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The eight pagan sabbats that make up the Wheel of the Year celebrate nature’s natural rhythms and seasonal shifts. Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh and Mabon mark the transition from one season to the next and help add balance and harmony to our lives. Celebrating the Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year helps us to connect to Nature more fully as we become more aware of seasonal changes.
From a spiritual perspective, seasonal connection to nature can help us feel more grounded and supported. The Wheel of the Year offers a sacred calendar and rituals that align with nature. Each year within one cycle of the sun, eight sacred days are allotted to observe and engage in meaningful ritual in order to connect more deeply to the natural world, ourselves, our community, and the metaphysical realms that surround us.
Rather than simply celebrating holidays at fixed times of the year, these celebrations can happen at any time within each season. Rather than simply celebrating holidays, these sabbats give us the opportunity to pause, reflect, rejoice and set intentions for what is to come.
The great thing about seasonal celebrations is that they’re rooted in nature and therefore, don’t require any special ingredients, decorations, or supplies. You can simply use items found in and around your home and yard. Below are a few low cost ways to help you in celebrating the sabbats:
- You can decorate your home with flowers from your garden, flower pots, or collected in the wild.
- You can use fresh herbs like rosemary, sage, and lavender to make candles and incense, or simmer pots.
- You can create seasonal decorations out of natural materials like leaves or pinecones. You could even make wreaths out of them! Here’s a tutorial for making waxed leaves: How to Make Waxed Leaves for Fall Crafts
- You can cook seasonally grown local foods and invite some friends and family over to share them.
- You can host an evening bonfire.
Seasonal living gives us a sense of connection with the natural world. We come to understand the seasonal rhythms of nature on a deep level because we spend much of our time outdoors observing, working, and playing.
Living in tune with the cycles of nature affects our mood and energy levels. By aligning with the seasons, we know when to rest and when to work, what kinds of foods to eat, and how to make time for ourselves as well as for others. The Wheel of the Year is a seasonal system for living that nurtures our growth physically, mentally, and emotionally through the changing seasons of our lives. It provides us with the means to establish meaningful rituals and develop spiritually.
For thousands of years, our ancestors celebrated the sabbats and transitions between seasons with traditional rituals. They believed that these eight sabbats were full of magic and sacred wisdom.
Over the last few centuries, human beings have become increasingly disconnected from nature. The result is that many cultures have either forgotten, neglected, or been forced to surrender the observance of nature-based spiritual rituals.
The eight seasonal sabbats were originally celebrated to mark the transitions in nature and were celebrated with an eye to the cycles of the moon and sun. However, over time some of these days have been manipulated into commercial holidays or have largely lost their spiritual significance.
It’s time to ressurect these ancient celebrations and move closer to nature, don’t you think? Each sabbat has its own meaning and significance, but they all have one thing in common: They’re based on the changing seasons and our relationship with them.
On the Pagan Wheel of the Year, two days celebrate the Spring and Fall Equinoxes, when night and day are balanced. The Summer and Winter Solstices are also important, as they mark the longest and shortest days of the year. These four days are known as Fire Festivals; the other four sacred days on the calendar mark Mid-Points between them and are known as Cross Quarter Festivals.
The eight sabbats celebrate the cycle of the seasons and their connection to nature. Celebrating the cycles of the Earth, such as the solstices and equinoxes, can awaken deep memories in us that help us regain our commitment to love and respect the Earth. By seeking our own spiritual path and finding inner stillness, we learn to connect with the land and ourselves again.
Resources for Celebrating the 8 Sabbats
1) YULE // DECEMBER 20TH - 22ND
Yule marks the Winter solstice when winter has already taken complete possession of nature. It’s celebrated between family and friends indoors; stories are told and family games are played. One of the most widespread traditions is the burning of the Yule log, eating roasts, and feasting on the freshly collected harvest.
This Sabbat celebrates the birth of the sun: despite the fact that the earth is plunged in the middle of winter, it has reached its lowest point and will begin to be reborn little by little. The solstice is a point where, like magic, winter threatens to take over but is met by warmth growing stronger each day until spring again reigns supreme.
- Joyous Pagan Holidays: A History and Introduction to Yule
- Delicious Pine Needle Tea for Health and Simple Pleasure
- Irresistibly Delicious Recipe for Butternut Squash Pie
- The Best Guide To Understanding The Wheel of the Year
- Self Care Sundays: 25 Easy Ideas for Getting Through Winter
- Easy Mulling Spices Recipe for The Perfect Winter Drinks
- Northeast Winter Foraging: 10 Wild Plants That You Can Eat
- Cedarwood and Sage Winter Bath Soak Recipe
2) IMBOLC // JANUARY 31ST - FEBRUARY 1ST
Imbolc is a celebration of the coming spring. Candles and bonfires are lit to symbolically strengthen the sun, to help it enter strongly into the approaching spring. The thaw takes place, and the sun begins to gain a little more presence in nature. This, for our ancestors, was crucial because it was the critical moment in which either you had enough food to survive the remainder of winter or you just didn’t; therefore, the regrowth of abundance in Mother Earth was cause for celebration by groups trying to survive terrible winters.
- The Magical Time of Nature Awakening and the Celebration of Imbolc
- The Best Guide To Understanding The Wheel of the Year
- Celebrate Spring with Nature Activities for the Whole Family
- Edible Lilacs: 7 Delicious Spring Recipes
- Wild Violet Honey – Nectar of the Spring Gods
- Syrup of Violets: the Perfect Ode to Spring
- An Offering to the Goddess of Spring: Lavender and Lemon Shortbread
- The Perfect May Wine Recipe for Spring Celebrations
- 14 Amazing Edible and Medicinal Plants to Forage in the Spring
3) OSTARA // MARCH 20TH-23RD
Ostara is the Spring equinox when the sun can be seen directly above the earth’s equator and light and dark are completely equal. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, our daylight hours will continue to lengthen until the summer solstice. We will have longer, sunnier days where we can do more gardening or spend more time outdoors.
The entry of spring into nature and the fertility of the earth are celebrated on this spoke of the Wheel of The Year. This spring Sabbat marks the first outdoor festivities beginning to be celebrated, taking advantage of good weather and fruits that can be collected in these early moments of spring.
- An Ostara Celebration: A Day of Perfect Balance
- Lemon & Herb Cauliflower
- Celebrate Spring with Nature Activities for the Whole Family
- Edible Lilacs: 7 Delicious Spring Recipes
- Wild Violet Honey – Nectar of the Spring Gods
- Syrup of Violets: the Perfect Ode to Spring
- An Offering to the Goddess of Spring: Lavender and Lemon Shortbread
- The Perfect May Wine Recipe for Spring Celebrations
- 14 Amazing Edible and Medicinal Plants to Forage in the Spring
4) BELTANE // APRIL 30TH - MAY 1ST
Each year, we are blessed with a time of peak fertility: Beltane. It is the celebration of spring and summer, the time when Mother Earth gives birth to new life. This period has been celebrated in many earth-based cultures since ancient times. This time is recognized as half way between the Spring Equinox & Summer Solstice. Fire rituals were performed to protect the cattle, crops, and people, and to encourage growth.
Many earth-based cultures had Spring festivals and celebrations to mark this time of great fertility for Mother Earth. So no matter which culture was celebrating this period, they all had one thing in common…they saw this fertile time as an incredibly joyful, festive time. It is a time for coming together, to celebrate life.
- How to Celebrate Beltane: Feasts, Fires, and Full Awakening
- Wild Mushroom and Foraged Greens Quiche
- Elderflower Wine: The Delicious Essence of Summer
- 6 Powerful Beltane Plants & the Folklore of the Season
- Bannocks Recipe: A Magical Beltane Breakfast Treat
- 21 Beltane Recipes that Capture the Essense of this Magical Festival
5) LITHA // JUNE 20TH-22ND
The summer solstice is the day of the year when the Sun appears at its highest point in the sky and has the longest period of daylight. It is also known as Litha, estival solstice, or midsummer. This Sabbat is a time of celebration and rituals that have been observed since prehistory. On the Wheel of the Year, it marks the time when seeds have been sown and grow abundantly until Lughnasadh on August 1st (first harvest). From Litha, days gradually become shorter until Yule when they begin to grow steadily longer again.
- Litha: The Incredible History, Lore & 20 Ways to Celebrate
- 10 Beautiful Rituals for Summer Solstice
- 5 Magical Summer Solstice Herbs for Midsummer Celebrations
- Elderflower Wine: The Delicious Essence of Summer
- Easy Rhubarb Crisp Recipe
- Amazing Country Rhubarb Wine Recipe
6) LUGHNASADH or LAMMAS // JULY 31TH - AUGUST 1ST
This Sabbat is the one most linked to the harvest and agricultural work. Here the fruits received from the first harvest are appreciated, it is a moment of fullness, gratitude, and enjoyment of the goods of the land, but also hard work, as we prepared for a season of work in the fields. The agricultural societies were fully aware that after this fullness, the cold days would begin—a time when their stores would run low, so they prepared by collecting what they had harvested and sowing what they would harvest in the coming months.
Lughnasadh is celebrated with plates of cereals, fruits, and vegetables; preparations not only consisted of collection and sowing but also involved people becoming aware that this moment of fullness and hard work also marks the beginning of cold and dark days. Although for now still warm and bright enough to enjoy it.
- Lughnasadh and Lammas: Celebrating The First Harvest
- 20 Inspiring Fall Activities to Make the Most of the Season
- 20 Hardiest Cold Weather Crops to Grow in Fall
