Ritual calendar
Seasonal festivals and turning points of the year from Anatolia to the Andes, with the plants that belong to them. Rituals are described as cultural heritage, not as instructions.
Spring equinox
Day and night are equal: nature wakes up.
Around 20 March day and night become equal and spring begins. The time to gather young stinging nettle leaves is approaching.
To prepare: Gather young nettle leaves with gloves. Gather mallow away from roadsides.
Nowruz
“New day”: the arrival of spring with fire, iron and sprouting seeds.
Nowruz means “new day” in Persian and is celebrated on 21 March by many communities from Central Asia to the Balkans. People jump over fire, in some Turkic communities iron is forged in the fire, and grains such as wheat and lentils are sprouted and set on the Nowruz table with painted eggs [1].
To prepare: Start sprouting wheat or lentils a few days ahead for the Nowruz table.
Qymyz muryndyq
The first kumis of spring and summer: the kumis festival of the Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Bashkirs.
The Kazakhs welcome the season’s first kumis with the qymyz muryndyq feast; kumis is sprinkled as a white offering to the sky, the four directions and the mountains [1]. In Fergana, Kipchaks, Kyrgyz and Kazakhs held a week-long kumis festival at the end of May, with a contest for the best kumis, gifts of kumis in leather vessels and kumis songs [2]. Among the Bashkirs the festival is held in June with the first milking of the mares [3].
To prepare: Kumis can contain alcohol.
- Zh. N. Shaigozova, A. B. Naurzbaeva, Brief Encyclopedia of Signs and Symbols of Kazakh Culture, KazNIIK, 2023: “Qymyz muryndyq”
- Çağatay Üstün, “Eski Bir Türk İçeceği: Kımız”, Türklük Bilimi Araştırmaları (TÜBAR) 26, 2009
- M. Özşahin, “Başkurt Halk Yaşamında, Sanatında ve Tıbbında Kımız”, Folklor Akademi Dergisi 8(1), 2025
Beltane (Bealtaine)
The start of summer in Ireland: a decorated hawthorn bush at the door, rowan on the cow’s tail.
At Bealtaine, the start of summer in the Celtic calendar, a “May bush”, usually a hawthorn, was set up in front of the house in Ireland and decorated with ribbons, painted eggshells or candles. On May Eve yellow flowers such as buttercups were gathered and placed around the house, in the belief that fairies could not pass them. Rowan was tied to cows’ tails against the evil eye, and herbs picked before sunrise on May morning were thought to be stronger. Cattle were driven between the fires lit on May Eve [1]. In folk belief a lone hawthorn belongs to the fairies, and harming it brings bad luck [2].
To prepare: Hawthorns flower in these weeks. Hawthorn can interact with heart medicines.
Hıdrellez
The day Hızır and İlyas meet; wishes go to the foot of a rose bush.
Hıdrellez is a folk festival on 6 May, when Hızır and İlyas are believed to meet, and it marks the start of summer. Celebrations are held in green picnic places called “hıdırlık”; wishes are written on paper and placed at the foot of rose bushes, and young girls sing their wishes in short rhymes (mani) [1].
To prepare: A piece of paper to write your wish on, and a rose bush; a potted rose will do if you have no garden.
Sabantuy
The plough festival of the Tatars and Bashkirs: wrestling, races and porridge scattered on the earth.
Sabantuy is a festival tied to snowmelt and the farming year, with roots traced to the Volga Bulgars; it is held in late May or early June on a day set by village elders. In the old “crow’s porridge” custom, children collect groats, milk, butter and eggs from house to house and cook an oat porridge, scattering some of it on the earth against evil spirits. The festival ground is ringed with a plough furrow for protection; Chuvash girls ploughed a ring around the village in times of epidemic [1].
To prepare: The saçı concept describes offerings scattered on the earth and the fire.
Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu)
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month in China: mugwort and calamus are hung on doors.
Duanwu, held on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, is a festival of protection against illness and evil at the start of summer. Mugwort (Artemisia) and calamus (Acorus calamus) are hung above doors, people bathe in flower-scented water and wear five-coloured silk to keep evil away. Rice dumplings are eaten and loyal heroes such as Qu Yuan are remembered [1]. According to the Beijing municipal government, calamus root is also steeped in wine for health [2]. UNESCO inscribed the festival in 2009 [1].
To prepare: A dried bunch of mugwort can be hung above the door. Mugwort should not be used in pregnancy.
Summer solstice
The longest day of the year: the peak of the gathering season.
Around 21 June the Northern Hemisphere has its longest day. In Anatolia the gathering season of many medicinal plants peaks in these weeks.
To prepare: The weeks for gathering St John’s wort, linden and lavender. Prepare a shady, airy place for drying.
Ysyakh (Yhyakh)
The summer New Year of the Sakha: kumis is sprinkled on the fire, plants and people.
In Yakutia the Sakha celebrate Ysyakh at the summer solstice. A white shaman pours kumis into the fire and sprinkles it on plants, animals and people; the festival’s name comes from the word for “sprinkle”. The shaman blesses the light deities (Ayyy) with a vessel called a choron, and the celebration ends with everyone drinking kumis. Ysyakh stands for renewal, the birth of nature and humankind, and prayer to Sky and Sun [1]. The ground of the great celebration in Yakutsk is called “Us Khatyn”, “three birches” [2].
To prepare: The sacred trees article describes the world of Ysyakh.
Kupala and Midsummer night
The night in Eastern Europe when herbs are believed to be most healing: wreaths are woven and St John’s wort is gathered.
In Eastern Europe, herbs and flowers gathered on the night of the summer solstice are believed to gain special healing power. On Kupala night in Belarus, girls weave wreaths of wild flowers and float them on the river; whoever finds the fern flower, said to bloom once a year, is believed to see the future and understand the language of plants [1]. At the Latvian festival of Jāņi, women weave wreaths of daisies, clover and buttercups and men wear crowns of oak leaves; because herbs are thought to be most potent at the solstice, yarrow, mint and St John’s wort are gathered for tea [2]. St John’s wort takes its English name from St John, whose feast this night is.
To prepare: The weeks when St John’s wort flowers. Dry what you gather in the shade; St John’s wort interacts with many medicines.
Inti Raymi
The Inca sun festival in Cusco: a coca-leaf ceremony and an offering of chicha.
Inti Raymi is today’s re-enactment of the Inca festival of thanks to the sun at the winter solstice, held every 24 June at three sites in Cusco. The sun is greeted at Qorikancha, a coca-leaf ceremony is held in the Plaza de Armas, and at Sacsayhuamán the sacred fire is lit and offerings of sacred bread and chicha are made. The aim of the old sun cult was a good harvest and food for the people. The festival was revived in 1944 and declared National Cultural Heritage of Peru in 2001 [1].
To prepare: Coca leaf is not legal in many countries. Read the Pachamama concept to learn about the festival.
Pachamama month
The month in the Andes when Mother Earth is “fed”.
In the Andes, Mother Earth, Pachamama, is believed to need to “eat and drink”. The family of a ritual specialist from Peru makes a “despacho” offering in August with coca leaves, maize, seeds and carnation petals; in return they believe the earth feeds and protects them [1].
To prepare: Coca leaf is not legal in many countries, including Turkey. Read the concept page to learn about the ritual.
Lughnasa and Bilberry Sunday
The first harvest in Ireland: people climb the hills to pick bilberries and eat the first new potatoes.
Lughnasa, the first-harvest festival of the Celtic calendar, was celebrated in Ireland between the last Sunday of July and the first Sunday of August. After a meal people climbed the hills to pick bilberries (fraochán); they ate them on the spot, strung them into bracelets and necklaces for sweethearts and carried some home for the old. Picking after the first Sunday of August was forbidden, as fairies were believed to spoil the fruit. It was also the day the first new potatoes were eaten [1].
To prepare: Late summer, when wild berries ripen. Do not pick fruit you cannot identify.
Autumn equinox
Day and night are equal: time to gather roots and fruit.
Around 22–23 September day and night become equal and autumn begins. In Anatolia it is the time to gather autumn produce such as rose hips, hawthorn and juniper berries.
To prepare: Rose hips and hawthorn can be found in markets and herb shops. Dry some for winter teas.
Mehregan
Thanksgiving for the autumn harvest in Iran and Tajikistan: a table of pomegranate, grapes and wheat.
Mehregan is a festival of thanks to God for the autumn harvest in Iran and Tajikistan, celebrated from early October to early November. A harvest table is laid with pomegranates, watermelons, pears, lemons, grapes, apples, rice and wheat, and nuts, sweets and special drinks are served. Zoroastrians read from their holy book and Muslims pray; flower shows, music and wrestling are also part of the festival. UNESCO inscribed Mehregan in 2024 as a joint file of Iran and Tajikistan [1].
To prepare: The season of pomegranates and grapes. One pomegranate on the table is enough.
Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang)
The ninth day of the ninth month in China: people climb high, drink chrysanthemum wine and wear cornel.
At Chongyang, held on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, people climb high places to escape misfortune. In the past red bags of cornel (zhuyu) were worn against evil. Chrysanthemum wine is drunk, tied to a legend of escaping a plague, and chrysanthemums are admired as a symbol of long life. Today it is also a day for tending graves and honouring the elderly [1].
To prepare: Chrysanthemums are sold by florists in autumn.
Samhain
The start of winter in the Celtic calendar: the night the dead are believed to return home.
In Ireland 1 November is the first day of winter; the main celebration is on the night of 31 October, a “spirit night” when the dead are believed to return to their homes. Fruit and nuts from the harvest are gathered for the festival and used in children’s games and marriage divination; special crosses are hung above doors against bad luck [1].
To prepare: The season’s apples and hazelnuts are this night’s table.
Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos)
The days in Mexico when the dead return home: marigold petals and copal smoke show the way.
In the Indigenous communities of Mexico, from the end of October to the beginning of November, families welcome their dead back home. Petals, candles and offerings are laid along the path from the cemetery to the house; flowers and the dead person’s favourite dishes are placed on the home altar and the grave. The festival also marks the end of the yearly maize cycle [1]. The main flower of the altar is cempasúchil (marigold), whose Nahuatl name means “twenty flowers”; its scent is believed to guide the souls. Copal resin and incense cleanse the space and drive away bad spirits [2]. UNESCO inscribed the festival on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2008 [1].
To prepare: Marigolds (Tagetes) are sold as ornamentals in autumn; their orange petals give the altar its colour.
Winter solstice
The longest night of the year: the season of winter teas.
Around 21 December the Northern Hemisphere has its longest night; after it the days start to lengthen again. It is the season when linden, mountain tea and rose hips settle into the kitchen.
To prepare: Linden, mountain tea and rose hips are the basis of winter teas. Dried, they can be found in herb shops.
Yalda night
The longest night of the year in Iran and Afghanistan: families stay up until dawn at the elders’ house with pomegranate and watermelon.
On the last night of autumn, families in Iran and Afghanistan gather at the home of their elders and stay up together. The table holds a lamp for light and water for purity; red fruits that stand for warmth, such as pomegranate, watermelon, beetroot, jujube and grapes, are eaten. Dried fruit, nuts and sweets are served, poems are read, stories told, and gifts given to new brides and children [1]. UNESCO inscribed Yalda in 2022 as a joint file of Iran and Afghanistan [1].
To prepare: A pomegranate and a slice of watermelon are enough. Jujubes and raisins also suit the table.