Almost everything written about the Wheel of the Year assumes you live in the Northern Hemisphere. Samhain lands in autumn, Yule in the dead of winter, Beltane as spring turns to summer. Follow those dates from Australia and you end up lighting a Yule log in the middle of a heatwave. This page is the flipped version: the eight sabbats set to the seasons we actually live through here.
One honest note before the list: there's no single official Southern Hemisphere calendar. Some practitioners here keep the Northern dates for the cultural tie-in (Halloween on 31 October, Yule at Christmas), some flip everything, and plenty do a bit of both. We flip the wheel so the sabbats match the seasons outside our windows, and we say so wherever a commercial date (31 October, December gifting) pulls the other way. Do whichever feels right to you.
The eight sabbats, Southern Hemisphere dates
The four solar sabbats sit on the solstices and equinoxes, so the exact day moves a little each year (around the 21st to 23rd). The four cross-quarter sabbats sit on fixed dates halfway between them.
Lughnasadh: 1 February (first harvest)
High summer, the first grain harvest in the old agricultural year. A sabbat about gratitude for what's already come in, and about skill (Lugh was a god of crafts as much as light). Herbs that fit: cinnamon, orange peel, calendula, bay leaf. One small thing to do: write down three things that have actually come through this year, then burn a bay leaf for the one still in progress. The list is the point; the bay leaf just marks it.
Mabon: around 21 March (autumn equinox)
Day and night balanced, then tipping towards dark. The second harvest and the traditional thanksgiving sabbat. Herbs: rosemary, sage, patchouli, cloves, allspice. One small thing: a simmer pot of rosemary, orange peel and cloves on a cool evening. The scent does the seasonal work, and the ten minutes of tending it is the ritual.
Samhain: 1 May (the witch's new year)
The veil-thin sabbat: ancestors, endings, the turn into the dark half of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere this is Halloween; here it lands in late autumn, which is when it actually makes sense. Herbs: mugwort, rosemary (for remembrance), wormwood, black peppercorn for protection. One small thing: set a place at the table, or a photo and a candle on a shelf, for someone you've lost, and say their name out loud. Mugwort under the pillow that night if you want to invite dreams.
Yule: around 21 June (winter solstice)
The longest night, and the return of the light from here on. Genuinely cold, genuinely dark, and the one sabbat where the Southern flip most obviously improves on the imported version. Herbs: cinnamon, cloves, orange, pine, frankincense. One small thing: sit in the dark for a few minutes before lighting a single white candle. That's it. The contrast is the whole ritual.
Imbolc: 1 August (first stirrings)
Brigid's sabbat: hearth, poetry, the first signs that winter is loosening. Wattle blooming across much of Australia does the job the snowdrop does in Europe. Herbs: lavender, chamomile, rosemary, calendula. One small thing: clean one surface properly (a shelf, a windowsill, your altar) and put something white on it. Imbolc is a cleaning sabbat before it's anything else.
Ostara: around 21 to 23 September (spring equinox)
Balance again, this time tipping towards light. Seeds, eggs, beginnings, fertility in the broad sense of growth. Herbs: lavender, rose petals, lemon balm, thyme, dill. One small thing: plant something. A pot of rosemary or basil by the door counts. Tending it through spring is a longer ritual than any spell.
Beltane: 1 November (fire and fertility)
The bright twin of Samhain: passion, fire, growth at full tilt. Falls the day after the imported Halloween, which is why Australian witches often get both in one weekend. Herbs: rose petals, hibiscus, damiana, cinnamon, red clover. One small thing: a red candle and a written intention for something you want to grow (not receive) over summer. Pair it with the first real step towards it that week.
Litha: around 21 December (summer solstice)
The longest day, sun at full strength. Falls in the middle of the Christmas run-up here, so it tends to get folded into holiday gifting. Fine, but it's a sun festival, not a winter one. Herbs: calendula, St John's Wort, chamomile, orange peel, bay leaf. One small thing: charge a yellow or orange candle in midday sun for an hour, then burn it that evening with a single sentence about what you want the second half of the year to be.
A quick reference
| Sabbat | Southern Hemisphere | Northern Hemisphere | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lughnasadh | 1 February | 1 August | First harvest, gratitude, skill |
| Mabon | ~21 March | ~21 September | Balance, second harvest, thanks |
| Samhain | 1 May | 31 October | Ancestors, endings, the dark half |
| Yule | ~21 June | ~21 December | Longest night, return of light |
| Imbolc | 1 August | 1 February | Cleansing, first stirrings, hearth |
| Ostara | ~21 September | ~21 March | Balance, seeds, beginnings |
| Beltane | 1 November | 1 May | Fire, passion, growth |
| Litha | ~21 December | ~21 June | Sun at full strength |
Where to go from here
Our sabbat herb correspondence guide goes deeper on which herbs suit each turn of the wheel, and the moon phases guide covers the monthly cycle that runs underneath the yearly one. If you'd rather have the season's herbs chosen for you, the Sabbat Season Pack rotates with the calendar, and the simmer pot kits are the easiest way to mark a sabbat evening without setting up an altar at all.
None of this is mandatory. Marking two sabbats a year that you actually feel is better than eight you're doing out of obligation.