Pagan and ancient traditions

Pagan and ancient traditions cover the old religions of Europe, the Mediterranean and the Near East, and their modern revivals: Norse Yule and Midsummer, Celtic Samhain and Beltane, Greek and Roman festivals such as Saturnalia, Egyptian rites, Slavic Kupala and the Baltic Joninės. Many survive in folk custom, in the Christian calendar and in carnival, and some are now followed by modern Pagans, Heathens and Druids. These pages describe both the historical festivals and the living customs, taking care to separate evidence from legend.

Old festivals, new forms

The Wheel of the Year, with solstices, equinoxes and the cross-quarter days of Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain, gives the shape of many Pagan calendars, though it is a modern synthesis. Older customs, such as bonfires at midsummer, wreaths of herbs, the maypole and the wassail, are recorded in village life across Europe and are still kept, often without any link to religion.

Evidence and revival

Historians draw on texts, archaeology and folklore, and are cautious about claims of continuity from ancient times. Modern Pagan groups have revived rites in new forms, adapted to the present, and the resulting traditions are sincere and living. Public festivals at Stonehenge, Glastonbury and Uppsala bring crowds, and EveryParampara records what is known about each, and where scholars disagree. Visitors are asked to be respectful of those for whom the occasion is sacred.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Pagan and ancient (faith). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

🇮🇪 Galway, Ireland and 1 moreBrigid's crossCros Bhríde A cross of woven rushes or straw, made for Saint Brigid's Day on the first of FebruaryCraft

🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreImbolcLá Fhéile Bríde A Gaelic festival heralding spring and honoring Saint Brigid with woven rush crossesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 14 morePysankaписанка A wax-resist egg decorating tradition kept by Slavic communities for Easter and spring renewal.Festival

🇺🇦 Kyiv, UkraineChristmas in UkraineРіздво (Rizdvo) A Ukrainian Christmas celebration with a twelve-dish vegan supper on Christmas Eve and observance on January 6 or DecembFestival · Supper

🇬🇷 GreeceAnthesteriaἈνθεστήρια An ancient Greek three-day spring festival of Dionysus, new wine, and the deadFestival

🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreHandfastingceangal na lámh (Irish); pòsadh-bliadhna (Scottish Gaelic) A couple's promise made with joined or bound hands, kept from betrothal to weddingRite of passage

🇵🇹 Porto, PortugalFesta de São João do Porto Porto's midsummer festival of street feasts, fireworks and playful hammer tapsFestival

🇬🇷 Olympia, Greece and 5 moreOlympic flame A flame kindled in Greece, carried by torch to light the cauldron of each GamesCeremony

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHarvest festival A thanks for the gathered crop, kept with church meals, songs and shared foodSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreKoulourakiaΚουλουράκια Sweet butter pastries baked for Greek Easter and shaped into rings and braidsTable custom · Sweets given and shared

🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreYuleġēol (Old English); jól (Old Norse) The Germanic midwinter festival that Christmas grew out of, kept today by HeathensSpiritual

🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreEvil eye A belief in harm cast by envious glares, met with protective charms and spoken blessingsFolklore

🇮🇪 Uisneach, Ireland and 1 moreBeltaneBealtaine A Gaelic first-of-summer festival of bonfires, May flowers and feasting on 1 MaySeasonal

🇬🇧 United KingdomLammashlāfmæsse A harvest festival marking the blessing of the first baked bread from the new wheat cropSeasonal

🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreSamhain A Gaelic festival marking the start of winter with bonfires and ancestor feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 5 moreCarnival A season of parades, masks and feasting in the days before LentFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇬🇷 Olympia, GreeceAncient Olympic Gamesτὰ Ὀλύμπια A quadrennial athletic festival held in ancient Greece to honor the god ZeusGame

🇮🇹 Rome, ItalySaturnalia A December festival of ancient Rome, with feasting, gifts, gambling and role reversalSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇬🇷 Eleusis, Greece and 1 moreEleusinian MysteriesἘλευσίνια Μυστήρια Secret annual initiations in ancient Greece dedicated to Demeter and Persephone, promising a blessed afterlife.Spiritual

🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyBacchanalia An ancient Roman mystery festival dedicated to the god of wine and ecstasyFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies

🇬🇧 St Andrews, United Kingdom and 10 moreSaint Andrew's DayLà Naomh Anndrais The feast of Andrew the Apostle, kept on 30 November and Scotland's national daySpiritual

🇬🇷 Olympia, GreeceHeraean Games An ancient Greek festival of running races for unmarried young women at OlympiaGame

🇬🇷 Athens, Greece and 2 moreDionysian Mysteries Ancient Greek and Roman initiation rites of wine, ecstatic dance and spiritual rebirthSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreEpiclesisἐπίκλησις The liturgical calling upon the Holy Spirit to bless the bread and wine during communionSpiritual

🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland and 5 moreDozhinkiDożynki A Slavic harvest festival of the last sheaf, a woven wreath and a shared mealSeasonal

🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyAmbarvalia An ancient Roman agricultural rite to purify farmland and ensure fertile cropsSpiritual

🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVinalia Ancient Roman festivals honoring Jupiter and Venus with wine libations to bless the harvest and ensure good weather.Festival

🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreLustratio An ancient Greek and Roman cleansing rite using processions and animal sacrifice.Spiritual 🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyMegalesiaMegalenses Ludi An ancient Roman spring festival of theatrical plays, races and feasts for CybeleFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreTauroctonyταυροκτόνος The sacred bull-slaying imagery at the heart of the ancient Roman Mithraic mysteriesSpiritual 🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyFeraliaFerālia An ancient Roman day of offerings to the dead, marking the close of ParentaliaSpiritual 🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreIncubationἐγκοίμησις The sacred practice of sleeping in holy shrines to seek divine healing and dreamsSpiritual

🇮🇹 Italy and 4 moreRosalia An ancient Roman festival of decorating graves, statues, and standards with fresh flowersSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇬🇷 Athens, GreeceAmphidromiaτὰ Ἀμφιδρόμια An ancient Athenian family ritual welcoming a newborn around the household hearthRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals 🇳🇴 NorwayEsbat A Wiccan coven gathering held each month, most often when the moon is fullSpiritual

🇬🇷 GreeceSparagmosσπαραγμός An ancient Greek Dionysian sacrificial rite of tearing an offering apartSpiritual

🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreNavigium Isidis An ancient Roman ship procession honouring Isis and the opening of sea travelSpiritual 🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVolturnalia An ancient Roman festival honouring the water deity Volturnus and his daughter JuturnaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇮🇹 ItalyAmburbium A Roman rite to cleanse the city walls through a sacred procession and animal offerings.Spiritual 🇬🇷 Amyclae, GreeceHyacinthiaὙακίνθια A three-day ancient Spartan festival marking the death and rebirth of HyacinthusFestival · Feasts and festival meals 🇬🇷 Orchomenus, GreeceAgrionia An ancient Greek nocturnal festival dedicated to Dionysus AgrioniusSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreSkyclad ritual A practice of performing Wiccan and Pagan rites without clothing to express truth and spiritual freedom.Spiritual

🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVenus Verticordia A Roman cult of Venus as the turner of hearts, kept by married womenSpiritual

🇮🇹 Lake Nemi, ItalyNemoralia A three-day Roman festival of torches and garlands for the goddess DianaSpiritual

🇮🇹 Benevento, ItalyWitches of Benevento A southern Italian tradition of walnut-tree gatherings and protective folk charmsFolklore

🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreZapisзапис A consecrated village tree marked with a cross, venerated in Serbian folk traditionSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Christmas in Ukraine: Halyna Kuchmanych, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Olympic flame: RuinDig/Yuki Uchida, CC BY 4.0, source
Vinalia: JPS68 via photoshop, Public domain, source
Harvest festival: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
Venus Verticordia: kladcat, CC BY 2.0, source
Festa de São João do Porto: Hugo Cadavez, CC BY 2.0, source
Handfasting: Sander van der Wel, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Koulourakia: foodistablog, CC BY 2.0, source
Yule: Robert Chambers, Public domain, source
Evil eye: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Eleusinian Mysteries: No machine-readable author provided. Marsyas assumed (based on copyrig, Public domain, source
Nemoralia: Frederic Leighton, Public domain, source
Dozhinki: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Ancient Olympic Games: Bgabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Bacchanalia: Nicolas Poussin, Public domain, source
Heraean Games: Ingo Mehling, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Dionysian Mysteries: Tilemahos Efthimiadis, CC BY 2.0, source
Tauroctony: Jastrow, Public domain, source
Sparagmos: WolfgangRieger, Public domain, source
Amburbium: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Skyclad ritual: Luis Ricardo Falero, Public domain, source
Witches of Benevento: Guglielmo della Porta, CC0, source
Pysanka: Lubap, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Ambarvalia: Alberto Pisa, Public domain, source
Saint Andrew's Day: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source
Saturnalia: Themadchopper, Antoine-François Callet, CC0, source
Anthesteria: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
Rosalia: Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Public domain, source
Navigium Isidis: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Epiclesis: Nheyob , cropped by Tahc, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Zapis: Zblagojevic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Beltane: Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Lammas: Paddy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Samhain: Daniel Maclise, Public domain, source
Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
Carnival: Etienne Le Cocq, CC BY-SA 3.0, source