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  Sabbats
Sabbats 
 


Pagans and Wiccans around the world celebrate the eight Sabbats, or holidays, as the Wheel of the Year turns. The Sabbats are Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas or Lughnasadh, and Mabon. The Pagan and Wiccan holidays are based upon agricultural and astronomical markers, such
 as solstices, equinoxes and planting/harvest dates. Some of them are the same each year, and others tend to change, based upon the earth's rotation. Feel free to browse our Sabbat tab at the top.



Samhain




The fields are bare, the leaves have fallen from the trees, and the skies are going gray and cold. It is the time of year when the earth has died and gone dormant, when the gardens and fields are brown and dead. The nights are getting longer, there's a chill in the air and winter is looming.

Every year on May 1, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, the Sabbat we call Samhain presents us with the opportunity to once more celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth. For many Pagan and Wiccan traditions, Samhain is a time to reconnect with our ancestors, and honor those who have died.

This is the time when the veil between our world and the spirit realm is thin, so it's the perfect time of year to make contact with the dead. Depending on your individual spiritual path, there are many different ways you can celebrate Samhain, but typically the focus is on either honoring our ancestors, or the cycle of death and rebirth.

This is also the time that is connected with Halloween. 


Yule



This time of the year it is the enduring legend of the battle between the Oak King and the Holly King. These two mighty rulers fight for supremacy as the Wheel of the Year turns each season. At the Winter Solstice or Yule, the Oak King kills the Holly King, and then reigns until Midsummer/Litha. Once the Summer Solstice arrives, the Holly King returns to do battle with the old king, and defeats him. The Holly King them rules until Yule.

In some Wiccan traditions, the Oak King and the Holly King are seen as dual aspects of the Horned God. Each of these twin aspects rules for half the year, battles for the favor of the Goddess, and then retires to nurse his wounds for the next six months, until it is time for him to reign once more.

Often, these two entities are portrayed in familiar ways - the Holly King frequently appears as a woodsy version of Santa Claus. He dresses in red, wears a sprig of holly in his tangled hair, and is sometimes depicted driving a team of eight stags. The Oak King is portrayed as a fertility god, and occasionally appears as the Green Man or other lord of the forest.

Ultimately, while these two beings do battle all year long, they are two essential parts of a whole. Despite being enemies, without one, the other would no longer exist.

 

Imbolc

Brighid, Brigit, Bride,) the Celtic goddess who in later times became revered as a Christian saint. Originally, her festival is known as Imbolc or Oimelc, two names which refer to the lactation of the ewes, the flow of milk that heralds the return of the life-giving forces of spring.

Later, the Catholic Church replaced this festival with Candlemas Day, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and features candlelight processions. The powerful figure of Brigid the Light-Bringer overlights both pagan and Christian celebrations.


Ostara




As Spring reaches its midpoint, night and day stand in perfect balance, with light on the increase. The young Sun God now celebrates a sacred marriage with the young Maiden Goddess, who conceives. In nine months, she will again become the Great Mother. It is a time of great fertility, new growth, and newborn animals.

The next full moon (a time of increased births) is called the Ostara and is sacred to Eostre the Saxon Lunar Goddess of fertility (from whence we get the word estrogen, whose two symbols were the egg and the rabbit.

A time for new ideas and inspirations


Beltaine



Beltane, and its counterpart Samhain, divide the year into its two primary seasons, winter (Dark Part) and summer (Light Part). As Samhain is about honoring Death, Beltane, its counter part, is about honoring Life. It is the time when the sun is fully released from his bondage of winter and able to rule over summer and life once again.

Beltane marks that the winter's journey has passed and summer has begun, it is a festival of rapturous gaiety as it joyfully heralds the arrival of summer in her full garb.

Beltane marks the passage into the growing season, the immediate rousing of the earth from her gently awakening slumber, a time when the pleasures of the earth and self are fully awakened. It signals a time when the bounty of the earth will once again be had. It is a time when flowers bloom, trees are green and life has again returned from the barren landscape of winter, to the hope of bountiful harvests, not too far away, and the lighthearted bliss that only summer can bring.

Celebration includes frolicking throughout the countryside, maypole dancing, leaping over fires to ensure fertility, circling the fire three times (sun-wise) for good luck in the coming year, athletic tournaments feasting, music, drinking, children gathering flowers.


Litha




The Litha Sabbat is a time to celebrate both work and leisure, it is a time for children and childlike play. It is a time to celebrate the ending of the waxing year (mid-summer) and the beginning of the waning year (going into winter), in preparation for the harvest to come.

Midsummer is a time to absorb the Sun's warming rays and it is another fertility Sabbat, not only for humans, but also for crops and animals.

Wiccans consider the Goddess to be heavy with pregnancy from the mating at Beltane and honor is given to Her. The Sun God is celebrated as the Sun is at its peak in the sky and we celebrate His approaching fatherhood - honor is also given to Him.

The faeries abound at this time and it is customary to leave offerings such as food or herbs for them in the evening.


Lughnassadh/Lammas


Lammas, also known as Lughnassadh is the one of the four great fire festivals of the Wheel of the year. It marks the beginning of Autumn. The beginning of the harvest season and also celebrates the decline of summer into winter. It is also known as the first harvest festival. It is the festival of transformation. We harvest grain and then turn it into flour that in turn is turned into bread. It is a time where you can truly go within and transform that what is needed.

Another english folklore is John Barleycorn. Most pagans will celebrate Lammas/Lughnassadh by burning John Barleycorn.

John Barleycorn is a character who represents the crop of barley harvested each autumn. Equally as important, he symbolizes the wonderful drinks which can be made from barley -- beer and whiskey -- and their effects


Mabon



It is the time of the autumn equinox, and the harvest is winding down. The fields are nearly empty, because the crops have been plucked and stored for the coming winter. Mabon is the mid-harvest festival, and it is when we take a few moments to honor the changing seasons, and celebrate the second harvest. For many Pagan and Wiccan traditions it is a time of giving thanks for the things we have, whether it is abundant crops or other blessings.

This is the time when there is an equal amount of day and night. While we celebrate the gifts of the earth, we also accept that the soil is dying. We have food to eat, but the crops are brown and going dormant. Warmth is behind us, cold lies ahead

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