Wicca 101, October 11, 1994 Topic- Celebrating Sabbats Teacher- MoonOwl -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IRC log started Tue Oct 11 21:12 moonowl-- I'm teaching the way I celebrate the Sabbats, which follows the historical Old Pagan holidays Some people familiar with Wiccan Holidays in America celebrate The Great Rite... the union and impregnation of the Goddess on Beltane Historically, this takes place on the holiday BEFORE Beltaine, or the vernal equinox The American tradition messed the dates of Pagan history up a bit. One isn't better than the other, it depends if you want history or tradition of U.S. Wicca. I'll discuss this more when we get to it, but I didn't want anyone to think I was messing up. My last point, is that there is a file with great information on the holidays and the history of them, esp. Celtic and Irish traditions. It was written by Mike Nichols and is downloaded (ftp) through nic.funet.fi. I will /dcc it to anyone AFTER THE CLASS Okay, with that all out of the way.... The eight Sabbats of Wicca, moonowl style. :) The Sabbats are celebrated around the change of the seasons Along with each change of the seasons, The God and The Goddess play the part of a very old myth. The myth of the Seasons is the birth and death of the God, which is the sun in this context. The God is both the son and the lover of the goddess The general myth goes like this: The God id born by the Goddess at Yule in December. The Goddess recovers from the birth and returns to her Maiden aspect in the Spring in Imbolc The God and Goddess grow up to young adults, and at the vernal equinox falls in love with the Goddess (His mother!) and they create a child. The God now lives inside the Goddess. At midsummer they are both at their peak of power and adulthood The God's power begins to wane at Lammas, and The Goddess ages The God hits old age and prepares to die at Samhain (Halloween) and the Goddess grows fatter with the God-child. After the God dies at Samhain and "returns to the womb'; of the Goddess, he is reincarnated as his own child and is Born at Yule It's sort of weird, but the God's life cycle is really the seasons of the year: Spring Birth and fertility, Summer full power and fall, late life and harvest, and late fall, and winter is death. Okay, all the Sabbats relate to these cycles. I'll start with the Sabbat of the new year and our next upcoming Sabbat Halloween or Samhain (said like sav-een) It falls on Oct. 31st It is a Greater Sabbat, which means it's one of the four Sabbats that split the year in quarters (lesser Sabbats split the year in 1/8ths) It doesn't mean it's more important though. However, Samhain is considered to be one of THE most important holidays I saw a quote that said: "in order to be a witch, you MUST celebrate Samhain and Beltane, if nothing else!" (Beltane is a fertility holiday we'll talk about later) Samhain mythically is the death of the God Historically, it was the Celtic new year. The Celts measured the Years in a "year plus a day" and Samhain is the "day" Because of this, Samhain falls "out of time" On Samhain, the world between the past and future and the spirit world are thinner then normal. Samhain was a good time for divination (future telling) and looking into your past lives Because it is the new year, it was also celebrated in ways we will find familiar with our own new year, Drinking or "wassailing" was common, big parties, and dressing up (Halloween costumes) were part of this event also, because the holiday is the end of the year, it was a time to look back on the past year. It is also associated with death because of the thinning of the spirit world, and therefore, dead relatives were celebrated. One way the dead were honored was by leaving food, called "dumb suppers" to any dead relatives that happened to be wandering about So, Samhain is a new year's celebration, as well as a time to honor relatives and watch out for spirits! I have some suggestions for the celebration of this holiday You can use this stuff to make a ritual of your own. Any kind of "modern Halloween party is good, because this WAS a party night. Modern Halloween is about as close as you can get to a Pagan holiday still celebrated by the masses So dress up just as the Celts did, dip into that punch and have a good time! Don't forget to carve a pumpkin to ward off bad spirits and fortune telling, Ouji boards and past life exploration Be careful when messing with spirits, okay? Also, honor your dead family, pets, and anyone important to you. Light a candle in their honor, and set out a dumb supper for them. That's the end of Samhain, Yule is the next holiday and falls on the winter solstice around Dec 21 The solstice is the longest night of the year and changes a bit every year (the date changes) Cerridwen-- A netsplit Moon will be right back A dumb Supper is simply the setting up of a 'fake' dinner on the dinner table. one sets out the plates, forks etc.. to prepare for the dead. smo-- So it's not like the oriental way of setting an actual meal for dead ancestors. Cerridwen-- in a dumb meal one does not need food unless you want to set it out SnakGodss-- should you set out different plates for everyone you want to honor? Cerridwen-- The purpose of the dumb meal is to honor the dead and make them comfortable you set up the table just as you would for a regular meal. no special requirements are needed. Cerridwen-- it is just to honor, not to celebrate a meal. symbolic, actually is the term I'll use to explain it tokon-- and can u do this for anyone? Cerridwen-- Tokon: you do this for the dead whom you are honoring or inviting into your home. moonowl-- Okay, back to Yule? Yule is the celebration of the birth of the God He is born the longest night of the year, so when things look bleakest, some light will come through. Christmas is also celebrated near this time...a "God" is born. The Christians used transformed Yule to a Christian holiday to help convert the Pagans. Jesus was really born in the spring, according to the Bible. Anyway, Yule was celebrated as a big feast to break up the plain winter food. A Yule log was burnt as tradition The ash log was blessed decorated and lit with a part of last years log. It had to burn for 12 days for luck ways for you to celebrate Yule: Have a Yule log, or a tree, it's modern substitute decorate with evergreens and Holly, they symbolize eternal life and of course kissing under the mistletoe, but our Pagan forefathers did more than kiss!!!!!! The next Sabbat is Imbolc, or Candlemas It's on Feb 2 It's a Greater Sabbat, and is the childhood of the God, and the Goddess returns to her maiden form after recovering from birth This is the marking of the very first start of spring It is also called the "festival of lights" This is the holiday of the return of the sun and is a fire holiday The Irish Goddess Brigit is celebrated, the Goddess of fire and inspiration Both pagans and Christians use this holiday to make and bless all the candles that will be used in the upcoming year Imbolc is also a time to tell the future weather in old times, and it's modern counterpart is Groundhogs day Ways you can celebrate: Make candles. Light a candle in each window of your house that night A good time to renew or create house protection spelling and cleansings You can also worship Brigit by weaving Brigit's crosses out of wheat or straw for luck This IS the time for classic coven and self-initiations House blessing spells can be found in many books, and you can make your own. :) I think there is one in spiral dance by Starhawk okay, on to the next Sabbat, Vernal Equinox This is also called "lady day" and is around march 21 the equinox is when day and night are equal This holiday is sometimes incorrectly called Ostara Historically, it is on the equinox. how do we know? Okay, we know that the vernal is the time of the Great rite because the Goddess needs 9 months to carry the God's baby to have it at Yule if it is on Beltane, it's not enough time We also know it was celebrated at the vernal because the Christians claim this is the Day Mary finds out she is going to bear Jesus, and we know how they like to "borrow" our holiday. But, most covens do celebrate this event on Beltane This is also the real START of spring, just not hints. Ways you can celebrate: Symbolic recreation of the great rite (or an actual union if you have a willing partner!!!) The symbolic union is the chalice having the blade inserted into the cup. I won't give you directions on how to re-create love making of the Great Ones! It's also a time to bless seeds and plan herb and food gardens as well as the victory over winter okay, the next Sabbat is Beltane This is also known as May day and is on May 1. It is a greater Sabbat This along with Samhain is considered the most important pagan holiday It is opposite Samhain in the year, and is the celebration of fertility and full blow spring The God and Goddess reach full bliss and are in the peak of youth "blown spring" This was celebrated in the old days by jumping bonfires for luck and weaving the maypole, which is a phallic symbol. Lots of messing around went on during Beltane, Lady Godiva rode her white horse naked through town every year. The Lady was chosen as the "May Queen" to play the part every year. Also, "greenwood marriages" were common Young couples would go to the woods to "collect flowers" Ways to celebrate: hold a maypole dance. have a bonfire. midnight walks in the woods. And have a bit of fun in the name of spring with your lover! okay, next holiday. Midsummer is one of the lesser Sabbats and is around June 21 This is the summer solstice, or the longest day of the year The God and Goddess are grown up and at full power, and the Earth blooms and fruits This is a good day for magic, and faries may be seen This is also a day were people would try to figure out their future lovers It's funny this day is the longest day, and after this the days would get shorter and summer starts to end. Weird in The US it's the first day of Summer!!!! modern celebrations: divine the future (tarot cards, etc.), all magics, esp. love magic and future loves, celebrate the bounty of summer next Sabbat. Lammas a lesser Sabbat and is on Aug 1 The summer starts to end and the God is an old man. The Goddess grows fat with his child This is a grain harvest holiday It is also the Old Irish holiday of the feast honoring Lugh, the sun god, stepmother's death Old pagans sent a wheel set on fire rolling down a tall hill to symbolize the decline of the sun. Things you can do: Bake bread. celebrate the first of the garden harvest and the bounty of the earth. Know that summer is coming to a close and cherish the last of summer! Next holiday, and Last one! The last holiday is the Fall Equinox Mabon, or the fall equinox falls on sept 23 day and night are equal, and this is a lesser Sabbat The God readies to die and return to the womb of the Goddess in his new incarnation as his son This is the holiday that pagans begin to ready for winter It is also a time to "balance" any conflicts in your life (balance is good on any equinox, equal day and night) It is also the time of the last harvest, pumpkins and gourds :) It doesn't matter, it's equal SOMEPLACE! Ways to celebrate: Make corn dollies, Hold a "thanksgiving" dinner for the Earth's bounty Also, you may want to burn a straw "god" figure, or a mock sacrifice of the death of the god, as the Old Pagans did The "dying" of the god, he's not really dead until Samhain Poor guy, I'm kicking him in the grave Okay, that turns us back to Samhain, and we have traveled the whole year Sorry I took so long, and that's it folks :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note from Ilana: spell checked, etc.