We all carry the essence of the time we are born in. I believe this and have seen proof of these patterns, as a lifelong enthusiast and practitioner of astrology. As a Witch, I also see how we express the energies of the seasonal festival closest to our birthday. This is what I call our ‘Power Season’ because it relates to our vitality, creativity, and inner power. It is a time of year where we operate from a place of greater strength and energy, potentially making big strides forward in our lives. This is when our unique light shines bright.
Likewise, we have an opposing season, or what I call a ‘Balancing Season’- when our creative energy is lowered. During this low season, it can be a good time to recharge and refuel our creative cauldron. It is also a great time to integrate that season’s balancing energy to help us achieve greater wholeness. I invite you to read the description of your balancing season as well, as it is often our best teacher!
Remember- this is simply an added lens through which to get to know yourself, one that compliments astrology, not replaces it.
Find Your Power Season
In the modern witch’s calendar, the year is divided into 8 seasonal festivals. These 8 festivals take place at the Equinoxes, Solstices and the points between each of those.
Your birthday season is your Power Season. Find where your birthday falls in the list below. Your Power Season is the seasonal festival that is closest to your birthday. You may need to look at your calendar to see which one that is. Your birthday may fall right in the middle of two seasons, and thus you may carry some of the energy of both, as one season fades into the other. You can consider both festivals good times for using your creative power, and both balancing seasons good times for recharging your energies.
Winter Solstice- Approx Dec 21st
Imbolc- Feb 1st or early Feb
Spring Equinox- Approx March 21st
Beltane- May 1st or early May
Summer Solstice- Approx June 21st
Lammas- Aug 1st or early Aug
Fall Equinox- Approx Sept 21st
Samhain- Nov 1st or early Nov
Now, let us explore these seasonal festivals and how they resonate with your inner gifts and power..
Winter Solstice Approx Dec 21st – The Wise Witch
If Winter Solstice is your power season, you are the Wise One, Old Soul, carrier of elder energy. You are attuned to the ancestors, and value the wisdom held in traditions and the old ways. Perhaps you feel you’ve had many lives on earth and have knowledge you wish to pass onto others. Your life is one of collecting experiences that teach you to become stronger and wiser. You may choose to teach others as well. The darkness of this time of year doesn’t faze you as much as it does for others, because you have a strong core of self-reliance that holds you steady as you surrender to the Mystery. You can see in the dark with your intuitive senses. You can hold space for the unknown while your feet stay planted on the earth.
The festival of Winter Solstice is one of honoring endings and beginnings- processing all that the year has brought, and rekindling the hope of renewal as the light begins to slowly increase once again. It is a deep moment of stillness, reflection, rest and retreat, before the dawn.
You carry this essence of depth and of hope- the ability to straddle moments of death and rebirth in life for others. You may find yourself called to be in those moments of transition, loss, or challenge for other people. You enjoy the company of elders and feel a kinship with the ancient ones.
Your power lies in your internal strength, an inner light that blazes even when everything around you is in darkness. You are the solid rock others lean on when in need. You sometimes may feel you need to carry the world on your shoulders and have trouble asking for what you need. You feel like you must be always the responsible one or the authority. It may be too easy sometimes to get swallowed in darkness, grief, or pragmatism. Your focus may be past-oriented, as you glean wisdom from your past experiences or the wisdom of others who have tread the path before. You follow what has worked over time, and you are patient.
At the Winter Solstice, embrace solitude and really tap into the increased wisdom the year has brought you. Stand in your power gained through experience. Consider how you can share this wisdom and be a source of strength for others in the year to come.
Your Balancing Season:
Your balancing season is the Summer Solstice. Let this time be an invitation to step out of your usual role of authority and let yourself receive the earth’s gifts and replenish your deep reserves. Open up to the love, bounty and beauty around you.
The melting, softening, opening and blossoming energy of solstice may feel uncomfortable, dripping with excess, drama, or just too much sunlight! But the light, playful and expressive energy of summer solstice can help you remember that you can have fun, be silly and enjoy life! Receive the light into your being, so you can shine it for others in the dark. Read the description of Summer Solstice season for added insight.
Reflection: How do you embody wisdom? How do you integrate your playful, youthful side?
Imbolc- (Feb 1/Early Feb) The Visionary Witch
If Imbolc is your power season, you are the sparkling magic of sunlight on the snow, the gentle stirrings of new life deep in the belly of the Earth Mother. The cold may be harsh and unrelenting, yet the light has noticeably increased. Like a deer in a silent winter forest, your spiritual antennae are attuned to higher frequencies and your sensitivities are heightened to the energies around you. This attunement to subtle energies gives you an allure of mystery, as not everyone can hear what you hear or see what you see. Your sensitivity may also require added care and protection. Inspiration is what you seek to channel, as it fuels your visions of a brighter future and motivates your creativity.
The festival of Imbolc venerates the goddess Brigid, healer, poet, smith, and hearth-tender. It is a season of cleansing and preparing for new life, dedication to our spiritual path, and stoking our inner hearth of inspiration and creativity. It is a time where we envision the year ahead, and gently incubate the new life stirring within us.
Like the season, you may straddle the world of harsh reality with one of hope and possibility. You may find your sensitivity, spiritual orientation or unique perspective misunderstood by others or seen as impractical, but these are your gifts. You can see much farther ahead than most, feel collective energies stirring beneath the surface and can intuit things very accurately. The job of a visionary is to dream. To see possibilities, where others don’t. You embrace multiple perspectives, and make connections. The world needs your inspiring visions and goals. You are here to inspire hope, help others believe in magic, and create new ways of doing things.
During your power season, re-commit to your spiritual path and ideals. Tap into your creative visioning power! Dream a new dream and map out the way there. Trust your instincts and sensitivities. Your gentle nurturance is a gift for all life- you may wish to share it with young children, animals, plants, or ideas. Honour the preciousness of new life and tend to its needs.
Your Balancing season:
Your balancing season is Lammas. Let this time be an invitation to take a break from future-minding and get present to the earthly bounty around you. Soak up those warm rays on the beach, get deeply interested in the sand between your toes and nothing more. You may find this season uncomfortably physical or pragmatic. The land asks that we reap our harvest and contend with the results. Enjoy your harvest! The practical energy of this season helps you bring your dreams down to earth. Drying herbs, canning, pickling, crafting, and making bread are all good activities that help ground your expansive spirit into the here and now. Read about Lammas season for further insight.
Reflection: How do you embody the Visionary energy? How do you integrate your grounded, practical side?
Spring Equinox- (approx. Mar 21st) The Brave Witch
If Spring Equinox is your power season, you are the bright flame of rebirth, regeneration, and new life! As an early spring witch, you carry the essence of new beginnings, optimism, and brave action. Like the baby ram leaping about, or the relentless green shoots pushing through the soil, you are motivated to break new ground and enjoy doing it. The old ways of doing things don’t interest you. You seek to innovate, initiate, and move things forward. No matter how old you are, you carry a youthful, fresh, and innocent energy. Children are likely drawn to you, sensing a deep kinship. Life is your adventure, and the world is your oyster. You are sensitive to energy and can channel a large amount of it. Your motivation and optimism are contagious, like a flame that lights others’ awaiting wicks.
The festival of Spring Equinox is a celebration of new life and inspires taking tangible action. This is the time of year when we can begin to implement the creative visions we had in Imbolc season, bringing them into the material world and taking risks or bigger steps forward.
Like your power season, you love to start new things. Others may find your optimism childish or that you lack follow-through, but new beginnings are the job of the brave witch that you are! You know that you can’t manifest a dream if you don’t try. You are more likely to succeed in your endeavors than most, simply because you’re willing to act where others let fear prevent them from taking the first step. You may feel called to be that helping hand or voice that urges others to be brave, stand up for what they believe in or take a step towards their dreams. You may be an advocate for the vulnerable, or champion of the underdog, willing to put yourself in the line of fire if needed.
During your power season, take a stand, start something new, share your innovative energy in some way. It will have far-reaching effects. The world needs your brave warrior witch energy!
Your Balancing Season:
The Fall Equinox is your balancing season. This is where we begin our descent into the underworld and draw inward. You may find this season depressing or difficult, as the leaves fall, reminding you of what has been lost or ended. Let this be an invitation to take off your armor and give yourself a break from being the warrior. You deserve rest and recuperation too. Make a warm pot of your favourite tea, get cozy with a good book or pull out your journal. Let your heart melt and the tears flow. Your own inner child deserves the love, care and protection you give to everyone else. Read about Fall Equinox season for further insight.
Reflection: How do you embody bravery? How do you integrate your softer, reflective side?
Beltane- (May 1st/Early May) The Sensual Witch
If Beltane is your power season, you vibrate with the green earth, which is alive and beginning to show buds, leaves and flowers. The energy of growth is your magic, with a passion for manifesting tangible creations. You’re a very sensual being, in touch with your body and sexuality, trusting your physical instincts more than most. The vibrant spring energy you carry exudes strength, confidence, optimism, and beauty. You may have a green thumb or a talent for healing, cooking or art. There’s lots to do during this season- gardens and projects to plant, tend and cultivate. Likewise, you may find you are often busy and juggling many tasks at once. Like the butterfly, you may find yourself flitting from one thing to the next, sampling nectar from different flowers and bringing together different flavors or notes to create something new.
The festival of Beltane is a time to celebrate fertility and growth. We do rituals in celebration of the body, love, dancing and feasting. It is also a time for cleansing and protection from mischievous fairies as well.
The warmer weather brings people out and about, ready to mingle and socialise, and you may find you are often drawn out to connect with others, or simply enjoy nature. Beltane is a time of movement and growth, so you do not like to stagnate or stand still too long. There is too much to experience! You may find you have a knack for connecting people to one another and learning new things. Some may think you’re a bit scattered or lacking depth, but you are here to enjoy life and all it has to offer! Your diverse, tangible experiences enrich your life and enhance your skills. You always have a good story to bring to the table, or something beautiful to bestow upon the world.
During your power season, indulge in a new sensual experience, buy yourself new adornment, travel or learn a new skill! Share your fertile, sensual energy with others in creative and loving ways.
Balancing Season:
Your balancing season is Samhain. Your spirit may feel a bit low around the dark, death-embracing energies of Samhain. However, your power must be replenished with a period of dormancy and rest. Samhain invites you to slow down, draw inward, and connect with your deep emotional roots. What ancestral gifts or wounds do you carry? Is there something you need to grieve? Embracing solitude and allowing yourself to feel your depths- especially pain-helps you to transmute it so you can bloom even brighter next year. Healthy roots are necessary for growth. Read about Samhain season for further insight.
Reflection: How do you embody playful sensuality? How do you integrate your inner darkness and pain?
Summer Solstice- (Approx June 21st) The Shining Witch
If Summer Solstice is your power season, you shine with the colours of the rainbow! The flowers are in full bloom, and medicinal herbs are ready to be harvested. Everything is blooming and expressing their full potential. You too, like to bring your full potential to everything you do, and expression is very important to you. You are very generous, and like to go big or go home. Authenticity is a motivating force in your life. Why pretend to be somebody you’re not? You are unabashedly you. Highly attuned to the Earth Mother’s energies, you love to bask in the sun, swim in the water and play as much as possible. You feel life is to be enjoyed and celebrated.
The Summer Solstice is a time where we celebrate the longest day and acknowledge the sun’s protective and energizing gifts. Again, like at Beltane, fairies are out causing mischief and many believe this to be one of the most powerful times for magic in the year. It is a peak of energy that reverberates and energizes us for long into the future, so it is best to use it wisely rather than let it go to waste.
Like your festival, and like the sun, you carry a strong energizing force that can powerfully protect, bless, or burn. You decide how you wish to use your energy. Be careful of burning out, as some may take advantage of your warm rays. Some may feel blinded or jealous of the light you carry, but don’t let them dim your light. Trust that you are meant to wield potent energies, and have the capacity to create big, beautiful things!
During Summer Solstice, find productive, creative channels for your power, and use your abundant energy to make the world a better place. You are a nurturing, giving and generous soul, meant to share the Earth Mother’s love with all.
Balancing Season:
Your balancing season is the Winter Solstice. With all the giving you do, this season invites you to rest and recuperate. You may find it depressing or exhausting when winter descends but think of it as a soft blanket wrapping you in love and giving you permission to simply be. This season teaches you that you do not need to be at your best all the time! You can feel tired, lazy, and anti-social and that’s ok. You can let someone else host the holiday dinner and be the first to leave. Just do the basics and hold space for the unknown. It is in the dark void that we grow truly wise. Spend time with the elders in your life. Invite the wisdom of darkness to help you understand how to wield the light. Read about Winter Solstice season for further insight.
Reflection: How do you embody the life-giving energies of the sun? How do you integrate rest and embrace darkness?
Lammas (Aug 1st/Early Aug)- The Abundant Witch
You straddle the bright shiny energy of summer solstice as well as the beautiful harvest season, here at Lammas. You carry the soft, warm glow of sunset on a wheat field, the wind rustling through the trees, and crickets singing through the night. There is a sense of peaceful fulfillment during this season, an inner satisfaction that no other season carries. It fills us with gratitude. Like the Summer Solstice Witches, you love to play outside- basking in the sun, picking flowers, swimming in the water. You carry the energy of abundance, like a balm to the collective scarcity wound. Gratitude is a theme in your life and its essence is the highest expression of your spirit. Naturally skilled and creative, you do not waste anything, and often make beautiful things- whether cooking, crafting, gardening or any sort of art! You use your time, energy and resources wisely. You carry the wisdom of reciprocity in regards to relating with the Earth as a living being. You understand the give and take, the importance of showing gratitude in physical ways. You love giving gifts to others and like to receive appreciation as well.
Lammas, or First Harvest festival is the festival of the grain, and making bread is one of its main activities. It is at this time we have a sense of which of our planted seeds have done well and which haven’t. We reap what we’ve sown and accept the outcome. We separate the wheat from the chaff and begin our preparations for autumn. It is a festival that celebrates artisans and farmers with food and craft markets, feasting and gratitude.
You like to upcycle, to create something beautiful from humble beginnings. Where others see rags, you see a potential quilt! During your power season, use your craftiness to make incense or medicines from herbs, jams or preserves from fruits, or create beautiful clothing, jewelry, décor or other items that enhance people’s lives.
Some may say you get hung up on the details or focus too much on issues of scarcity and abundance, but you are a true artisan of life- you know that life is in the details, for nothing of quality can be made haphazardly. You prefer DIY projects because you trust your own magical ability to weave thread into gold!
Your Balancing Season:
Imbolc is your balancing season. Sometimes you may get bogged down by the mundane details and limitations of the physical world. The season of Imbolc invites you to reconnect with your ‘why’- the higher principles and motivation behind your actions. Imbolc takes place at the coldest, harshest time of year and you may find scarcity thoughts take hold at this time. Remember that you are the earth and you are magic. You don’t need to get your energy from the outside world, the flame of creation lies within you. Reconnect to the awe and wonder you had as a child, rekindle your belief in magic, possibility, and new sources of inspiration. Connect with your Spirit and dream new dreams for the future. Read about Imbolc season for further insight.
Reflection: How do you embody abundance? How do you integrate your spiritual, idealistic, dreamy side?
Fall Equinox- (Approx. Sept 21st) The Balanced Witch
If Fall Equinox is your power season, you are one lucky witch! Often called the ‘season of the witch’, this time holds the beauty of a feast shared with loved ones, the brilliant reds, oranges and yellows of the trees, the gentle cool breeze and a warm cup of tea. Something about fall equinox is extra witchy- perhaps because it is that point of balance between light and dark, marking our descent into the darker half of the year. You are drawn to the inner journey, sensing the magical treasures to be found there. You carry the ability to both live in this world and the spirit world. You can just as easily craft a beautiful besom or herbal tincture as you can dance with your demons. You enjoy a bit of socializing as well as curling up alone with a good book. You are not afraid to dip your toes into the darker realms of human nature, and yet you also delight in the sensual aspects of life, feeling the leaves crunch beneath your feet as you sip your pumpkin latte, or soaking in an essential oil bath. Your path is one of integrating different aspects of yourself, your inner light and dark.
The Fall Equinox festival is another harvest festival, this time focusing on fruits and veggies rather than grain. It is a time of gratitude, celebrating what has manifested and worked well, and grieving or letting of what hasn’t. We may let go of physical things we no longer need, or habits that have been holding us back. It is a time of transmutation, release, and opening to the mystery that awaits us as we begin the journey inward.
You may feel you walk a line between worlds at times. Perhaps you feel the call of the darkness more strongly, and other times, you wish to feel your feet on the ground. Some may find it hard to know where you stand, or demand you pick a side. But, like your festival, you carry an inner sense of balance within that you like to maintain. This also aligns with a sense of personal integrity, understanding, ethics and justice. You live by an inner code that reflects your need for balance. Reflection is very important to you, and you may find your mind venturing into the past to integrate its lessons.
During your power season, take the time you need to digest the year’s energies and consciously begin an inner journey- spiritually and/or emotionally. Honor your inner Witch in gentle, loving ways. Stand in your power as an edge-walker, a balancer of light and dark.
Balancing Season:
Perhaps you are more willing than most to learn from your balancing season? Spring Equinox is your balancing season, as it invites you to embrace innovation and break new ground. Your natural essence is integration and reflection, which can make the impulsive verve of Spring Equinox feel unsettling and forceful. Spring asks you to take off the cozy sweater and try new things, which can feel scary. It asks you to jump in feet-first and be willing to fail. Can you trust your ability to land on your feet? You won’t know what you’re capable of until you try. Let spring show you new aspects of yourself to fuel your quest for integration. Read about Spring Equinox season for further insight.
Reflection: How do you embody Balance? How do you integrate your brave and impulsive side?
Samhain- (Nov 1st-Early November) The Healing Witch
Your power season is Samhain, also known as the Witches’ New Year. The winds have grown colder and many of the leaves have fallen by this time, leaving their stark, twisted, craggy naked beauty to behold. You do not shy away from the grittier, darker aspects of life, as you have an x-ray vision that shows you the deeper essence of everything. You are not fooled by appearances and can smell a rat a mile away.
This is the season of death and increased darkness. You carry the wisdom of knowing that death is simply a part of nature’s cycles and always leads to rebirth. Life never ends, it only changes. Your healing power stems from this wisdom, and your simple presence can offer comfort to someone who is grieving, struggling, or experiencing deep pain. It is said the veil between this world and the spirit world is thin this time of year, giving you a heightened sensitivity to the spirit world. You may be unusually attuned to your ancestors or helper spirits from other realms. You may be gifted at mediumship, oracles, channeling, or of course, healing.
The festival of Samhain is one in which we honour our beloved dead and tend to our roots which contain our ancestral gifts and wounds. We may feast the dead, talk about our favourite memories, or do some deeper shadow work.
During your power season, take the opportunity to do some of your deepest healing. Tackle those ghosts in the attic or delve into that ancestral wound. The work you do now will reverberate not only for the rest of your life, but generations forward and back all through your lineage. You are a powerful healer.
Others may find you intimidating, intense or dramatic. But this is because your path puts you through more intensity than most. Life, death, and rebirth will always feature prominently in your life, and others will likely seek you out for guidance when they are in transition. In order to heal, we must understand illness, in order to cultivate life, we must learn to embrace death. One cannot happen without the other. You know this.
Balancing Season:
Your balancing season is Beltane. The sensual delights of the earth blossoming invite you to embrace life and be nourished. The darkness of Samhain can diminish your trust and ability to appreciate life’s simple pleasures. Place your feet on the soft morning grass, smell a flower and appreciate the bounty that surrounds you! Care for your body, be kind to yourself and allow yourself to thrive, connect and create! Enjoy the life aspect of the cycle, remembering this is the thriving, healing energy that moving through loss eventually brings. Read about Beltane season for further insight.
Reflection: How do you embody deep change and healing ? How do you integrate your lighter, sensual side?
I invite you to take some time to delve more deeply into awareness of these seasonal points. How can you use this knowledge to enhance your birthday season or recharge during your balancing season?
If you’d like to experience the seasonal energies in a deeper, more meaningful way, join us for the Hearthfire Circles! We celebrate the seasonal festivals online and in-person with guided meditation journeys, art-making, ritual and warm community vibes.
If you have questions, don’t hesitate to comment below!
In love and balance,
Serena
Receive first dibs on events, new products & my FREE ebookby signing up for my newsletter below!
