Sabbats• What is a Sabbat?
A Sabbat is a Wiccan Holiday. On these holidays Wiccans celebrate the God & the Sun. There are eight Sabbats. Sabbats are naturally occurring events. They mark the Equinoxes - the two days a year when night & day are the same length, The Solstices - the longest day & night of the year, & the midpoints between these occurrences.
The Sabbats follow the Wheel of the Year. In Wicca the year is seen as s turning Wheel. Once it has completed a rotation, it keeps going & spins around again & again.
•Samhain (October 31st): Halloween, The Witches New Year -
Samhain (SOW-wen or sah-VEEN), one of the greater Sabbats, is probably the witches' greatest holiday. It marks the death of the Lord, and its also the start of a new year. On Samhain, witches hold celebrations to honor the dead. Like most people, witches celebrate at night.
•Yule (December 21st): The Winter Solstice -
Yule, one of the lesser Sabbats marks the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. It is also the time when the God is reborn & light begins to return to the earth. Wiccans celebrate by exchanging gifts, decorating a tree, hanging holly and mistletoe, singing, feasting, and burning a Yule Log. Exchanging gifts represents hope for the future, and the gift that the Lady has bestowed upon the earth by giving birth to the Lord, who is the Sun. The Yule Log is burned in the evening. It symbolizes the Lord reborn, & the return of the Sun. Every year some of the log is saved & is used to light the log of the next year. In this way the fire of the log is symbolically reborn as well.
A Note: Some people believe that Christ was actually born in the spring, but that church authorities decided to celebrate his birthday in the winter. They did this because they could not stop the Pagans from celebrating Yule at the time of the Winter Solstice. They hoped that the celebration of Christmas during the Pagan holiday would help convert the Pagans to Christianity.
•Imbolc (February 2nd): Rebirth of the Sun
Imbolc (IM-bolk) also called Candlemas, is the time when Wiccans celebrate the renewing fertility of the earth. Imbolc is a Greater Sabbat & a time to celebrate with seeds or newly germinating ideas. It is a time for purification. It is also a great time for spring cleaning too, getting rid of things you don't need & getting ready for the spring season to come.
•Ostara (March 21st): The Spring Equinox
(oh-STAR-ah) The Lord & Lady are seen as young and innocent at this time of the year. The day and night are of equal duration at the Spring or Vernal Equinox. A Wiccan celebration of Ostara includes boiled & decorated eggs. Some Wiccans do egg hunts & eat chocolate bunnies. This is a good time of year to buy a new ritual broom for sweeping out negative energies.
Many symbols of Ostara are common to Easter. Eggs have been a symbol of renewed life & fertility since the time of the Ancient Egyptians and Persians. In fact, in both cultures people dyed eggs & ate them in honor of the returning spring. The Egyptians also saw hares or rabbits, associated with the moon, as symbols of fertility and rebirth.
A note: Ostara (or Eostra) is the Teutonic Goddess of Spring & Fertility. The Christian holiday Easter gets its name from this Goddess.
•Beltane (April 30th) : Handfasting of the Lord & Lady.
At Beltane (BEL-tayne) the Lord has reached manhood, & he and the Lady unite in a handfasting.
To celebrate, many Wiccans dance around a maypole (a male phallic symbol) or focus on a cauldron, the symbol of the Lady who becomes pregnant at Beltane. Celebrants wear flowers or wreaths of green foliage.
A note: A Handfasting is a Wiccan Marriage Ceremony.
•Summer Solstice (June 21st): A Midsummer Dream
The Summer Solstice marks the longest day of the year. The Lord & the Lady are at their peak & everything is green & growing. Wicfans give reverence at this time but don't usually hold large celebrations. Midsummer Night's Eve has traditionally been a great day to perform love & healing magick.
•Lughnassad (August 2nd): The Early Harvest
(Loo-nus-uh) Marks the beginning of the fall harvest, the day on which the grain is cut. It gets its name from the multitalented Celtic God Lugh who, in addition to being King of the Gods, is associated with the Sun, magick, art, strength, courage, & music. Some Wiccans celebrate this Sabbat on the beach & build a sand sculpture of the moribund God to honor & mourn him. As fall approaches he starts to lose his strength. But the Goddess is pregnant with the God who will be reborn at Yule. Lughnassad is also called the Feast of Bread or Lammas, which means loaf mass. Wiccans often bake & hood feasts on this holiday to celebrate the plenty at this time of year. Houses can be decorated for the holiday with a wreath. Many Wiccans place fruits and vegetables on their altars while doing rituals.
•Mabon (September 21st): Harvest Festival
The second harvest is held on the Autumn Equinox to celebrate the last fruits of the year. Some people call this Holiday Harvest Home. The Lord is preparing for his death at Samhain & the Lady is beginning to mourn his loss. Night & day are of equal duration on this date, & you can feel the approach of winter & darkness. Rituals to honor this Sabbat include feasts with Late-season vegetables such as squash, nuts, sheaves of late wheat, & ears of corn. A cornucopia, a symbol of prosperity & plenty, is a nice addition to altars at this time of year. Some witches like to perform food magick on this Holiday.
