Welcome back! I hope you all are surviving this current retrograde, personally, it’s hitting me like a TRUCK (Side note: If you don’t know what retrograde is, what it does or how to get through it, I wrote an article on it that might offer a little help).
Let’s get back into the Sabbats!
Lammas/Lughnasadh: August 1st (Pronounced LAh-mas or Loo-nah-ssa)
Lammas is the time of the autumn harvest. It celebrates grain, corn and the important crops that come from the Earth and keep us sustained. Similar to Thanksgiving, it’s a great time to speak aloud what you are grateful for, and make a really great dinner with lots of vegetables and homemade bread.
Mabon: September 21st-24th (Pronounced Mah-bon)
Mabon is the 2nd out of the 3 harvest festivals, and marks the approach of winter. It is often celebrated by preparing foods to last through the cold winter months- like preserved fruit and vegetables.
Samhain: October 31st (Pronounced Sow-win)
Samhain, or Halloween, is a Celtic festival and also marks the beginning of the Wheel of the Year. It’s a high holy day and arguably the biggest Sabbat, as it is celebrated in different forms by many cultures (Halloween, Día de los Muertos, etc). The veil between the worlds of life and death is thin, and our ancestors and passed on loved ones are celebrated on this day of celebration.
It is the biggest out of the 3 harvest festivals and is well celebrated with feasts, pumpkin carvings and offerings made to our departed loved ones or the Gods of the afterlife.
Yule: December 21st- 23rd (Pronounced Yool)
Yule is the winter solstice and marks the longest, darkest night of the year. It celebrates the rebirth of the sun and can be celebrated with an outdoor bonfire that lasts late into the night.
As always, if you are interested in learning more about the Sabbats, or Paganism in general, I highly recommend doing research on trusted websites like Wicca Now or asking a trusted friend who practices these crafts.
Love Eternal
**My sources from this series include:
Greenleaf, Cerridwen. The Practical Witch’s Spellbook. Running Press, 2018.
May, Amythest. “Wheel of the Year – Living the Magical Life.” Welcome To Wicca Now, 9 Nov. 2020, wiccanow.com/the-wiccan-wheel-of-the-year-living-the-magical-life/.