129 The Wheel of the Year in TX
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In episode 129 of *Witchy Wit*, hosts Kimberlyn and Leilani dive into a critical deconstruction of the Wheel of the Year, challenging its cultural authenticity, colonial roots, and misalignment with diverse lived experiences—particularly in Texas and among non-white, non-Northern European practitioners. They reflect on how the neo-pagan framework, popularized by Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols in the 1950s, was built on a mix of Celtic, Germanic, and Anglo-Saxon traditions that were historically incompatible and often violently intertwined. The hosts highlight the problematic erasure of Indigenous and African spiritual traditions, the fetishization of 'ancient' practices without historical accuracy, and the exclusionary nature of rigid male-female polarity in Wiccan ritual. They advocate for a radical reimagining of spiritual cycles—centering local, personal, and lunar-based calendars over the dominant, homogenized Wheel. Drawing from personal experiences, including Leilani’s journey as a white witch confronting her privilege and Kimberlyn’s embrace of moon cycles and seasonal awareness in urban Texas, the episode becomes a call to decolonize practice and create authentic, locally grounded spiritual rhythms. The hosts emphasize that dismantling the Wheel isn’t about rejecting it entirely, but about reclaiming agency in spiritual practice. They suggest alternatives like creating a 'local wheel' based on regional harvests, cultural events, or personal milestones, and point to resources such as Mark Green’s template and V. LaBianca’s essay. They conclude with a powerful reading of Wendell Berry’s poem, underscoring the beauty of cyclical return, interconnection, and the sacredness of ongoing transformation. The episode ends on a note of vulnerability, curiosity, and hope—inviting listeners to question inherited structures and co-create more inclusive, truthful spiritual lives.
The Wheel of the Year is a modern, Western neo-pagan construct—not an ancient or authentic tradition—and was created in the 1950s by Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols.
The framework is deeply rooted in Northern European, particularly Celtic and Anglo-Saxon, traditions that were historically violent toward one another, making their fusion culturally inappropriate and erasing colonial trauma.
The Wheel’s seasonal timing does not align with climates in Texas, the Southern Hemisphere, or tropical regions, making it irrelevant or misleading for many practitioners.
Cultural appropriation is rampant: sacred names like 'Mabon' were invented in the 1970s, and traditions are cherry-picked without context or respect for living Indigenous and African spiritual practices.
The male-female polarity central to Wicca is exclusionary to LGBTQ+, non-binary, and non-cishet individuals and reflects patriarchal and colonial power structures.
…and 2 more takeaways available in PodZeus
Introduction: The Wheel of the Year in Texas
“We're going to talk about some of the challenges of adopting the Wheel of the Year as a part of your practice. It's a great structure. And it has served us really, really well for years and years and years. And now as we're looking at... I'm going to eye reference. And now as I am searching for a more nuanced relationship with a lot of the structures that I have used to guide my life, this is a perfect opportunity to look at this.”
Personal Reflections: New Beginnings and Transitions
Kimberlyn shares her recent achievement as a museum docent, reflecting on the deep connection she’s formed with her local art museum. Leilani shares her excitement about purchasing her first electric vehicle, discussing the practical and emotional shifts in her relationship with driving and infrastructure.
The Origins and Inauthenticity of the Wheel
“The name Mabon for the Autumn Equinox was coined by Aidan Kelly in the 1970s. 1970s. Historical accuracy. Right? Yeah. But this is like some ancient practice that... Mm-hmm. packaged and delivered to me with that, with that clarity. It was ancient practice.”
Colonialism, Cultural Appropriation, and White Supremacy
“It was not a friendly relationship, and to mash these two cultures together in this way erases that very important point. Yeah. We'll come back to that. Secondarily, creating an ahistorically homogenous umbrella culture of general Western European spirituality feels uncomfortably white. Ignoring the conflicts, colonization and Christianization that happened by and to various Indo-European groups during this period of history is to implicitly buy into dangerous narratives of white unity and supremacy.”
Decentering the Wheel: Local, Personal, and Lunar Cycles
“One of the things I found is a number of different... Like I read the excerpt from the La Bianca blog post. But then there's another author, Mark Green, who has like a template actually. You can go and I'll put the link in the show notes. He has created his own Wheel of the Year. And I think he based it on someone else's, he acknowledges it in his article, I can't remember. But so for example, what we would call, what in the Celtic Wheel of the Year is called Imbolc. So in February 1st, he calls it brightening. You know? Love that.”
“It was not a friendly relationship, and to mash these two cultures together in this way erases that very important point. Yeah. We'll come back to that. Secondarily, creating an ahistorically homogenous umbrella culture of general Western European spirituality feels uncomfortably white. Ignoring the conflicts, colonization and Christianization that happened by and to various Indo-European groups during this period of history is to implicitly buy into dangerous narratives of white unity and supremacy.”
“The name Mabon for the Autumn Equinox was coined by Aidan Kelly in the 1970s. 1970s. Historical accuracy. Right? Yeah. But this is like some ancient practice that... Mm-hmm. packaged and delivered to me with that, with that clarity. It was ancient practice.”
“And then we turn aside alone out of the sunlight gone into the darker circles of return.”
Hosts
Kimberlyn
person
Leilani
person
Texas
place
Witchy Wit Podcast
media
San Antonio
place
Gerald Gardner
person
Samhain
other
Ross Nichols
person
V. LaBianca
person
Imbolc
other
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