From SuspireWiki

While every cult is different, with their own religiously important dates, there are other certain dates which bind every cult together under the moniker, the Circle of the Crone.

The Winter Solstice & The Winnowing

Nights are long and none longer than the Winter Solstice, late December, when the earth and all undead upon it are farthest from their oldest foe, the sun. It is traditionally a time of triumph for the elders of the Circle, those who have slept through the most assaults of ever-angry day, the wizened and wise who can no longer feed on the blood of mere mortals, those reputed to dine on viands darker than even Vitae. The Solstice is the night of the Crone.

It’s no coincidence that the Winnowing happens in such close proximity to the Winter Solstice. The confrontation with wisdom and the urge to cast aside all that is false, base and illusory is a perfect compliment to a celebration of those who have survived the longest and who are usually, almost by necessity, the most alienated from human mores. In some domains, the Winnowing occurs before the Solstice.

See more in the Circle of the Crone book, pp. 61-62

The Spring Equinox

In the spring, life bursts forth and the world is renewed. At the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox, days and nights are in balance, and the Kindred of the Circle celebrate their members who best balance Humanity and the Beast.

The female version of this figure is the Maiden, pure and innocent, a creature of unsullied potential. The male is the Fool, whose innocence takes on a somewhat different cast. While the Maiden is unblemished by experience, the Fool is someone who prefers his own counsel to the lessons of experience. Both are ignorant, but those who have yet to experience the full depths of the Kindred curse are often envied their ignorance.

On the Equinox, then, Acolytes attempt to reconnect to their lost humanity.

See more in the Circle of the Crone book, pp. 62-63

The Summer Solstice

Summer might not lead one’s thoughts to vampires. Summer is fun and tans and bikinis on the beach; it’s sweat and picnics and baseball games. While Kindred have to eat just as much as at any other time, it’s often a season when they lay low, almost instinctively taking it easy during the short nights and long hot days.

It is fitting that this least venerable of seasons holds the festival of the Acolytes’ outsider roles, for the Summer Solstice is when the Scarlet Woman and the Hero have their chance to shine. The Summer Solstice is a festival, a bash, a dance, a party, a spectacle and an opportunity to get noticed.

This celebration on the informal end of the Acolyte ritual spectrum. In many domains, there’s no overt religious element, not even an invocation to start things off. Instead, a place is selected, Acolytes show up some time after full dark and at some point music starts (any-thing from one guy with a boom box to a full orchestra, depending on who’s footing the bill). This festival rarely very organized, and often there’s competing music from different parts of the house, forest or graveyard where the Summer Solstice is celebrated.

There are a number of hours of dancing and mingling, and this is when the feeding happens, too. (It’s pretty much a BYO affair, though Heroes and Scarlet Women with large herds often flaunt them by bringing any members who’d be willing to give it up for complete strangers. All of this drinking and dancing and jubilation are, in themselves, pretty worthwhile if you like that sort of thing. But from a larger perspective, it’s all prelude to Declaration.

See more in the Circle of the Crone book, pp. 63-65

The Autumnal Equinox

The Autumnal Equinox is sacred to the Mother and the Father, and just as the Spring Equinox, the Autumnal Equinox is regarded as a time of balance. But from the more experienced perspective of the parental arche-types, that doesn’t make it a strong day for a vampire’s ever-beleaguered humane spark. Instead, the balance of light and darkness makes the Autumn Equinox a time of transition, when bargains between the sides can be struck and when the walls between Day and Night, Right and Wrong, Life and Death are at their thinnest.

The Autumn Equinox occurs in three phases, broken up by what can only be termed intermissions. During these gaps in the ceremony, people often leave and show up, and this is expected. Not every element of the ritual is right for every Acolyte.

Equinox rites are conducted outdoors, but usually under some kind of shade. A clearing in a dense forest is ideal. The Equinox rite begins with the Dusk Serenade, led by the local Hierophant. It begins at dusk, meaning the moment the sun has gone down. Being in place to sing about mingled rebellion and resignation to the setting sun is a severe challenge.

See more in the Circle of the Crone book, pp. 65-66