26th, 2011 | 03:41 pm
For the pagan community at large, our holy days revolve around the natural cycle of the earth and its seasons. It is dubbed The Wheel of the Year, or more commonly The Eight Sabbats. Though the term Sabbath is a Jewish term meaning ‘time of rest and or worship” the pagan Sabbats mostly originate from ancient Celtic and Germanic mythology respectively. They also reflect the planting and harvesting seasons as well as animal husbandry.
For most pagans, life and death is viewed as one continuous circle. There is no beginning and no ending. Thus the cycle of the earth is a metaphor for the cycles of life and death (or vice versa). For most, the pattern goes as such:
Birth
Life
Old Age
Death
Rebirth
(Repeat)
Life
Old Age
Death
Rebirth
(Repeat)
The Sabbats can be broken down into two categories. The Greater Sabbats, cross quarter days where large bonfire festivals were once held, are usually the bigger holidays with larger turnouts. The Lesser Sabbats typically fall on solstices or equinoxes. Sabbats typically start at sunset the day of and last till sunset the next day.
EX: Samhain starts at sunset on Oct 31st and lasts till sunset on November 1st.
EX: Ostara starts at sunset on March 20th (2011) and ends at sunset March 21st (2011)
EX: Ostara starts at sunset on March 20th (2011) and ends at sunset March 21st (2011)
Most rites are preformed at midnight the night of, but this is not ubiquitous. I prefer to take advantage of the lovely weather (depending upon the region) from Ostara to Mabon (Spring Solstice-Autumn Equinox) and perform the rites during the day and fully appreciate the sun and fresh air.
As pagans tend to vary in their chosen pantheon of gods and goddesses, it is hard to discern which names to call out during these celebrations. Your grove or coven may have a particular pantheon they adhere to. Your group may also invite all comers to call upon whatever chosen deity they hold dear to their hearts. It really is up to the individual. Don’t feel as though you need to stick to one mythology or the other. Pagans tend to be broad about their deities’ names and sometimes try to find corresponding deities in their families’ culture or homeland of origin.
For a beginner I would suggest finding a god or goddess that represents what each Sabbat is supposed to be about. You may want to go deeper, find out where your family originates from and discover what the local mythology was like a thousand years ago. For me my family background is Irish, though I used to favor Hellenistic mythos and once named myself Artimidora out of dedication to my favorite goddess Artemis. (See! You don’t HAVE to stick to any one mythology!) Lately though I’ve decided to pull more towards the Celtic paganism simply because I’ve become more and more proud of my Irish roots and heritage.
As far as how to celebrate each chosen Sabbat, there are a million web-sites and books out there that are more than happy to tell you exactly what you need to do, what words to say, what to offer and which way to turn yourself when you want to cough. I’m not one of them. I’m happy to share what I do as I do it, but this is one of those times where I strongly suggest making up your own rituals and getting creative. It’s much more fun when you become personally involved in creating an alter or writing a spell than simply parroting lines from someone else’s script. Of course we can’t all be poets (I’m not) any more than we can all be artists (again), so don’t feel bad if you go ahead and repeat that Silver RavenWolf stylized ritual. The gods won’t be mad at you for it.
Before we get into it I just want to say for the record that I DO NOT regard popular American holidays as religious in nature. Yes that includes Christmas. So as far as I am concerned one is perfectly fine celebrating all the same holidays they used to at the same time as celebrating all these new ones. The reason being that aside from a comparatively small amount of people most go on celebrating the holidays they grew up with regardless of any kind of religious over tone or secular meaning. They celebrate it the way they did when they were kids and thus it became tradition rather than faith or belief. Popular culture has turned holidays into cash cows and money crops (which is to be expected really). So where then is left the faith or belief that may have once inhabited the holiday? This isn’t a bad thing per say, in fact it’s helped keep some sense of any holiday alive. If you disagree that fine. But this Easter if you would do me a favor and keep a tally of how many times you think about Jesus’s resurrection, it’s meaning, and it’s impact of Christianity vs. how many times you think about candy, eggs, hiding places, dresses and suits, buying the right basket, Easter dinner and going to church.
For each Sabbat I have chosen to give details in the following manner:
TITLE | DESCRIPTION |
Name | The popular or most common names for the holiday. |
Pronounced | Some names can be harder to say than others. |
Corresponds With | Other holidays that correspond or are celebrated around the same time. |
Date | Best time to celebrate. |
Symbols | Imagery that reflects the meaning of the holiday. |
Colors | What colors are most commonly used. |
Time | Suggested time to celebrate during day or night. |
Deities | Which god(dess)s tend to go well with the celebration. |
History | A brief explanation of the holiday, it’s origin, it’s meaning, and it’s modern day activities. |
Magick | Some good spells and rituals to perform on this holiday. |
Offerings | What you might consider picking as an offering or sacrifice. |
Extras | Any other tidbits I may have come across. |
I sincerely hope this helps beginner pagans get a grip on the basics and maybe even make older pagans rethink or add to their own rituals and celebrations.
SAMHAIN
TITLE | DESCRIPTION |
Name | Samhain-meaning ‘summers end’ |
Pronounced | Sow-ain |
Corresponds With | All Hallows Eve (Catholic)/Dios De Los Muertos (Mexican)/Halloween (American)/ |
Date | October 31st (sundown) – Novemeber 1st (sundown) |
Symbols | Pumpkins/apples/skulls/crone/leaves/hay/w |
Colors | Dark brown/gold/bright orange/apple red/mossy green/yellow/black |
Time | Most pagans prefer to celebrate this holiday at Midnight, which is very practical as it’s after the children are too exhausted from Trick-or-Treating to stay awake any more and it allows for a higher degree of privacy. |
Deities | Gods of Death, Endings and Cross Roads Hades (Greek)/Astarte()/Anubis(Egyptian)/Eresh |
History | In ancient times, this was considered to be the end of many different activities. The harvests were usually in, the ships would return from sea, the animals would be herded to closer pastures and people would return from any far away travels, including war and battles. Long days of hard work were done for the time being and people had a chance to celebrate with friends and family. Bonfires were lit, big enough to be seen for miles around and people would have huge feasts and dance long into the night. It was also the time of year when the Veil (the boundary between worlds) was thought to be at its thinnest and that the souls of the dead were able to cross into our world with greater ease. Old relatives and friends were given a place at the table and invited to join in the revelry. People often related stories of heroic deeds in battle or hunt and wove stories of meetings with Otherworldly beings. Druids considered this night to be most auspicious for reading portends and working rituals to see how things would go in the coming year. Sacrifices of animal and vegetation were made and the druids would watch to see if each offer was accepted by the gods. In VERY ancient times, this was when the hearth fires would be extinguished and relit to protect people from the dark and wild animals. But for the most part, it was a harvest festival and a chance to celebrate before bad weather set it, trapping people to their homes and villages for months. For modern Wiccans and Witches this is the time of year when the Triple Goddess transforms into her aspect of the Crone, the old wise woman who has seen everything and can tell you anything. She is symbolic of the time in a woman’s life where burdens are lifted from her shoulders onto younger back and she may rest in peace and be counted among the respected and revered. For many she is the messenger between the world of the living and that of the dead, able to visit both untouched. The Crone is also considered a midwife figure, offering the comfort of rebirth when death is so very near. This time of year is also seen as the dying of the Sun God (in some versions he sacrifices himself only to rise again in Spring time). |
Magick | Scrying(reading oracles/offering respect to family, friends, pets gone/asking for good fortune in the new year/renewing ones magickal connection/thanking god(dess) for good harvest n good fortune/renewing protection and warding spells/spells of binding or removing problems |
Offerings | FOOD: Wheat/grains/apples/corns/rye breads/red wines/rum/whisky/ SPICES: Cinnamon/nutmeg/vanilla/ginger/clove INCENSE: Sandalwood/Nag Champ/Dragon’s Blood/ |
Extras | It’s okay to enjoy the goofy costumed fun of this holiday just as much as the pagan part. Especially if you have younger children who don’t particularly care about the ritualistic part. You can have just as much fun (and still be celebrating the holiday just fine) if you hold a pagan parents party and have games that reflect your personal beliefs as well as old fashioned apple bobbing and such. |
Yule
TITLE | DESCRIPTION |
Name | Yule or Winter Solstice-meaning ‘Wheel of Fire (Sun)’ |
Pronounced | Jul |
Corresponds With | Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/Saturnalia/Ho |
Date | December 22nd (sundown)-December 23rd (sundown) |
Symbols | Pine trees & cones/mistletoe/crows/deer/candles/wood/h |
Colors | Red/green/gold/silver/blue/gray/ |
Time | Sundown on the eve of the 22nd is, I feel, an appropriate time as most people celebrate winter holidays with a lot of feasting and drinking and it’s easier to have a gathering when supper is offered. |
Deities | Gods of Winter, Prosperity and Sun Santa Claus(American)/Chione(Greek)/Beaver(Nat (Greek)/Hod(Norse)/Pipinoukhe(Native American-Algonquin)/Jesus Christ(Christian)/ Krampus (Scandinavian)/Odin(Norse)/Dis(Norse) |
History | This was the midway point in the Norse winter. Winter was half over and it was a cause for much celebration and excitement. Winter nights were long and hard. People were reminded that the sun would soon be reborn and return light and warmth to the world. This was celebrated by a large gathering in the villages. Men would go out and cut down the biggest tree they could find. They would cut it into logs, place it on the fire, and the feast would continue until the last piece of the Yule Log was burn to ash. Everyone was required to participate in the feast and bring food, ale and bread to the party, otherwise they had to pay a hefty fine. Large animal sacrifices were made at this time and the walls of temples as well as the men present were smeared with the blood. The animals were cooked and served at the meal. Toasts were drunk to the gods for victory, power, good harvests and peace, as well as a toast for the dearly departed. In Roman times, this was the celebration of the god Saturn and possibly of another solar deity. It was a day when large, opulent feasts were held, masters became servants and people engaged in copious amounts of drink, revelry and sexual escapades. Gifts were given and luxury was the name of the game. There was a belief rampant in ancient Europe that this was the time of year when the Wild Hunt took place. The Wild Hunt was comprised of either the souls of the dead or fairies or gods, horses, hounds and the like and hunt across the wilderness. It was sometimes ritually reenacted. |
Magick | Generosity/charity & kindness/health, wealth & self/hearth/home/family /prosperity/money/ new beginnings/ |
Offerings | FOOD: grapes/baked goods/red wine/schnapps/mead/chocolate/Turkish delight/cranberries SPICES: salt/pepper/flour/allspice/ INCENSE: peppermint/cranberry/pine/oak/ |
Extras |
IMBOLC
TITLE | DESCRIPTION |
Name | Imbolc (or Imbolg) meaning ‘ewe’s milk’ or ‘in the belly’ |
Pronounced | I mbolg |
Corresponds With | St.Brigit’s Day/Candlemas/Valentine’s Day/Groundhogs Day/ |
Date | Febuary 1st (sundown)- Febuary 2nd (sundown) |
Symbols | Lambs/milk/sparrows/grass/flames/wool/he |
Colors | Light green/white/grey/cream |
Time | I prefer to celebrate this holiday at dawn if at all possible to coincide with the alow rising of spring and the return of warmth. |
Deities | Gods of Spring, Life and Growth Brigid(Celtic)/Cailleach(Scottish)/Aholi(Hopi)/Anahita(P |
History | Traditionally, Imbolc is associated with the signs of the ewes about to give birth to their young. It is a symbol that life is returning to the world and Spring is at hand. The first signs that the cold winter weather is heading out usually come around this point in time, although in America, February is known for bringing the worst weather possible. Because of the lactation taking place this holiday was often celebrates with ample amounts of butter, milk and cheese. Imbolc is one of the four fire festivals and is a time of purification and being made anew much like nature is coming back to life. Brigit, the daughter of Dagda, reigns supreme over this holiday as she is seen as the patron of high though, fire (and warmer weather) and the hearth. For the Scots there is a tale about Cailleach, who in one version sheds her mantle of the Crone aspect and is reborn as the maiden of spring. In another she is still an old woman who comes out on Imbolg to gather firewood. There is an old tale that says of Imbolg is bright and sunny, it is because Cailleach made it that way so that she could gather more firewood for the rest of winter. |
Magick | Kitchen/hearth/home/family/omens/fertili |
Offerings | FOOD: Grapefruits/cheese/milk/dried fruits/celery SPICES: parsley/flowers INCENSE: cedar/lavender/sweetgrass/grapefruit |
Extras |
OSTARA
TITLE | DESCRIPTIONS |
Name | Ostara or Eostra-meaning ‘to shine’ |
Pronounced | Eh-oh-stra |
Corresponds With | Easter/Spring Solstice/National Garden Month/Earth Day/St. Patrick’s Day |
Date | March 20th 2011 (sundown)- March 21st 2011 (sundown) |
Symbols | Eggs/rabbits/flowers/rain/springs/baby birds/sun/lace/cherry blossom(any early blossoms)/ |
Colors | Pastels-yellow/green/blue/white/pink/whi |
Time | I like to celebrate this holiday or mid morning to mid afternoon, taking advantage of the warmest part of the day and really soaking up the lovely weather. |
Deities | Gods of Dawn, Fertility and Youth Eostra(Germanic)/Demeter(Greek)/Freja(No Jesus Christ (Christian)/Aida-Wedo(Haitian/Voodoo) |
History | Actually there is a great deal of debate as to whether or not this holiday is legitimate. But what pagans and wiccans alike consider is this: Eostra is the goddess of the dawn, her light returning to the world and bringing with it spring weather. She is an aspect of the Triple goddess in her form of the youthful maiden, ripe for love and free from worry or strife. Her coming means that spring has begun, babies are being born and the soil is ready for tilling. |
Magick | Fertility spells/worship of earth god(dess)/garden/removing past troubles/equality/removing old habits/taking new chances/spring cleaning/cleansing rituals |
Offerings | FOOD: Eggs/chocolate/flowers/candy/carrots SPICES: clove/mint/lemon/chives/parsley INCENSE: lavender/citrus/sweet pea/lilac/cherry blossom |
Extras | Water collected on this day is considered sacred. |
Beltane
TITLE | DESCRIPTIONS |
Name | Beltaine-meaning ‘bright fire’ |
Pronounced | Bell-taen |
Corresponds With | May Day/Mother’s Day/Cinco De Mayo/Purim/Walpurgis |
Date | May 1st (sundown) – May 2nd (sundown) |
Symbols | Fire/cattle/any herding animal/fairies/flowers/ribbons/garlands/e |
Colors | Vivid colors-green/orange/yellow/blue/pink |
Time | This is a celebration that really deserves a Midday ceremony. The weather is glorious, the day is bright and warm and it just feels so good to be outside and in the world. It’s easier to get people together during Beltane because it’s not too hot yet and everyone is ready for outdoor activities. |
Deities | Gods of Animals, Fertility and Abundance Aakuluujjusi (Native American-Inuit)/Virgin Mary (Catholic)/Gaea (Greek)/Freya(Norse)/ Artemis(Greek)/Bast(Egyptian/Priapus(Rom |
History | Much like Samhain, Beltane was seen as a time of year when the Otherworld was particularly strong. It was that start of the summer season for the Tuatha Da Danann (some might call them fairies). The herd animals were driven between two bonfires to purify and bless them before being lead out to the summer time pastures. This was a celebration of the return of fertility, and thus young couples would usually choose to be hand fasted (wed for a year) to see if they were compatible and well suited to one another before marrying. Maypole dancing was often done, where people would erect a large pole as a phallus (symbol of male fertility) and decorate it to celebrate fertility and life making. |
Magick | Purification/blessing/good luck/good will/fertility/safety of animals/ |
Offerings | FOOD: Oat cakes/honey/graspes/apples/melons/onions/w SPICES: Garlic/leek/mushrooms/onions/ INCENSE: juniper/rowan/hawthorn/rose/magnolia |
Extras | The annual lighting of the gigantic bonfire survives even to this day! |
Litha
TITLE | DESCRIPTIONS |
Name | Litha or Midsummer |
Pronounced | Lee-pah or Lee-tha |
Corresponds With | Summer Solstice/Midsommerfton |
Date | June 21st 2011 (sundown) – June 22nd 2011 (sundown) |
Symbols | Summer blossoms/dancing/fully green branches/fairies/fireworks/bonfires |
Colors | Red/orange/yellow/green/tan/ocean blue/ |
Time | Midsummer is one of those all day all night celebrations, as it frequently continues well through the late hours of both! A lot of dancing and singing rituals tend to come to fruition this time of year and people are in love with the earth itself and her bounty. |
Deities | Gods of Summer, Joy and Revelry John the Baptist(Christianity)/Diyonisus(Greek)/H |
History | Plants picked on this night were believed to have especially potent magickal powers. However this was done at great cost, because it was also believed that mischievous or even malevolent spirits were free to roam about on this night. Bonfires were lit to protect people from their interference. The Vikings would visit sacred healing wells and also light fires to protect from evil spirits. In Finland, young maidens would seek out their suitors and it was a common time for fertility rituals. Even today, Midsummers Eve is a night for much revelry and celebration. It is the height of the bright half of the year in much the same way Samhain is the height of the dark half. |
Magick | Fertility/fairy/Otherworld/happy life/food/motherhood/marriage/love |
Offerings | FOOD: Cucumbers/melon/strawberries/raspberries/b beer/cheese SPICES: Thyme/basil/parsley INCENSE: Marigold/fern/clover/oak |
Extras | Midsummer traditions are WIDELY celebrated across the world! In Latvia there is a fine tradition of men running naked through the streets! |
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