Dismantling the Yuletide greenery was an important event on Uphalieday, Twelfth Night or what is known as Epiphany in the Christian calendar. Decking the halls with Yuletide Greenery at Christmastime is an ancient tradition. Its origins stretch back to a time before Christianity reached Scotland’s shores. It stretches back to a time of druids and [...]
Hogmanay is by far the biggest celebration in the Scottish year. Traditionally it surpasses Christmas in the degree to which it is celebrated. But why? From ancient times the Winter Solstice has been celebrated by the early people of Scotland. With the coming of Christianity, Christmas became a major celebration. However, during the Protestant Reformation, [...]
The Yules was the old festive celebration in Orkney and Shetland derived from the old Norse Celebration of the Viking Settlers who once inhabited Scotland’s Northern Isles. However, long before the Norsemen arrived, the prehistoric peoples of Orkney had built the cairn at Maeshowe, with its entrance aligned to the Winter solstice. The old ways [...]
Did you know that once upon a time, Christmas was banned in Scotland- by the Kirk? And that Christmas has only recently become a public holiday? However, from before the dawn of time, this time of year has been important to the inhabitants of Scotland. Stone Age Megaliths are aligned to the Winter Solstice. Many [...]
Anyone who has lived in Scotland can tell you that the Winter Solstice can be a tough time of the year, with barely any daylight hours. On 'driech' rainy days, there may be little light at all. Most people feel that they would gladly join the hibernating hedgehogs and bats in their sleep. This must [...]
Halloween began in the dawn of history as a Celtic harvest festival called Samhain (pronounced sow-in). We know from the alignments of the Neolithic stone circles and cairns that the solstices were important to the early peoples in Scotland. The summer and winter solstices were easy to measure and could be used as the basis [...]
The rowan tree has a special place in the hearts of the Scottish people. It was once worshipped by the Druids, planted near the doorways of homes as a protection from witches, used as part of the rituals in quarter-day celebrations and features prominently in Scottish folklore. Perhaps the most famous is the tale of [...]
The turning of the wheel of the year is something which is always with us. At the summer solstice, I stood watching the sunset at the Browland Standing Stones in Garmouth, one of the villages on the Spey Estuary. The standing stones make a four-poster circle which is an unusual stone circle configuration for the [...]
Lughnasadh is a festival where the first fruits of the harvest are celebrated on the 1st August. It has its origins in two separate festivals. Firstly, it is the Celtic festival of Lunastal, Lunasdal or Lughnasadh, making it one of the Gaelic quarter-day festivals along with Imbolc, Beltane and Samhain. Later the quarter-day festivals would [...]
Many people visit the Calanais Stones, on the Isle of Lewis at sunrise on the Summer solstice. They have heard a legend about the arrival of the ‘Shining One’ and go there in the hope of catching a glimpse of this being. But what is the story behind the myth and why are the Calanais [...]