Those moving to the habitats initially brought down their spiritual beliefs and practices. Some spiritual groups could continue easily since their practices had few ties with the physical world on the surface. Not so for the pagans. How does one move a nature-based spirituality looking to the sky, water, air and earth far underground? How do we keep the core principles alive when much of how we relate to those principles for all practical purposes no longer exists?

The ancient Israelites had to adapt once their primary temple was destroyed. (1) They could no longer erase their sins by sending sacred smoke raised from animal sacrifices, as demanded by their deity. (2) Instead, they turned to study, prayer and acts of loving-kindness. (3) Their example shows spirituality can evolve if core principles are established, understood and remembered.

Superficial practices create superficial people. This has been a problem in the last few millennia, as the core beliefs of many spiritualities were forgotten or deliberately left behind, and the actions of their practitioners no longer bore any resemblance to the words they quoted from their scriptures. (4) Spirituality itself must evolve to allow those within its sphere of influence to continue to grow and transform, and our spiritual practices must transform to facilitate our personal growth and humanity's evolution.

Modern pagans have always looked to the historical record, and once we were underground, we chose to evolve our spirituality coherently. Throughout the habitats, whether solo practitioners, single covens, or part of a tradition, we collaborated to distill the meaning of the sabbats. We used the knowledge we gained to evolve practices more conducive to living underground.

We grouped the four Sabbats marking the solstices and equinoxes as one turning of the Wheel, each corresponding to its season and, to each of these Sabbats, we assigned a theme.

Yule was the end and the beginning of the ouroboros we named the Wheel of the Year. The night of Yule is the longest of the solar cycle, and when the sun finally rises in the East, it marks the ending of the old year and the beginning of the new. The night between the setting and rising of the sun is transitory, existing outside of time and place, enabling us to reflect and look forward, to remember what was and wish for what might become.

We named Yule's theme Dormancy. The time between the celebration of this sabbat to the next of Imbolc was considered a time of respite. We turn inward, choosing to rest and restore ourselves, planning how to facilitate the wishes we might have made and gaining the knowledge we will need to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves.

Each group had its practices, some shared, some unique. Within them, we found the seeds of the concepts of Dormancy, and we grew those seeds to create the practices we did while we were underground. We found the associations and the correspondences; with them, we wove together rituals linking our past to our present.