Sabbats

The Sabbats

What Are the Sabbats?

There are eight witches' sabbats, each one celebrating an important point on the wheel of the year. Sabbats are the witches' holy days, like Christmas or Easter, except because this is an Earth-based religion, the sabbats are also Earth-based, following and celebrating the changing seasons with the rest of nature.

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice, or Yule, takes place on December 21st. This is the darkest night of the year, but also the point at which the sun begins to return. Christmas was originally marked as the 25th to coincide with the "return of the light" celebrations that have always taken place on this date to welcome back the sun.
The Christmas tree was orginally a pagan tradition--decorating an evergreen tree (evergreen tress are symbolic because they show that there is still life thriving even on the longest day of winter) in the forest, or bringing it into the home and dressing it with lights and jewels. One nice one to do is to set a candle in every window and them burn through the night.
A Yule fire is often set to blaze in the hearth, ideally with a log of blessed oak (taken with permission).

Yule marks the place when the Holly King retires and the Oak King returns (until Midsummer). So decorating the house with holly and evergreen boughs and mistletoe is traditional. Mistletoe has always been sacred to the oaks and the druids, and was believed to be the semen of the oak tree. In recompensense for taking something so sacred, a bull was often sacrificed back to the tree. If you take mistletoe today, do it always with permission and prayers, and be sure to give something in return.

Winter Solstice is a very special time because it is the return of the light and life, and the Sun God is on this day reborn. This is the time of the Crone, but soon she too will mold into the Maiden Goddess.
Samhain is often called the Witches' New Year, but I celebrate it here, with the return of the sun, and life.
As this is the time of the Crone, and the recycling of death into new life, this is a good time to say prayers and make wishes, and set resolutions with the guidance of the Crone. If you have a small cauldron, it's nice to write them on paper and burn them with prayers.

Imbolc

Imbolc takes place on Febrary 2nd. Imbolc literally means "in milk," and going back to our ancesters, this was the time when the ewes would come into milk and the lambs would be born. This is treated as sort of a preparing the ground for Spring time. Deep in the frozen Earth, life is starting to stir, though you can't see it yet.
This is also a fire sabbat--celebrating Brigit, the Maiden Goddess (where the word "bride" comes from, as that was one of the pronounciations of her name). Her sacred flame is still kept today in Ireland, where it has been kept for centuries by virgin priestesses and nuns (alternately). Brigit is the Maiden Goddess of the sacred flame, the spring fire--the spark of life. It is Imbolc where that spark of life first comes back to the ground, to prepare it for spring.

Spring Equinox

Spring Equinox is March 21st--this is the first day of spring. The equinoxes (there are two) mark the two places in the year when day and night are exactly equal, so at this one, the Sun Child is beginning now to come into his power, and he will be stronger from this day on. Spring is about new life of course, and traditional symbols of eggs and babies and flowers are still good for decoration. The Goddess most acknowledged here is Oestara (yes, where "Easter" comes from), although as she is a moon goddess, her day is traditionally at the time of a full moon. Oestara's animal is a rabbit (her followers saw a rabbit in the full moon) and that is why there is an Easter Bunny.
Spring is the time of the Maiden Goddess, and this is the beginning of the courtship between the God and Goddess, as they are both in their youthful forms now.
Spring is the time of fire--that fire of creativity and life, that we mentioned with Imbolc. It is also the time of water, because this is when the blessed rains begin. The rain was often thought to be the seeds or the semen that makes the soil furtil and allows for birth in later on. Celebrations and prayers of furtility are common on Spring Equinox.

Beltaine

All right, lovers, May Day is for you! Beltaine is on May 1st, and this traditionally was the day of marriages (or handfasting) ceremonies. This is a celebration of flowers. Boys traditionally give flowers to the girls they like. Girls go flower-picking in the meadows at dawn for flowers to wear in their hair. A fun activity to do is leave flowers on neighbours' doorsteps, ring the bell, and run away. Make daisy chains and where them in your hair.
This is the marriage day of the God and Goddess, as we are now to that point in the year. And it is the day for wearing ribbons and dancing the May Pole--Yes, it is a phallic symbol, but it's beautiful and fun, and anyways, why shouldn't we celebrate sex? Beltaine is the big furtility celebration day, so if you have any prayers or spells in that order, today's the day to say them. Flowers, ribbons, bright colours are all appropriate for this sabbat. Joy and laughter and fun are the keys.

Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice, or Midsummer's Day, is June 21st. This is the longest day of the year. The Maiden Goddess is hereby the Mother Goddess, and this is the culmination of the Sun God's reign: from now on his power will decline until he dies and is reborn again at Winter Solstice.
Appropriate colours are yellow, red, and gold. Everything on this day is at its fullness, and it is another day for joy and dancing. Bonfires are traditionally lit towards evening. In ancient times, this was the date on which the cattle were driven between two giant bonfires to purify and bless them.
Go out and do something in nature on this day, and notice the richness of life and Earth, and it's a good day to give thanks for it all--joyfully, of course!

Lammas

Lammas, also called Lughnasadha, occurs on August 2nd. It is the first of the three harvest sabbats (cultimating on Samhaine), and marks the beginning of the harvest season. This is a sabbat based on agriculure--corn, apples, berries, and vegetables are the primary foods. We are celebrating the bountiful, furtile Earth. The Goddess is in her Mother form, and manifests as Demeter, Corn Mother, and the like.
Apples are an important part especially, of the harvest season. They are symobls of the Mother Goddess, and if you cut them in half there is a star with five points--a sacred symbol of life and the universe. Apples are also the fruits of wisdom and knowledge, and who would want to be without those? So it is good to eat them and thank the Earth for such blessings as she gives us.

Autumn Equinox

Autumn Equinox occurs on September 21st, being the second of the three harvest sabbats, and the only other date when the balance of day and night are exactly equal, like the Spring Equinox. This is autumn, the fall time. In the Native American Medicince Wheel we are moving towards the West, the quiet time, the dying time. Corn and apples are still very important. The Goddess is still the Mother, but she is moving towards the Crone. Give thanks for all she continues to provide you with. This is a time of changes (like school again), moving back indoors. But welcome them, because they bring new knowledge, and give thanks for summer, which will come again next year.

Samhaine

Samhaine, or All Hallow's Eve, occurs on October 31st. It is probably the most renowned of the Witches' Sabbats, and the one the rest of the world celebrates with us, even knowing what it is (note: it is common for them to celebrate with us, but not for them to know why). Samhaine is commonly called the Witches' New Year. It is the time, the one night of the year, when the veils between the worlds are thinnest, and spirits can travel between them with ease. Spirits of the dead are commonly thought to make their journey into the Summerland on this night, and may return for the night to be welcomed and acknowledged. It is a night for ancestor's to be remembered, passed friends and pets spoken of with love. Put passed loved ones pictures on the mantle, put extra plates out on the table, for those loved ones to join you.
This sabbat, being the third and final harvest celebration, is usually marked with a feast and thanksgiving for the bountiful season.
Apples are still important.
Nice things to do for passing spirits on this night are: light a candle in each window to guide them; leave a plate of food out on the doorstep for them to eat.
Trick-or-treating was originally thought to be done by spirits, or the Fae Folk, and then humans began dressing up and following suite to blend in so they wouldn't be targetted by the mischievious Fae, or perhaps simply to take advantage, because the humans giving out treats to the Fae wouldn't be able to tell if they were humans, as they were disguised like Faeries.

By the way, food that you set out for spirits or ancestors, it will not be wasted. Because they're spirits, and not made of matter, the spirits will eat the spirit of the food--I have seen them do this--and you can bury the "body" of the food (the actual physical matter) the next morning, or eat it yourself, as the spirits have eaten their fill already, and the "body" of it is certainly still good.
This is hereby the Crone's time, and as she is the wisest, prayers for guidance and wisdome may be said to her at this time, and throughout the coming winter. Colours for Samhaine are traditionally black.

The next Sabbat is Winter Solstice, and so the year begins again!

Must I Celebrate the Sabbats?

Of course you don't have to, but who doesn't like holidays? Well, my personal view on it is that the Sabbats are important if for nothing else than that they celebrate the Earth. I think, if you can do nothing else, at least acknowledge the Sabbats, and I feel this is important because in doing so we pay more attention to nature and to our Mother, Earth, and we acknowledge her, and participate in those natural rhythms, which will sadly lose power the less notice is taken of them. Remember, power comes from thought--so if you can do nothing else, at least acknowledge them in some way: say a little prayer or wear the sabbat colours or take a walk in the forest. Or do anything you want, but that's my view anyway.

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