Most people don't even consider these two systems of belief to be remotely compatable, or even comparable. While this is true from a doctrinal standpoint, there are many superficial comparisions that can be made, from the placement of holy days and sabbats to certain aspects of ritual work. The few comparisons I have seen written by Wiccans are largely skewed towards proving the Catholic/Christian feasts are merely off-shoots of Wiccan ones and are, largely, an attempt to debunk the faith of many people. This will be an attempt to treat both faiths with equal respect and honor.

A brief analysis of the circle of the year: For Catholics, the new year begins with the start of Advent, four Sundays before Christmas. This is a time of preparation and reflection. Not nearly as sober a time as Lent, but one of longing anticipation, of hope. The color for the season is a dark purple, save the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, which is represented by a pink candle on the Advent Wreath. Advent culminates with Christmas Day, December 25th. The Church then enters the Christmas Season, which culminates on January 6th, originally called Twelvth Night (the twelve days of christmas..etc), the Visitation of the Wise Men to the Christ Child. The Church then enters what is called Ordinary Time until the beginning of Lent. Lent culminates with the celebration of Easter. Lent starts 40 days before Easter (not including Sundays). We then enter the Easter Season, which lasts until Pentecost, 50 days after Easter. After that, we are once more in Ordinary Time once more until Advent starts again. Interspersed within these "times" are various High Feasts, such as the Presentation of Christ, the Feast of John the Baptist, the Annunciation, and so forth.

For Wiccans, the circle of the year is as follows: New Years is on Samhain (pronounced sow-in [Irish pronunciation]) on October 31st. This is followed by Yule, which generally falls around December 21st. Then Imbolc on Feb. 2nd, Lady Day on March 21st, Beltane on May 1st, Midsummer on June 21st, Lammas on August 1st and Harvest Home on September 21st. These feast follow the cycle of the natural year and more attention will be given to their dates and meanings to follow.

However, if we overlay these two circles, we run across a remarkable discovery: they match to a certain extent. Each Wiccan sabbat follows with a Christian celebration. Although only two of the high holy days of the Catholic Church match up with a major sabbat, there are several, lesser feasts that match the wiccan equivalent. Let's take each one individually.

Samhain/All Saints Day

For the Christian, All Saints Day is a two-day celebration. On November 1st, they celebrate the Feast of All Saints, a holy day of obligaion. It celebrates all Saints (canonized) and saints (anyone in a state of grace, up to and including me or you). November 2nd is the Feast of All Souls, a day of reflection on all the dearly departed. It is a time to honor our dead, to remember our families and friends who have gone before us.

For the Wiccan, the day is similar. It is one of the Four Major Sabbats, also known as a Cross-Quarter sabbat. It is a time when the curtain between the physical world and the spiritual world is very thin. It is a day to remember the dead where the time is ripe to perform divining, invocations and other spells.

Yule/Christmas

Yule is the Wiccan celebration of the birth of the sun/son, the light of the world. Born from the goddess on the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, it represents the turning point in the natural cycle of the seasons: after this night, the days become longer again, bringing light into the world.

Any Christian (and probably any Wiccan) can see where I'm going with this. Christian tradition is not too far off the mark from Wiccan. In fact, I could copy/paste the above paragraph and only have to change a few words in order to make it appropriate for the celebration of Christmas. Side note, Christmas is the Medieval name for the holiday, Christ Mass, one of the few that has carried over to modern times.

There are many traditions that are common to both. The Yule Log, mistletoe, christmas trees, all are common to both traditions.

Imbolc/Presentation of the Christ Child

Many Wiccans mistakenly call February 2nd the Feast of the Purification of Mary. This is, actually, mostly inaccurate (I personally think it was an attempt to find a tie between Mary and Brigid) and it requires an explanation. Jewish tradition teaches that women are impure for six weeks following the birth of a child (there is also a corresponding impurity for a woman's menstrual cycle). Thus, she would not be allowed to enter the Temple in Jerusalem until that time was complete. However, Jewish tradition also dictates that all male children are to be dedicated to YHWH after their birth. That said, February 2nd is a celebration of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple and the corresponding events (read: Simeon and Anna) surrounding that. There is no mention in the Bible or Church tradition of any purification ritual for Mary on this day. Did it probably happen? Yes, absolutely. She wouldn't have been allowed to enter the temple otherwise. But it's not the event that is celebrated. In medieval times, this day was also known as Candlemas, the blessing of all the candles to be used during the year.

Wiccan tradition holds that Imbolc is a celebration of the recovery of the goddess after the birth of the son and to celebrate in the strength of the growing god/son, due to the obvious lengthening of days. This is where the tie comes in, not through Mary/Brigid. As with Christian tradition, there is a proscribed waiting period in the Jewish faith before the child can be presented to YHWH, due to high infant-mortality rates. The Catholic celebration of the Presentation affirms that the Christ Child is growing strong and healthy. So, the celebration is one for the son/god, not the goddess/mother.

Ostara-Lady Day/Easter-Annunciation

Given both traditions reliance upon the solstice for the celebrations, there is no accurate date. For sanity's sake, we'll use the date of March 21st.

In Catholic/Christian traditions, Easter generally falls the first Sunday after the Vernal Equinox. Sometimes this can be as late as April or sometimes as early as mid-March, depending. A more apt comparison, although I will go into some comparisons of traditions later, would be between Lady Day and the Annunciation. They both have nearly identical themes. On the Annunciation, Mary is visited by Gabriel (I'll get into angel lore much later) who tells her she will conceive and bear a child. Since this is nine months before Christmas, it's quite obvious why this day was chosen (March 25th for those who don't want to do the math). As must be strikingly obvious, this is also the day that the goddess becomes impregnated by the god. In other words, we have identical celebrations here: the joyful reflection on the inevitable and endless cycle of birth and rebirth. Pretty cool, no (I almost wish Gabriel was guardian of the east so I could take the symbolism one step further)? Even the words Easter and Ostara are very similar. If Easter falls near mid-March, one can also draw lines between the death and rebirth of Christ to the Wiccan celebration of the death and rebirth of the seasons.
Christian Easter traditions, up to and including easter eggs, the Easter bunny, etc, are all symbols of fertility, an obvious reminder of the celebration. Baskets of goodies brought by rabbits. Easter dinner of ham and other fresh items, now that the earth is able to provide for all the young animals that have been born. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

May Crowning-Feast of St. Jospeh/Beltane

There really isn't much tie between the two here that I've been able to find. In medieval times, it was called Roodmas (Mass of the Holy Cross). In modern times, it is the Feast of Joseph the Worker, one of St. Joseph's many feast days. It is not a Holy Day of Obligation. If anyone has any insight on this, email me.

Feast of St. John the Baptist/Midsummer

The Feast of St. John the Baptist is a celebration of his birth, the only feast day in the entire Litany of Saints that celebrates ones birth rather than ones death. Given Church Canon, St. John was born six months before Jesus. That places his birth on June 24th, a few days after the Summer Solstice. Common tradition for Midsummer's eve is to light bonfires, to provide light for the revelers and ward off evil spirits. According to one source, this was called "Setting the Watch". Part of John's role in Christian tradition is he was the first herald, the first watcher for the coming of Christ. St. John was also oftentimes adopted by Wiccans because of his more non-traditional take on life..a voice crying out from the desert, living in the wilderness, etc.

Lammas

Both traditions use the same name for this one. If you're Christian, look up the Gospel reading around August 1st. Not surprisingly, you'll find it to be the reading of the Loaves and Fishes. Why is this not a surprise? Because Lammas, literally translated, means Loaf Mass. It was a celebration of First Harvest. What better way to celebrate than with the miracle of Jesus feeding 3000 with meager supplies.

Obviously, Wiccan traditions also celebrate this day also as the first harvest, the first collection of the bountiful crop that mother earth has provided for her children, once again, without fail. There is no real tie to the Christ Story with this day but with the olden traditions of the Church, who were primarily peasants and farmers, honest workers.

Mabon-Harvest Home/Michaelmas

During Harvest Home, or the Autumnal Equinox, things are at a balance. Up until this point, the days had been longer than the nights. After this day, it will no longer be the case. The son is in decline after this point, preparing for death on Samhain, and waiting for the cycle to begin again. The mother is starting her progression to crone.

So, what on EARTH does this have to do with Catholicism? Well, I'll admit, the grip is a tenuous one. Firstly, September 25th was the Feast of St. Michael, called Michaelmas in medieval times. In medieval tradition, Michaelmas was a Holy Day of Obligation, everyone was required to attend church. It is, also, traditionally, a day of settling debts, which implies to a sense of putting your affairs in order. Also, as it falls during the middle of the harvest time, it was seen as a day of hospitality where one invited their friends over for one last celebration before preserving food for winter stores. It was a time of preparation for the coming of winter. One can draw lines of similarity in theme between the two. Some people have also maintainted that it was an attempt to place another archangel on the old Wiccan calendar, coincidentally across from Gabriel. However, outside of that fact, there is little reason in any other Wiccan teaching for him to be placed there. Michael is represented by fire, which is the element of the south.

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