Pagan Festivals - The Sabbats

The Calendar

The Pagan calendar is based on the Celtic 'Wheel of the Year'. This calendar is closely attuned the the natural rhythms and cycles of nature and the passing seasons and 8 points in the year are seen as having specific significance - these are the Sabbats.

What identifies the Sabbats?

The modern Gregorian calendar adopted in Britain in 1752 is dotted with holidays and festivals celebrating notable events in history, or to honour some event of religious significance. However, nature has no knowledge of these man-made dates - the trees do not drop their leaves because of the month, sheep do not lamb according to the dates on a calendar and the tortoise does not go into hibernation because the date is right.

All of these things are influenced by daylight hours and temperature, which change as the Earth travels in it's elliptical orbit of the sun - the seasons.

Solstices and Equinoxes

As the earth traverses its path around the sun there are points which give rise to special phenomena. The Equinoxes are the points when both daylight and darkness are of equal length. One occurs in the spring (the Spring or Vernal Equinox) and the other occurs 6 months later and is known as the Winter Equinox. These two events divide the Pagan calendar into two equal halves.

Exactly halfway between each equinox are two points on the earths path which mark the Solstices. At the Summer Solstice, daylight hours are at their maximum for the year and the hours of darkness are at their shortest. At the Winter Solstice, the opposite is true and we have the shortest day and longest night.

These 4 points establish part of the Pagan calendar and are known as the 'Lesser Sabbats' because the mark the transition of one season to the next. The point exactly half way bewteen each of the Lesser Sabbats is when each season is at its peak and so these points are seen as 'Days of Power' and are known as the 'Greater Sabbats' - and so the Wheel of the Year turns full circle.

The Festival Dates

Each of the sabbats is marked by a festival and each has its own celebratory traditions.

Samhain (31st October Eve - 1 November)

Samhain is one of the Greater Sabbats. It is believed to be a Celtic word which loosely translates to 'Summers End'. It marks the beginning of both the Celtic and Wiccan New Year.

Yule (Circa 22nd December)

Yule is one of the lesser Sabbats. This marks the New Year for Norse and Saxon Pagans. It is the Winter Solstice when the day has the shortest hours of the year, and the darkness the longest hours of the year.

Imbolc (February 1st/2nd )

Imbolc is a cross-quarter day, midway between the winter solstice (Yule) and the spring equinox (Ostara). The holiday is a festival of light, reflecting the lengthening of the day and the hope of spring and is also known as: Candlemass, Imbolg, Bride's Day, Oimelc, and Brid's Day.

Ostara - Circa March 21st

Ostara is one of the Lesser Sabbats, it is the Spring or Vernal equinox when days and nights are once again equal in length. It is the time of renewal and rebirth, nature springs into life with a promise of the bounty yet to come over the following months. It is a time of budding fertility and abundance.

Beltane (April 30th Eve - May 1st)

Beltane is one of the Greater Sabbats. Beltane, and its counterpart Samhain, divide the year into its two primary seasons, winter (Dark Part) and summer (Light Part). As Samhain is about honouring Death, Beltane, its opposite, is about honouring Life. It is the time when the sun is fully released and able to rule over summer and life once again.

Litha (Circa June 21st)

Litha is a Lesser Sabbat. Litha celebrates the Midsummer Solstice. At mid-summer, the Sun God has reached the moment of his greatest strength. Seated on his greenwood throne, he is also lord of the forests. This is considered to be a time when energies abound, and is a good time for magic, purification rites and divination. In many Wiccan celebrations, this is when the Oak King, who represents the waxing year, is triumphed over by the Holly King, who represents the waning year.

Lughnasadh (August 1st)

Lughnasadh is one of the Greater Sabbats. Lughnasadh has Gaelic roots and is celebrated on the 1st August. It is one of the four main festivals of the Celtic religion, with the other three being Imbolc, Beltane and Samhain.

Mabon (Circa September 21st)

Mabon is one of the Lesser Sabbats. Mabon is the Autumn equinox, when the length of days and nights are again equal. In pagan religions it is a time for reflection, for reaping the benefits of past efforts, for the thanksgiving of the bounty of Mother Nature, and the sharing of her gifts.