Marking the In-Between: Honoring the Cross-Quarter Festivals of a Well-Seasoned Life
One of the quiet truths I’ve learned in midlife is this: meaning doesn’t just live in the big moments. It also lives in the in-between.
Those stretches of time when we’re already in a season—when the initial energy has worn off, the novelty has faded, and we’re left with the honest question: How am I really doing here?
That’s where the cross-quarter festivals come in.
What Are Cross-Quarter Festivals?
If equinoxes and solstices are the big seasonal thresholds, cross-quarter festivals are their quieter companions—set roughly midway between them, marking the peak or turning point of each season.
Unlike equinoxes and solstices, which are anchored in planetary movement, cross-quarter festivals are traditionally fixed to the calendar—clustered around the beginnings or endings of months. Over time, many have survived in “modern” or commercialized forms, while their original purpose quietly faded from view.I’ve spent years gently excavating that deeper meaning—then adapting it to align more cleanly with women’s rhythms, instinctual wiring, and second-half-of-life wisdom.
Because befriending our wiring—rather than overriding it—is one of the cornerstones of becoming a well-seasoned woman.These mid-season markers aren’t about doing more. They’re about noticing sooner.They offer us another chance to pause and say:
✨ This time matters.
✨ My life matters.
✨ My ancestry and my legacy matter.
And perhaps most importantly:
✨What’s happening inside me matters.
Each cross-quarter festival corresponds with a season at full expression—when energy is no longer theoretical, but embodied.
These moments are perfect for reflection, recalibration, and instinctual truth-telling.
You can mark them with a simple five-minute ritual… or linger for an afternoon.
Both count. Intention—not elaboration—is what gives ritual its power.
🌱 Imbolc — February 1–2
Mid-Winter | The First Stirring | Your Self-Preservation Instinct
Imbolc arrives when winter hasn’t loosened its grip—but something inside us is quietly waking up.
This is the season of felt sense rather than proof.
Of intuition before clarity.
Of warming what has been dormant.
What to ask yourself:
What is quietly stirring beneath the surface of my life?
What foundational needs could use some tending?
Where am I being asked to trust and expand without rushing?
A Simple Ritual (5–10 minutes):
Light a single candle.
Place a hand on your heart or belly.
Whisper: “I honor what is beginning, even before it has words.”
Pay attention to what wells up inside you in response to this intention. Get curious about it. Use it to plan your next steps.
🌸 Beltane (May Day) — May 1
Mid-Spring | Creative & Relational Fire | Your Sexual Instinct
Beltane marks spring at full bloom—fertile, sensual, alive.
This is where desire speaks up.
Where energy wants movement, connection, and expression.
For women—especially in midlife—Beltane is a reminder that vitality doesn’t expire. It evolves.
What to ask yourself:
Where does my energy want to flow right now?
What feels alive, connective, or creatively charged?
Where have I been dampening my own spark?
A Simple Ritual:
Step outside.
Breathe deeply.
Name one (semi-) risky thing that really lights you up—something you’re ready to say yes to—out loud.
Get curious about it. Use it to plan your next steps.
🌾 Lammas — August 1
Mid-Summer | First Harvest | Your Social Instinct
Lammas is the season’s reality check.
Dreams meet lived experience here.
What’s working gets named.
What’s not gets compassion—not judgment.
This is a powerful moment for women to celebrate the fruits of their labor, to understand that what we feed (physically, mentally, emotionally) grows. To feeling the deep goodness that emanates from being part of something greater than our individual selves.
What to ask yourself:
What effort is actually bearing fruit? How can I celebrate it?
What needs to be adjusted, simplified, or released?
What DO I like to do, create, accomplish, or explore with others?
What is worthy of my “get ‘er done”-mothering energy now?
A Simple Ritual:
Eat something nourishing and grounding (ideally bread, but maybe also fruit, soup).
Journal one sentence each:
What’s sustaining me
What’s depleting me
How might I balance my need to connect with others now
🍂 Samhain — October 31
Mid-Autumn | Honoring the Invisible Threads | Honest Accounting of Instinctual Flow
Samhain is often misunderstood—but at its heart, it’s about threshold awareness.
It’s a time to honor ancestors, acknowledge loss, and name what is truly finished. Not dramatically—truthfully.
This festival speaks deeply to women in the second half of life, when legacy, lineage, and meaning come into sharper focus.
What to ask yourself:
What is complete—even if I haven’t named it yet?
What am I ready to Let Go of now?
What wisdom am I carrying forward?
What do I want my life to stand for now?
A Simple Ritual:
Light a candle.
Name one person, season, or version of yourself you honor.
Say: “I now release whatever unnecessarily drains me of my vitality and carry this forward with gratitude.”
Why These Mid-Season Markers Matter So Much
Equinoxes and solstices ask us to step across a threshold.
Cross-quarter festivals invite us to check in while we’re living it.
They are perfectly timed reminders to notice:
What’s out of sync (what’s the matter with me?)
So we can return to the deeper question that defines a woman’s second half of life:
What matters to me—now?
These festivals don’t demand perfection.
They don’t require spiritual expertise.
They simply invite presence.
Another pause.
Another recalibration.
Another quiet declaration:
This time matters.
My life matters.
And I’m allowed to live it on purpose.
Closing Thought
When we honor the big thresholds and the in-between ones, we stop racing through our lives.
We begin inhabiting them.
And that—more than anything—is the art of becoming a well-seasoned woman.
