The Wheel of the Year

Witches celebrate eight religious holidays, or Sabbats. The wheel of the year turns as each Sabbat is celebrated, and there is no end. During Sabbat rituals, Witches celebrate changing seasons, pay homage to the God and Goddess, and sometimes perform magick (although some Witches do not believe magick should be practised during a Sabbat circle). There is no particular way a Witch has to celebrate a holiday, and celebrations can be as simple as a lit candle and deep meditation or as elaborate as a coven circle complete with feasts and dancing. There are four Major and four Minor Sabbats, the holidays explained below.

THE FOUR MAJOR SABBATS
Imbolc, February 2
Also known as Candlemas, Oimelc, Lady Day, Feast of Torches, Lupercalia, Feast of Pan, Snowdrop Festival, Feast of Waxing Light, Brigid’s Day. This Sabbat marks the recovery of the Goddess after giving birth to the God. The longer periods of light give her strength, and as warmth blankets the earth, seeds germinate and sprout. This marks the earliest beginning of Spring. This holiday marks purification after the long winter, brought back to life by the power of the Sun. It is a festival of fertility and light, the fire representing our own illumination and inspiration.
Traditional herbs: angelica, basil, bay, benzoin, celandine, heather, myrrh, and all yellow flowers. Traditional incense: basil, myrrh, and wisteria. Gemstones: amythest, garnet, onyx, turquoise. Deities worshipped on this day include Brigid, the Goddess in her Maiden aspect, and Aradia. Candle colours are white, pink, red and brown. Foods for the feast are those that represent growth, such as seeds, poppyseed bread and cakes, and herbal teas.

Beltane, April 30/May 1
Also known as May Day, Rood Day, Rudemas, Walpurgisnacht. Beltane marks the emergence of the young God into manhood. He desires the Goddess, stirred by the energies of nature. The God and Goddess fall in love, and unite. The Goddess becomes pregnant of the God, and her fertility is celebrated in ritual. This festival has long been marked with the presence of the phallic Maypole, representing the God, and greenery and flowers to symbolise the goddess. This Sabbat marks the return of vitality, passion and hopes consummated. Today the cauldron, also a symbol of female energies, is more often used than the maypole.
Traditional herbs: almond, angelica, ash tree, bluebells, cinquefoil, daisy, frankincense, hawthorn, ivy, lilac, marigold, meadowsweet, primrose, roses, satyrion root, woodruff, yellow cowslips. Incense: lilac, rose, frankincense. Gemstones: emerald, orange carnelian, sapphire, rose quartz. Deities worshipped include Flora, Diana (Artemis), Pan, Faunus, and all fertility gods and goddesses. Candle colours are dark green and all colours of the rainbow spectrum. Traditional foods are all red fruits, green herbal salads, red or pink wine punch, and large, round oatmeal or barley cakes.

Lammas, August 1
Also known as Lughnasadh, August Eve, the First Festival of the Harvest, Feast of Bread, Harvest Home. This is the time of the first harvest, when the plants of spring drop their fruits and seeds for use as well as for future crops. So do does the God lose his strength of the God wane as the Sun rises further in the South each day and the nights grow longer. The Goddess watches sadly as the God dies, but She knows that He lives on inside of Her as Her child. The warmth and bounty of summer is remembered as it passes. It is a time of atunement with nature and a reminder that nothing in the universe is constant.
Herbs: acacia, aloes, cornstalks, hollyhock, heather, frankincense, cyclamen, fenugreek, myrtle, oak leaves, sunflower, wheat. Incense: aloes, rose, sandalwood. Gemstones: aventurine, citrine, peridot, sardonyx. Deities worshipped include Lugh, Jorh Barleycorn, Demeter, Ceres, the Corn Mother, other gods and goddess who preside over agriculture. Candle colours are golden yellow, orange, green, and light brown. Traditional foods include homemade breads, barley cakes, nuts, wild berries, apples, rice, roasted lamb, berry pies, elderberry wine, ale and meadowsweet tea.

Samhain, October 31
Also known as Halloween, Hallowmas, All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Eve, Festival of the Dead, Third Festival of the Harvest, November Eve, Feast of Apples. On this day, the Witches’ New Year, we say farewell to the God as he descends to sleep, waiting to be reborn at Yule. It is a time of deep reflection over the past year, coming to terms with death, and making resolutions to rid ones self of negative emotions and habits. On this Sabbat night, the veil between the worlds of the physical and the spiritual is very thin, and for this reason contacting spirits and divination are traditional practises. It is a time to get reacquainted with those who have gone before.
Herbs: acorns, apples, broom, deadly nightshade, dittany, ferns, flax, fumitory, heather, mandrake, mullein, oak leaves, sage, straw. Incense: apple, heliotrope, mint, nutmeg, sage. Gemstones: all black gemstones, especially jet, onyx, and obsidian. Deities worshipped include the Goddess in her Crone aspect, Hecate, Morrigan, Cernunnos, Osiris. Candle colours are black and orange. Foods include apples, pumpkin pie, hazlenuts, Cakes for the Dead, corn, cranberry foods, ale, cider, and herbal teas.

THE FOUR MINOR SABBATS

Ostara, cicra March 21
Also known as Spring or Vernal Equinox, Festival of Trees, Alban Eilir, Rite of Eostere, Rites of Spring, Eostra’s Day. This Sabbat marks the first day of true Spring. The energies of nature awaken from their sluggish winter slumber and shift to the exuberant growth and expansion of Spring. The Goddess blankets the Earth with new life as the God grows to maturity. On Ostara, the hours of day and night are equal, light is beginning to overtake darkness and the wild creatures are compeled to procreate. This is a time of beginnings, of action, planting spells for future harves, and tending ritual gardens.
Herbs: acorn, celandine, cinquefoil, crocus, daffodil, dogwood, Easter lily, honeysuckle, iris, jasmine, rose, strawberry, tansy, and violets. Incense: African violet, jasmine, rose, sage, strawberry. Gemstone: amethyst, aquamarine, bloodstone, red jasper. Deities worshipped include Eostere, Ostara, the Green Goddess, the Lord of the Greenwood. Candle colours are green, yellow, gold, and all pastels. Foods include hardboiled eggs, honey cakes, milk punch, waffles, and first fruits of the season.

Midsummer, circa June 21
Also known as Litha, Summer Solstice, Alban Hefin. Midsummer arrives when the powers of nature are at their highest point. Fires are lit to encourage and symbolise fertility, purification, health and love. This is the longest day of the year, and the power of the God is also represented by fire.
Herbs: chamomile, cinquefoil, elder, fennel, hemo, larkspur, lavender, male fern, mugwort, pine, rose, St. John’s wort, wild thyme, wisteria, verbena. Incense: frankincense, lemon, myrrh, pine, rose, wisteria. Gemstones: all green stones, especially jade and emerald. Deities worshipped include Aphrodite, Astarte, Freya, Hathor, Ishtar, Venus, and other gods and goddesses who preside over love, passion, and beauty. Candle colours are blue, yellow, and green. Traditional foods are fresh vegetables, Summer fruits, pumpernickel bread, ale, and mead.

Mabon, circa September 21
Also known as the Autumnal Equinox, Fall Sabbat, Alban Elfred, the Second Festival of the Harvest. This Sabbat marks the completion of the harvest begun at Lammas. Again day and night are equal, as the God prepares to leave his physical body and again travel into the unseen, to await rebirth and renewal of the Goddess. Nature prepares for winter, it declines. The God wanes, but we still feel his presence.
acorns, asters, benzoin, ferns, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, mums, myrrh, oak leaves, passionflower, pine, rose, sage, Solomon’s seal, and thistles. Incense: benzoin, myrrh, sage. Gemstones: carnelian, lapis lazuli, sapphire, yellow agate. Deities worshipped include the Goddess in the Mother aspect, Persephone, Thor. Candle colours are orange, dark red, indigo, brown, yellow. Foods include corn and wheat products, bread, nuts, vegetables, apples, roots, cider, and pomegranates.

Yule, circa December 21
Also known as Winter Solstice, Winter Rite, Miswinter, Alban Arthan. The time of greatest darkness, this Sabbat is the shortest day of the year. The God is reborn at this time, and fires are lit to welcome His returning light. The Goddess rests after the delivery of the God. Yule reminds us that the ultimate outcome of death is rebirth.
Herbs: bay, bayberry, blessed thistle, cedar, chamomile, evergreen, frankincense, holly, juniper, mistletoe, moss, oak, pinecones, rosemary, sage. Incense: bayberry, cedar, pine, rosemary. Gemstones: cat’s eye, ruby. Deities worshipped include Lucina, Frey, Attis, Dionysus, Woden and Kriss Kringle. Candle colours are red, green, white, gold, and silver. Foods of Yule include roasted turkey, nuts, fruitcake, caraway rolls, eggnog, mulled wine.

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