07/29/2025
What Is a Year, But the Turning Earth,
Where Time Folds Into the Land.
What’s a year? A turning, a tide.
To the Saxons, it was not “nothing”, it was ġēar, the cycle of seasons, the wheel of work and rest. Time moved in loops, not lines. There was Gēola (Yule) in the darkest days, when the sun stood still and kindled hope. Then came Eastermonað, when the earth stirred and Eostre walked the land in blossom and beast.
Līþa brought the long days, and Hærfest the first fruits. Even Winterfylleþ, when the moon marked the start of winter was part of the rhythm.
It wasn’t just dates, it was sowing and reaping, light and shadow, the dead and the living turning in their own time. So yes, it’s all time. But it isn’t nothing. It’s the breath of the land. A year is how we remember to listen.
-Woodlarking
