons and surroundings we experience here, creating a "Texas Wheel of the Year."

We spent two weeks in May on the Texas Wheel. We planned one week, and then we created an altar cloth that depicts the seasons and times of year we experience here in Texas. Here's a picture of the finished project (more photos appear at the end of this page):

Texas Wheel of the Year

As you can see above, we used the four directions as the base, as the European wheel of the year would, and we indicated what the traditional names for each season are, so we can relate the Texas Wheel to the traditional one. We changed the colors usually associated with each direction to ones that fit Texas seasons more--here's what we did:

Direction	Traditional	Texas
North	Green	Brown (because Texas is brown in the winter)
East	Yellow	Green (because Texas is greenest in spring)
South	Red	Red (for the heat in summer)
West	Blue	Yellow (for fall's yellow flowers)
Center	White	Blue (for the water upon which all our seasons depend)

Near each part of the wheel, we illustrated concepts, events, flora and fauna that evoke that time for us. We used fabric paint, cut out illustrations from fabric, and drew with markers. You can see the illustrations better in the close-ups below. Here are some examples:

North: Renewal Time (Yule) yaupon holly, mistletoe, cedar (juniper), house decorated with holiday lights, Yule log

Northeast: Awakening Time (Imbolc/Candlemas) the moon, budding wildflowers, butterflies, migrating birds

East: Wildflower Time (Ostara) bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, more birds, wildflowers, baby deer

Southeast: Prickly Pear Time (Beltane) prickly pear cactus, peaches, black-eyed susans

South: Bat Viewing Time (Litha, Midsummer) bats, windsurfing, fireworks

Southwest: Inferno Time (Lammas) sun, bathing suits, sunglasses, fish, seashells

West: Winds or Change Time (Mabon) pecans, sunflowers, dried grass, yellow wildflowers, the wind, adult deer

Northwest: Ambiguity Time (Samhain), changing leaves, sweaters, ducks, skull (dia de los muertes from Mexican heritage), beer bottle (Oktoberfest from German heritage)

Pictures!

Here are some photos of our work in progress, and close-ups of the finished product. Thanks to Katherine Enyart for the wonderful photos! You can click on any thumbnail to see an enlarged photo.

We started out with a beautiful base Katherine made for us. Here are Carolyn, Hella, Sue Ann, Diane and Ritamarie getting started.	SA is telling Erin she can too draw, which amuses Carolyn.	Close-up of the east side of the cloth.
Close-up of the south side of the cloth.	Close-up of the west side of the cloth.	Close-up of the North side of the cloth.

We hope that our project might inspire your group to think about meaningful local traditions, plants, animals and climate, to create a Wheel of the Year that is personal to you. Maybe you could make an altar cloth, a painting, or a wall hanging to depict your inspirations!