Sabbats: Pagan Fire Festivals
Shamanic People’s Lives Are Intertwined with Seasonal Cycle
Pagan holidays celebrate changing seasons and the cycle of life. Greater Sabbats are Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh; Lesser Sabbats, solstices and equinoxes.
Western European Paganism has three major divisions, the Celtic, Germanic/Nordic and Greco/Roman traditions, and different denominations within each. Within the groups, there are differences in specific traditions and when some of the Sabbats are celebrated.
Samhain
Halloween: Pagan Celebration is the celebration of the third and final harvest on October 31st. It’s the time to get rid of that which is not desired. Please refer to Samhain Traditions and Lore.
This when the God dies (to be reborn on Yule). The holiday is one to remember those who have gone on. Livestock not thought able to survive during the winter are killed to ensure there will be meat during the dark months of the coming season.
According to some Pagan traditions, it’s the first day of the New Year.
Yule
Yule Pagan Celebration is held on the day of the winter Solstice, which varies from year to year. The God is reborn. It’s the day of the longest night, ushering in winter. After this, daylight grows longer.
The Druids believed this was the day of the death of the Holly King who represented darkness and destruction. The Oak King, his twin brother representing light and expansion, is reborn and will rule until Midsummer.
Imbolc
Days are growing noticeably longer. Imbolc: Pagan Fire Festival is celebrated either on February 1st or 2nd. The Goddess is recovering from the birth of the God. It’s also the Feast of Brigid, the Druid Goddess of Fire, Love, Fertility and Inspiration who was later transformed by the Church into a saint.
Light, fertility and purification are honored.
Ostara
This Sabbat is A Pagan Celebration of Spring, commemorated on the date of the Vernal Equinox. Daylight is overcoming the darkness of night. It’s time to plant crops. New life is born. Fertility has returned. The Goddess is fully awakened and the God is gaining strength.
Beltane
Beltane: Pagan Spring Celebration, May Eve or Mayday, is fêted on April 30th. It celebrates fertility and the union of the Goddess and the God and is a time of births, initiations and unions.
The rites included dancing around the Maypole with participants holding flowers and streamers. Warmer days and growing season are greeted.
Midsummer
Pagan Midsummer: Summer Solstice or Litha is the longest day of the year. Its hallmarks are joy, triumph of light over dark, feasting, love, fertility and acts of magick. This is when the Holly King, again, reigns, a reminder of the cycle of life, death and rebirth and the bounty of the coming harvests.
Lughnasadh
The Sabbat of the first harvest is Lughnasadh: Pagan Celebration, a day of thanks for the initial abundant reaping. In Europe, it was a celebration of the Wheat God for some Pagans. Days are growing noticeable shorter. The God is beginning to lose strength. The Goddess is sad, yet there is joy because she knows the God will be reborn.
Mabon
The Autumnal Equinox is the date of Mabon, Fall Equinox-Second Harvest, a continuation of Lughnasadh, giving thanks for plenty. Darkness and light are equal. The God is getting ready to leave his body while the Goddess prepares for winter sleep. Pagans begin to get ready for the time of darkness and cold and the third and final Harvest, Samhain.
The cycle of the year begins anew…. Birth, life death, rebirth, eternity, timelessness….
Sources:
The Celtic Druid’s Year, John King, (Blandford, 1995)
When Santa Was a Shaman, Tony van Renterghem, (Llewellyn Publications, 1995)
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, ScottCunningham, (Llewellyn Publications, 1992)
