✦ zenith calendar · the wheel of the year almanac
the solstices, equinoxes and cross-quarter days in one quiet layer of your sky, each explained in its own tradition's words.
wheel of the year is one of the holiday almanacs that come with zenith calendar. it holds the sabbats of the pagan wheel of the year, in the northern-hemisphere reckoning: the solstices and equinoxes, and the cross-quarter days between them.
its dates come from published tables, not worked out on your phone. tap a sabbat and read three short paragraphs: what it is, where it comes from, and how it is kept.
solar · the solstices, equinoxes and cross-quarter days, northern hemisphere
summer's end
the last night of october
the festival of the dead and of remembrance. it ends the harvest, begins the dark half of the year, and is the wiccan new year.
people build an ancestor altar and set a spirit plate or a place at the table for the dead; jack-o'-lanterns, bonfires and divination with apples and hazelnuts are old customs of the night.
alban arthan · the light of arthur
the winter solstice
the longest night of the year: the rebirth of the sun, the moment the light begins to return.
people deck the home with evergreens and wreaths, light candles and lights for the returning sun, sing, feast, give gifts, and make resolutions for the year to come.
alban eilir · the light of the earth
the spring equinox
the spring equinox, when day and night stand equal and the light begins to win: a feast of greening, sprouting and new beginnings.
people wear green or new clothes, decorate eggs and play egg games, and hold rites of balance and renewal to welcome what is beginning.
may day
1 may, often from may eve
the start of summer in the old gaelic year, when spring is in full flower: a festival of joy, play, love and fertility.
people dance the maypole, jump the beltane fire, and gather hawthorn and flowers for may bushes and garlands; it is a favoured time for handfasting, the pagan wedding.
zenith calendar draws the year as an orbit round the sun. lit, wheel of the year puts its sabbats on their dates on that ring, in lilac. its mark is ❂.
each sabbat carries three short paragraphs in its notes: what it is, where it comes from as its own tradition tells it, and how it is kept.
wheel of the year arrives locked, so nothing in it changes by accident. the lock guards your hand, not your eye: you can still read it, shine it or eclipse it. one tap unlocks it, and then it is yours to rename, recolour or add to.
tap its chip in the legend to eclipse it (kept, but not drawn) and tap again to bring it back. nothing is deleted either way.
wheel of the year shares one sky with your own commitments. like every almanac that comes with the app, it never counts toward the almanacs you can make for free, and it lives on your phone: zenith calendar has no server of its own.
✦ zenith calendar · the sky around it
wheel of the year is a single layer. beneath it is a whole calendar drawn as the sky, your year an orbit round the sun, and every part of it answers your touch.
the sun stands at the centre and the year rings round it, with today's earth riding at today's place, its small moon beside it. tap the ring anywhere else and a faint ghost earth waits on that day.
drag along the ring and the days pass under your finger, the big date and the day's list following as you go. lift, and the day you stopped on stays picked.
tap the small moon beside today's earth and you dive into the week. the moon above shows its phase, named underneath; swipe the dates and each week brings its own.
tap the sun and the ring tips on its edge into a ladder of years. in the week, pull the moon firmly down and the month opens, the moon resting half off its foot.
zenith calendar has no server of its own. tap the gear and switch on "nothing comes in" or "nothing leaves this phone"; lift them, and every almanac is back exactly as it was.
wheel of the year is waiting in the app, and the rest of the sky comes with it.
wheel of the year ·
Samhain is kept on the last night of October: 31 October 2026, and every year on the same date.
Yule, the winter solstice, falls on 21 December 2026 in the northern hemisphere. In 2027 it falls on 22 December.
Ostara, the spring equinox, falls on 20 March 2027 in the northern hemisphere.
Beltane is kept on 1 May every year, and its celebration often begins on May Eve, the night before.
Zenith Calendar for Android comes with an almanac called wheel of the year: the sabbats of the pagan wheel of the year, drawn on the ring of your year beside your own days. Turning it on costs nothing.
The wheel of the year almanac dates the solstices and equinoxes by universal time, so when the moment falls near midnight the local day can be one off. The cross-quarter days are kept on their published dates.