The wheel of the year is a method of dividing the solar calendar into eight periods aligning with the equinoxes, solstices, and the days in-between. These celebrations, often referred to as “sabbats,” as coined by Gerald Gardner, are observed by a number of neo-pagan religions including practitioners of Wicca. The suite barring its name is similarly divided into eight vignettes, each of which symbolizes these periods of time from the composer’s point of view, and are connected by a collection of shared leitmotifs which are woven throughout the piece