Sabbats
The Wheel of the Year
Our inseparable relationship to Mother Earth is nowhere more beautifully represented than in the Wheel of The Year. The Wheel of the Year is an ancient and sacred ritual calendar marking the earth’s changing seasons and the Sun’s neverending journey across the sky. This extraordinary calendar was begun by Witches in pre-Christian, proto-Celtic times and is observed by Witches today in its modern form. Each event marks a significant moment of change in the Earth and is rooted in one of the eight lunar and solar festivals of the ancient Celts.
~ Celebrate The Earth – Laurie Cabot
Samhain
Samhain (pronounced sow-en) is no doubt the most important, though least understood, of the ancient Celtic festivals. Unlike its modern counterparts of Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve, The Witch holiday of Samhain has nothing to do with evil practices or horrific, ghoulish costumes.
Yule
The Winter Solstice marks the longest night and the shortest day of the year, a point of dramatic natural change on Earth. From this point on, the Sun rises earlier and earlier, each time adding a little more light and warmth to the cold and silent days of Winter.
Imbolc
There is a youngness and Springtime glory about the festival of Imbolc, which at first appears to be out of step with February’s stark and bitter Winter face. We are reminded that during this time of year that the icy frost lies just beyond the door, so we make ourselves content with hearth, home, and the familiar.
Ostara
Ostara/The Spring Equinox represents the dramatic point of each year when the days are of equal length everywhere on the planet. The seasons, planetary movements, and tides triumphantly renew themselves, and for Witches, create an enchanted borderland time outside of time where a magical seam joins the light and the dark.
Beltane
The word Beltane simply means “Fire of Bel.” Bel is the bright and shining one. In modern Irish, Beltane means May. On the eve of May 1st, the ancient Celts built bonfires using nine of the sacred woods and would ritually drive their animal herds between them to purify and protect them from disease and harm.
Litha
The Sun at Midsummer reaches that moment in His journey across the sky when his power peaks, then in one majickal instant, begins to wane. As we have seen at the Winter Solstice, the Oak King, God of the Waxing Year, vanquishes the Holly King, the god of the Waning Year. At midsummer, the reverse is true, with the Holly King wresting the baton from his rival twin.
Lughnasadh
The Irish God Lugh is known as the “Bright and Shining One.” He is associated with both the Sun and agricultural fertility. He is also a God of All Skills and champion of the Tuatha de Danaan or “children of the Goddess Dana.” Lughnasadh (pronounced loo-na-sa) marks the beginning of the grain harvest, the first harvest of the Wheel of the Year.
Mabon
Mabon marks the 2nd of the three harvest celebrations of the Wheel of the Year. At the same time, we begin to mourn the shortening of our days and the gradual disappearance of the Sun above the equator. We remember the proto-Celtic story of Mabon.
