In neolithic times, the rising of the Pleiades star cluster at sunset marked the close of the harvest. This event later came to be known as Samuin or Sawain. Its representations not only appear on the Nebra disc but various artifacts dating up to the La Téne period of Celtic influence in central Europe; for instance this sword found in a burial mound near Munich-Ingolstadt:
Despite what neo-pagan reconstructionists claim, the Pleiades were not so much used as an alignment, rather, a sign marking the end of the “Gladyearhalf”; as it was the Celts did not divide their year in quarters, or even eighths, as the followers of Wicca so insist. While the first half was seen as the dominion of the life force and growth, the latter half was perceived as the time of hibernation. These were observations made from the behaviour of nature itself, as they had none of the conveniences we take so for granted in our “ready-made” urban societies. Poor harvests and inadequate stock to endure the winter months, left little choice between certain death and pillaging rival tribes.
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