The Eight Sabbats

The Eight Sabbats

The cyclic flow of the patterns of nature through the year is celebrated in many cultures by dividing the year into eight parts or eight sabbats, with eight festivals to celebrate the changing seasons with song, dance, ceremony, reflection and coming together in community.

These eight sabbats make up the Wheel of the year. They are solar and seasonal, representing the cycle of birth, through life and then death and rebirth.

These days are Winter Solstice (Yule), Imbolc, Spring Equinox (Ostara), Beltain, Summer Solstice (Litha), Lammas, Autumn Equinox (Mabon) and Samhain

The Wheel of Time – The Eight Sabbats showing the Northern Hemisphere times

The eight-fold sub-division of the year is defined by

Quarter points in the Earth’s annual revolution around the Sun

    This cross is crossed again by the cross-quarter points known also as the four great Celtic fire festivals. They are used ceremonially to participate with the developing nature energies of the Earth’s yearly cycle.

      The Wheel of the Year

      During the Wheel of the Year the cycle weaves through heavenly (quarter days) and earthly (cross-quarter days) dimensions through the seasons.

      For example the seed-ideas of new growth received internally at winter solstice are planted externally at Imbolc; the spiritual vigour of Summer Solstice is reflected in the outer bounty of Lammas.

      The quarter days are generally celebrated on the astronomically exact day by the solar cycle, while the cross-quarter days may often instead be chosen with reference to the lunar cycle and astrological details of any given year, in the week around the cross-quarter moment.

      WINTER SOLSTICE

      Winter Quarter Point, Yule, Christmas

      Time

      Northern Hemisphere December 20 – 23rd
      Southern Hemisphere June 20 –23rd

      Attributes

      Shortest day and longest night.  Midwinter / Yule time

      Dark unconscious, Inner wisdom, death and rebirth of Sun, Jesus, Apollo, Freya, Heracles, Osiris.

      Ceremonies

      Evergreen hoop wreaths, decorated trees and Yule Logs, Coming together with community

      Plants

      Yew, Holly, Fir, Pine, Mistletoe, Silver Birch, Yarrow, Thyme, Garlic

      IMBOLC

      Winter Cross Quarter Festival – Oimelg, Candlemas, Brigantia

      Time

      Northern Hemisphere End January – beginning February (3rd Feb.)
      Southern Hemisphere End July – beginning August (3rd Aug.)

      Attributes

      Candlemas, Feast of Bride / St. Brigid, the Festival of reawakening and rebirth of the serpent life-force.

      Persephone returns from the Underworld as maiden.
      Sexual initiation, Intuition, Clairvoyance, Divination, Healing, Love
      Unconscious and conscious reunite.

      Ceremonies

      Seeds, crystals, candles, Brigid’s Cross, snake sticks, serpent dances.

      Plants

      Snowdrops, Rowan,Willow, Coltsfoot, Ginger

      SPRING EQUINOX

      Easter, Oestre

      Time

      NorthernHemisphere March 21 – 22nd
      Southern Hemisphere September 21 – 22nd

      Attributes

      Awakening, New Life, First day of Spring, Oestre
      Hatching of eggs that have been incubating since last Autumn Equinox.

      Balance –  Day and night equal length – balance of inner and outer, conscious and unconscious.
      Spring gales, high tides, wildness, spring cleaning

      Ceremonies

      Dragon Days – images & processions & dances, fertility ceremonies.
      Eggs, bonnets – ribbons & spring flowers, flags

      Plants

      Ash, Alder, Nettles, Cleavers, Hyssop

      BELTANE

      Spring Cross Quarter Festival, May Day

      Time

      Northern Hemisphere End April / Beginning May
      Southern Hemisphere End October – November

      Attributes

      Festivals of Fertility, the union between the Green Man and the May Queen / Fertile Goddess.
      The height of Spring, the start of the Merry Month
      Communion with nature spirit realms especially at dawn and dusk, lust, sex and joy.
      The time to clarify the direction of the year’s growth, create a fertile environment.

      Ceremonies

      Sleep in the wild-woods, walk a labyrinth or pilgrimage, decorate wells and hawthorns trees.
      Extinguish all fires and kindle a Need Fire (tein eigin), leap the fire for fertility, healing, transformation and union.
      Dance around the May-Pole, inter-weave female and male energies.
      Wash face in the morning dew, dress in green & honour the Faerie Folk.

      Plants

      Hawthorn blossom, bluebells, primroses, Cowslip, Rosemary

      SUMMER SOLSTICE

      Summer Quarter Point, Litha, St. John’s day

      Time

      Northern Hemisphere June 20 – 23rd
      Southern Hemisphere December 20 – 23rd

      Attributes

      Longest day , shortest night, festival of attainment, turning of the Cosmic Wheel,
      Honour the light and all that is manifest, and the start of the return of the dark.
      Celebrate ourselves and our achievements at our expressive, expansive abundant peak.

      Ceremonies

      Midsummer’s Eve: Wicker effigies of the Corn Mother, Green man, and Dragons are processed by torchlight and burnt. Light and leap fires on hilltops and hold vigil till dawn.
      Union of Sun and Ceridwen: Sun-wheels, drama, fire-show, sweat lodge, Rose dance, tug-of-war
      Ships floated through town symbolising long barrows and burial mounds
      Sun shrine, pots of herbs and flowers, give as gifts to friends.
      Feast, drink mead, “sitting on a verandah with friends sinking a few stubbies, or having a picnic down by the river are highly appropriate activities” (Sunwyse)
      Walk ridgeways and old dragon paths, visit stone circles, venerable Oaks, and other places of increase.
      Marriage of couples who pledged at Beltane.

      Plants

      Oak, Mistletoe, Rose, Elderflower, Lavender, Lemon Balm, St John’s Wort

      LAMMAS

      Summer Cross Quarter Festival, Lughnasadh, Loaf Mass

      Time

      Northern Hemisphere End July – Beginning August
      Southern Hemisphere End Jan – Beginning February

      Attributes

      Harvest Full Moon, the gathering in Celebration of the Grain Mother, festival of first fruits.
      The first and last sheaths of the cereal crop (Corn Maiden, John Barleycorn) and the first fruits are offered to the Harvest Mother, Ceres, Cerealia, Demeter, the Mother – Seed Womb and Soil, Gaia.
      Lammas Eve, Demeter’s daughter Kore / Persephone is the grain seed who lives in the dark through the winter.

      Ceremonies

      A time for tribal gathering, feasting, play, harvest and assessment.
      Fairs and horse racing for Rhiannon, Horse Goddess of the underworld. Lugh the Sun / Corn King dies with the waning year.
      Marriages, handfasting, baby naming, ritual games, the choosing of a new tribal leader. The sacrifice of the outer for assimilation, regeneration, thanks for rewards.
      Honour Parents and Children.
      Corn dollies, rattles, bowers, bread, seed biscuits, Basket of Abundance.

      Plants

      Cereals, Hazel, Gorse, Chamomile, Marigold, Sage, Meadowsweet

      AUTUMN EQUINOX

      Autumn Quarter Point, Alban Elued, Mabon

      Time

      Northern Hemisphere September 20 – 23rd
      Southern Hemisphere March 20 – 23rd

      Attributes

      Harvest Festival, Festival of Thanksgiving.
      Restored balance, equal day and night.
      Ripening fruit, nuts, berries, mushrooms.

      Ceremonies

      Dragon Day – invoke the Dragon to carry the fire into the inner realms. Double spiral.
      Plant bulbs and seeds, slaughter weaker stock, finish garden projects.
      Talking stick circles, space-clear, throw out old herbs

      Plants

      Apple, Heather, Blackberry, Fennel, Hops, Marigold, Hawthorn Berries

      SAMHAIN

      Autumn Cross Quarter Festival, Halloween, All Souls Night, Feast of the Dead, Festival of Remembrance

      Time

      Northern Hemisphere End October – Beginning November
      Southern Hemisphere End April – Beginning May

      Attributes

      Halloween, Dark moon, All Souls Night, communication with ancestors, mischief.
      Grain Mother becomes the Crone (Hecate, Cailleach), death of Sun-King (Samana, Lord of Death): end of autumn harvest and start of winter, Hag & Hel – uterine shrine, Cauldron of Regeneration / Holy Grail ,incubation of planted seeds.

      Ceremonies

      Tomb/Womb rituals at barrows, dolmens.
      Divination, scrying, omens, inner journeys, story-telling.
      BonFires and Need Fires on hilltops, purify land & herds, fire-works.
      Masks, dream-catchers, Besom brooms, beating the bounds.

      Plants

      Elder, Yew, Dandelion Root, Mugwort, Valerian, Elderberry


      “The old year dies as a weakening Sun spends less and less time bringing light and warmth to Earth. In winter’s darkness, beneath Earth’s surface, the seed lies dormant, resting, waiting…The Wheel turns… after the longest night of the year, the new Sun is born. The seed wakens, readying to emerge into a world again made bright…The Wheel turns… daily the Sun-child grows stronger. Seeds push through, daffodils appear like handmaidens to the Sun, and first lambs are born. Life follows death and so spring is coming…The Wheel turns… a multitude of flowers welcome the warmer days. Bare trees wear lacy green, soft pink and white blossom. Babies are born; animals, birds, plants. Earth is renewing…The Wheel turns… Burgeoning life, maturing, strengthening. Fledglings leave their nests and crops make promise of the harvest to come…The Wheel turns … Summer’s strength, blistering, blazing, raising passions. Crops turn to gold …The Wheel turns… first harvest. Life is affirmed in Earth’s bounty. Sweaty bodies test their strength and vigour.The Wheel turns… harvest, harvest’s end. The Sun grows old and thoughts turn to the coming Winter. Earth’s Summer generosity is preserved, stored against the cold. Seeds, bulbs are set below Earth’s surface…The Wheel turns… the old year dies as a weakening Sun spends less and less time bringing light and warmth to Earth…”Roxanne Bodsworth

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