The Wheel of the Year

Fun fact: During my last semester of college, I was the token atheist (not an official title) of my school's Pagan organization. Then, as now, I was interested in studying religions, and Paganism was something I knew next to nothing about. So, I joined the group to learn a thing or two. It was  pretty cool.

One of the big things was the Wheel of the Year. In a nutshell, it's a series of eight, evenly spaced seasonal festivals. Half of them correspond to the equinoxes and solstices, while the other half fall in between.

While the dates, activities, and even existence of these festivals varies between various Pagan denominations*, I'm going to try and stick with the modern Wiccan tradition, if only because it's the only book I have about the subject at the moment.

The Wheel of the Year is meant to be a metaphor for the lives of the god and the goddess. Describing these entities would take more than a single paragraph. While I may write a proper article about the topic, for now it's enough to know that a lot of Wiccans see the world as maintained by a pair, god and goddess, whose form and name change throughout the year in relation to nature.

Yule (Winter Solstice)

December 22

This one should be familiar to most people. A lot of Christmas imagery originates from this holiday: white-red-green colours, mistletoe, "yule" logs, &c. During the solstice, the light of day is at its shortest. However, this also marks the turning point where the length of sunlight begins to increase.

Because of the coming of more sunlight, Yule is seen as the rebirth of the god from the goddess. However, the god is not yet strong enough to fight off the night, resulting in a continued season of cold, long nights, and death.

Imbolc

February 2 (pronounced "em-bolc")

At this point, the goddess has recovered from giving birth to the god. Both are gaining strength and the days are getting longer. On a more practical level, it is a celebration of light and fire encouraging spiritual and physical cleansing.

Ostara (Spring Equinox)

March 21

It's finally Spring! Sticking with the god-goddess metaphor, this is the point when the god is something of a preteen. The goddess takes on the role of virgin again, resulting in themes of fertility, with related symbols like rabbits and eggs.

Many of the modern Easter traditions come from this festival, particularly the Easter bunny and coloured eggs.

Beltane

April 30

The god is now of age and joins with the goddess (if you know what I mean). The maypole, a common pastime during this celebration, is symbolic of this union (wink wink). The happiness of this union spreads to the Earth and all people that walk upon it. This festival is meant to be fun and not at all somber.

Litha

June 22 (Summer Solstice)

The god and goddess are enjoying their marriage. However, the god is maturing and understanding that his upcoming sacrifice is necessary. This realization puts a damper on the mood, and the days begin to grow shorter.

This festival was particularly popular with the Celts. Stonehenge and other stone circles were raised and aligned with the day's summer sun.

Anime image is tangentially related

Lughnasadh

August 1 (pronunciation is inconsistent)

It is this festival when the god sacrifices himself for the harvest, as represented by the harvest of various grains. He doesn't go out without a fight, though. He leaps from grain to grain until the very last sheaf is cut.

Mabon (Autumn Equinox)

September 21

Mabon is a festival for giving thanks to the god and goddess for a bountiful harvest. The god is dead, granted, but he is just in the underworld awaiting his rebirth.

This is the first Pagan festival I, personally, got to celebrate. There wasn't any ritual or anything; it was fairly laid back. It felt very similar to the traditional American Thanksgiving with lots of food and friends.

Samhain

October 31 (pronounced "saoh-win")

This is Halloween, guys. The goddess is an old crone, the god is deep in the underworld, and the new(?) god is growing in the womb. The barriers between the worlds of the living and the dead are at their weakest, allowing communication between the two. As such, it is a festival ready made for giving thanks to passed ancestors.

If Mabon was my first festival, Samhain was my first ritual. Several of us gathered at the group leader's home after sunset. A circle was cast and everyone stood in the cardinal direction associated with their element (I was an earth element but cannot honestly remember what direction I was facing). We each took turns honouring deceased family and friends, calling them to join us for the occasion. Afterward, the circle was dispelled and that was that. The rest of the evening was spent chit-chatting as folks trickled home.

Regrettably, this was also my last festival. I graduated before the next one.

My time with the Pagan group was very fun and fascinating. I certainly learned a lot. The group was very respectful and open. They all clearly believed in their spirituality (not all were Wiccan, mind) but did nothing to force their beliefs on me. I am grateful to have been a part of it.

Sources:
Personal experience
"The Book of Wicca" – Lucy Summers
Aquarian Tabernacle Church

* It should be noted that "Paganism" isn't a single religion. Rather, it's an umbrella term for, well, any non-Abrahamic religion. While some of the larger religions have broken free from the term, not all have been so lucky: Wicca, Norse, Celtic, Greco-Roman, and many others all fall under the category of Pagan.

The Early Caliphate

Rashidun - The Rightly Guided Caliphs

In the year 632 CE, Mohammed passed away. Barely a moment passed before the expanding Muslim community began asking who would lead them. The first leader to step up took the title of "caliph", which modestly meant "deputy". This man, Abu Bakr, Mohammed's father-in-law, became the first of the four so-called Rightly Guided Caliphs, which, according to Sunni tradition, tried hardest to stay true to Mohammed's revelations.

Abu Bakr

Shortly after Mohammed's death, the Muslim community faced an existential crisis. Without a single leader, it was going to break apart into the separate communities that existed before. To prevent this, representatives gathered together and decided to elect someone that will hold everyone together. To fill this newly created role of caliph, they chose Abu Bakr, Mohammed's well-respected father-in-law.

This was one of many contentious moments of the early caliphate. There were those who saw Ali, Mohammed's son-in-law, as heir apparent. While the others were electing the new caliph, Ali respectfully stayed by Mohammed's side. This was the beginning of the well-known Shia-Sunni schism.

An aside: In an extreme oversimplification, Sunnis see reaching communal consensus as spiritual guidance, while the Shia see appointed leaders as the proper spiritual guides (i.e. Mohammed's chosen successor, Ali, and not the community-elected successor, Abu Bakr). As a result, the followers of Ali felt cheated and victims of the tyranny of the majority.

After some time, Ali accepted Abu Bakr, and Abu Bakr got to work dying. I don't mean clothes, I mean no longer living. Abu Bakr was caliph for only about two years before dying of a fever. During his short tenure, he managed to hold the community together, but to do so he established the idea linking apostasy with treason.

Omar

On his deathbed, Abu Bakr nominated Omar as his successor, and the community properly elected him. Omar was described as having a tough-guy exteriour. However, he was actually very frugal and humble.

At the time, Byzantium and Persia were moving to take advantage of young Arabia's weakness. The Byzantines were largely kept at bay, but Omar decided to face the Persian threat head on. This war against the Persians was the first physical battle to be declared a jihad. Meanwhile, the battle against Byzantium resulted in the capture of Jerusalem. Following all of these battles, Omar was not strict with the conquered. He did not force anyone to convert, so long as they agreed to pay a jizya, or religious tax.

Ten years following his election, Omar was assassinated by a crazed Persian slave. On his deathbed, instead of choosing a successor, he chose representatives from the community to elect the next caliph.

Othman

The company elected Othman, the old and rich fifth cousin of Mohammed. When I say rich, I mean exceptionally rich. He was a skilled businessman that maintained much of his wealth after moving to Medina with the rest of the community.

Nevertheless, Othman was very humble and charitable. He converted to Islam early and always had a nagging fear that he was not worthy of the heaven that awaited. At all times, he tried to do good for the community.

When Othman was elected as caliph, the Muslim community was no longer a small group that needed minimal governance. It had grown into its own entity, with its own taxes, courts, and infrastructure that was managed by the caliph. Othman was a very capable manager, but he had a habit of filling positions with friends and family of his own clan, the Umayyads. One name in particular was Mu'awiya, who Othman appointed as governor of Damascus. Remember that name, since it will be important later.

Meanwhile, the appointed governor of Egypt was collecting a much larger tax than his predecessor. If there's one thing the common folk dislike, it's a tax increase. A mass of petitioners marched on Othman's palace demanding the replacement of the governor. After some time, Othman relented and agreed. The mob was largely satisfied.

At least, they were satisfied until they received word of a "secret letter". On their way home, the group intercepted a messenger carrying a message that ordered the governor to arrest and physically punish the protestors. The letter did have Othman's seal, but, when confronted, he denied all knowledge of it.

The truth is not known, but Othman paid with his life. The mob eventually stormed his palace and assassinated the elderly caliph. Many believe someone's hand moved the mass to murder, but it is not agreed whose hand it was: Ali? Aisha? Mu'awiya?

Ali

Battle of Siffin

At last, it was Ali's turn to be elected caliph. His election succeeded largely to appease the mob that lingered following Othman's death, and he entered the leadership role with the cloud of death hanging above him. Making matters worse were separatists chipping away at his legitimacy from the inside. Mu'awiya was calling for punishment of the unknown assassins, the upper class politicians would not listen to him, and Aisha was raising her own army and denouncing Ali.

Mu'awiya was using symbolism to its fullest. He had and frequently waved around the supposed bloody shirt that Othman wore when he was killed. He demanded that the assassins receive just punishment for the death of the caliph. This was not simple, as no one knows who exactly killed Othman, and executing an entire mob was simply not practical.

In an effort to appease the mobs, Ali attempted to sack many of Othman's appointed governors and tried to reverse the economic reforms. Unfortunately for Ali, many of Othman's reforms had created a new upper class that refused to live the austere, religious life style. Most of the governors refused to step down.

Aisha, picking up on Mu'awiya's rabble-rousing, began a charismatic effort to denounce Ali. This came to a head when the armies of Aisha and Ali met. Before there could be any bloodshed, the two met and managed to clear the bad blood between them diplomatically. Unfortunately, some of Ali's men acted against orders and launched a surprise attack. This escalated into a full battle known as the Battle of the Camel. At the end of the bloodshed, Ali arguably won and settled things between Aisha, but a great deal of Muslim blood was spilled.

Shortly after this confrontation, Mu'awiya officially declared that the caliphate belonged to him. In 657 CE, the armies of Ali and Mu'awiya met at Siffin, Syria. The battle lasted for months. Mu'awiya's troops finally gained the upper hand by attaching pages of the Qu'ran to their weapons, which forced Ali's troops into talks for fear of defiling the holy text. At the end of the talks, Mu'awiya kept his hold on Syria and Egypt, while Ali kept his hold on everything else.

In 661 CE, a member of the radical Kharijites that disagreed with Ali's peace deal stabbed the caliph with a poison laced sword, resulting in Ali's death. The last of the Rightly Guided Caliphs was dead. Whether Mu'awiya had a hand in this or not continues to be debated, but he had won. He had become the caliph.

With Mu'awiya's ascension, the Arabs had ceased to be a solely a religious community. The Sunni-Shia split was all but assured. The Ummayyad Empire had begun.

 Sources:
“Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes” - Tamim Ansary
“After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split” - Lesley Hazleton