| Pagans througout history have celebrated the turning wheel of the year with special days (sabbats), in honour and respect of the changing seasons. Each culture has its own unique days and holidays, but here we will talk about he 8 Celtic Sabbats, which so many witches of today follow.
The 8 celtic sabbats are celebrated throughout the year, approx 6 weeks apart, and each has its own unique and special way to celebrate. Sabbats were originally a way for the community to come together to celebrate, and witches today mainly still follow suit, celebrating in their own way every day, but coming together at Sabbats to celebrate as a whole.
They are a time to share ideas, share your news, welcoming and meeting new people. They are a time to give thanks to Mother Earth for the bounties that she gives us. They are a time just to gather and commune with friends.
The year is divided, as I said earlier, into 8 sabbats. Four are known as the greater fire festivals and these are Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh. In between we celebrate the lesser festivals of the Winter Solstice (Yule), Spring Equinox (Eostara), Summer Soltice (Litha), and the Autumn Equinox (Mabon). It is interesting to note that the Equinoxs and Solstices all occur when the sun enters one of the cardinal signs, those being Cancer, Capricorn, Aries and Libra.
I might also add, that you will find many similarities between the sabbats and modern day Chrisian Holidays. That's mainly because when the Christians invaded the Celts, they couldn't stop the peasants from celebrating these rituals, so the Christians just decided to rename them and turn them into a their own holidays.
I will attempt to convey what each sabbat represents and why we celebrate them. It came to my attention earlier this year, that our ancestors may have once celebrated the 4 greater fire festivals on the 15th day of the moon (Full Moon). I did some research into this and finally decided that it made sense, as the Full Moon would have been ideal if nothing else but for the light it shed.
Even today, Easter is still calculated on the moon
" Back in 325 AD, it was declared that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full Moon following the vernal equinox (the Spring day in the northern hemisphere when the hours of daylight and darkness are equal)"
and so is the Chinese New Year,
"Today celebrations are based on Emperor Han Wu Di's almanac. It uses the first day of the first month of the Lunar Year as the start of Chinese New Year"
But in the following I will give you the days usually celebrated by most Witches.
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