Seasons and Sabbats
Sabbats are wiccan holidays. The Wiccan year begins after Samhain according to the Celtic almanac.
The Goddess gives birth to a son, the God, at Yule. Yule is a time of the greatest darkness and is the shortest day of
the year. Since the God is also the Sun, this marks the point of the year when the Sun is reborn as well.Thus, the Wicca light
fires or candles to welcome the Sun's returning light. The Goddess, slumbering through the winter of Her labor, rests after
Her delivery. To contemporary Wiccans it is a reminder that the ultimate product of death is rebirth.
Imbolc marks the recovery of the Goddess after giving birth to the God. The lengthening periods of light awaken Her. The
God is a young, lusty boy, but His power is felt in the longer days. Imbolc is also known as Feast of Torches, Oimelc, Lupercalia
and Brigid´s day.
Ostara, or Spring Equinox marks the first day of true spring. The Goddess blankets the Earth with fertility, bursting forth
from Her sleep, as the God stretches and grows to maturity. On Ostara the hours of day and night are equal. Light is overtaking
darkness.
Beltane marks the emergence of the young God into manhood. Stirred by the energies at work in nature, He desires the Goddess.
They fall in love, lie among the grasses and blossoms, and unite. The Goddess becomes pregnant of the God. The Wiccans celebrate
the symbol of Her fertility in ritual. The flowers and greenery symbolize the Goddess; the May Pole the God. Beltane marks
the return of vitality, of passion and hopes consummated.
Midsummer, also known as Litha, arrives when the powers of nature reach their highest point. The Earth is awash in the
fertility of the Goddess and God. Midsummer is a classic time for magic of all kinds.
Lughnasadh is the time of the first harvest, when the plants of spring wither and drop their fruits or seed for our use
as well as to ensure future crops. Mystically, so too does the God lose His strength as the Sun rises farther in the South
each day and the nights grow longer. The Goddess watches in sorrow and joy as She realizes that the God is dying, and yet
lives on inside Her as Her child.
Mabon is the completion of the harvest begun at Lughnasadh. Once again day and night are equal, poised as the God prepares
to leave His physical body and begin the great adventure into the unseen, toward renewal and rebirth of the Goddess. Nature
declines, draws back its bounty, readying for winter and its time of rest The Goddess nods in the weakening sun, though fire
burns within Her womb. She feels the presence of the God even as He wanes.
At Samhain, the Wicca say farewell to the God. This is a temporary farewell. He isn't wrapped in eternal darkness, but
readies to be reborn of the Goddess at Yule. Samhain is a time of reflection, of looking back over the last year, of coming
to terms with the one phenomenon of life over which we have no control - death. The Wicca feel that on this night the separation
between the physical and spiritual realities is thin. Wiccans remember their ancestors and all those who have gone before.