What Is Sabbat

As with most aspects of Witchcraft the sabbats, or
assemblies at which Witches meet on certain days of the

Purification of the Virgin Mary (Western Church). Oimelc,
also, corresponds with Ground Hog Day, the popular litmus

year, have been distorted by Christianity. Most of these
distortions evolved out of the witch-hunts which occurred

test for the arrival of spring.

during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The sabbats were
depicted as meetings where obscene behavior occurred such as

Spring equinox: March 21. A solar festival, in which day and
night, and the forces of male and female, are equally

worshipping and copulating with the Devil after a session of
dancing, merry making and feasting on a fowl, animal or

balanced. This is the first day of spring, which marks the
birth of the infant Sun God and makes way for the lushness

unbaptized babies. (see: Initiation)

of summer. Dionysian rites are performed. The Christianizing
of this sabbat is Easter.

However, the origins of the sabbats seem to be a mixture of
rites that still exist, such as the great Druidic festivals

Beltane: April 30. One of the great Celtic solar festivals,

of Beltane (observed April 30) and Samhain (observed October
31), and the entrenched idea that heretics held obscene

celebrated in ancient times with bonfires. Beltane rites
celebrate birth, fertility and the blossoming of all life,

rituals. Possibly the sabbats also are related to the
Bacchanalian and Saturnalian rites observed by the Greeks

as personified by the union of the Goddess and the Sun God,
also known in Christianized lore as King Winter and Queen

and Romans. The term sabbat is from the Old French and is
partially derived from the Hebrew Shabbath, "to rest," which

May. The celebrants jump over broomsticks and dance around
maypoles, both are fertility symbols. The sabbat begins at

pertains to the seventh day of the week as designated by the
Ten Commandments in the Bible as a day devoted to rest and

moonrise on Beltane Eve. Supposedly it is bad luck to be out
late that night because witches and fairies roam the

worship.

countryside in great numbers and conduct wild revelries.
Beltane bonfires are believed to bring fertility to crops,

Some historians theorized that the derogative connotation of
sabbat as it was applied to heretics and witches was

homes and livestock. People dance deosil, or clockwise,
around the fires or creep between the fires for protection

possibly Anti-Semitic since Jews also were classified as
heretics. Another term which was synonymously used with

against illness. Cattle are driven through the fires for
protection against disease. Ancient Druids lit bonfires on

sabbat was the synagogues in which heretics and sometimes
witches supposedly met. Sabbat was more prominently used in

hills and uttered incantations. When Beltane was
Christianized by the Church, the pagan rites were replaced

continental Europe where the witch-hunts were more fierce
than it was in England. There is no record of a witch sabbat

with church services and processionals in the fields, where
the priests lit the fires.This festival also is known as

in England prior to 1620, except for the mention of the term
in the Lancaster witch trails of 1612.

Walburgisnacht.

The term was first introduced in an Inquisition trail at

Summer solstice: June 21. A solar festival which was almost
universally celebrated; and, especially in Europe. In the

Toulouse, France in 1335. It along with Sabbath did not
appear regularly until the mid-15th century. Once it made

European tradition, the night before was Midsummer’s Eve;
a time for great magic , especially for love charms. Certain

its appearance in trails it quickly assumed common usage.
The times and locations that the sabbats were held were

herbs were picked at midnight to bring protection against
lightning, fire, witchcraft, disease and ill fortune.

quickly and definitely fixed too. They were said to be held
at night in remote locations such as mountains, caves, and

Witches and fairies roam on Midsummer’s Eve, as they do at
Beltane; there is a bit of madness in the air. Great

deep forest areas. The Brocken in the Harz Mountains of
Germany was the best known place for holding sabbats. There,

bonfires are lit to help change the course of the sun in the
sky, the rites resemble those of Beltane. Burning wheels are

one of the greatest feasts was said to occur on
Walpurgisnacht (Beltane), April 30.

rolled down hills, and burning disks are thrown at the sun.
The zenith of the power of the Sun God is manifested in the

The witches’ modes of transportation to the sabbats were

flourishing of crops and livestock. The sabbat was
Christianized to St. John’s Day (for John the Baptist).

quite imaginary. Witches were said to have flew through the
night either on the backs of demons that had metempsychosed

Lughnasadh: July 31. A great festival of games and dance,

into animals, or astride of broomsticks. The witches
themselves sometimes changed into animals and were

named in honor of the Irish Celtic solar god Lugh. The word
Lughnasadh is related to words meaning "to give in marriage"

accompanied by their familiars. They were said to fly home
before daybreak.

and once was associated with marriage contracts. Nine moths
away is the next Beltane, the birth of summer and life.

The sabbat nights varied. Some witches said to have attended

According to medieval legend, the festival celebrates
Lugh’s marriage to "the Sovranty of Ireland," the goddess

weekly sabbats while others said the only went once or twice
a year.

Eriu. A hag, Eriu is transformed into a beauty who
personifies the land of Ireland. First harvests are made,

along with thanksgivings and rites to ensure the bounty of
the crops for the coming year. To ensure this same purpose,

Sabbats observed by Witches in traditions and solitary

some traditions observe, as a sacrifice, the death of the
Sacred King. In old pagan customs, the blood of a cock would

Witches of modern Witchcraft and neo-Paganism are not
diabolical and have nothing to do with the Devil or

be scattered over the fields.

demoniacal worship. Usually they are considered to be eight
seasonal holy days of the year which correspond to the

Lammas, from Old English terms for "loaf" and "mass," is a
Christianized name for an old Saxon fruit-and-grain festival

former pagan seasonal festivals.

designated by the early English church. The holiday
celebrated the ripening of apples and winter wheat, the

The rites celebrated at the sabbats are centered in nature.
They contain the ancient pagan customs of Europe and the

latter of which, according to tradition, was made into
loaves and blessed in the church. Lammas Day also was a day

British Isles, especially the Celtic traditions, and newer
elements of the modern Craft and neo-Paganism. The central

to settle accounts. In Scotland, tenant farmers took their
first grain harvests to their landlords on August 1 to pay

worship is of the Goddess, the Horned God, and Nature which
give the participants amble opportunity to give thanks for

the rent.

the bounties of the Earth.

Autumn equinox: September 21. Once again, day and night, and
male and female forces are equally balanced. This is the

Not all traditions, however, celebrate the eight sabbats,
but only observe those important to their history and

time for the second harvests. Traditionally, the Eleusinian
mysteries are observed in rites and dramas. The mysteries

customs. They observe the sabbats in their own way, some
skyclad, or nude, while others in traditional or ceremonial

concern the myth of Demeter and her daughter Kore
(Persephone), and of the attainment of immortality through

dress, while others create new practices. The sabbats of
Beltane and Samhain are the most universally observed.

the adoration of them.

The Greater sabbats and their observation dates are: Oimelc

Samhain: October 31. An ancient Celtic festival which
celebrates the beginning of winter, marked by death, and the

(also Imbolc, Imbolg), February 2; Beltane (also Beltaine,
Walpurgisnacht ), April 30; Lughnasadh (also Lammas), July

beginning of the Celtic New Year. Samhain means "end of
summer." The Druids, in ancient Ireland, once sacrificed to

31; and Samhain, October 31. The Lesser Sabbats fall on the
solstices and equinoxes: winter solstice, December 22;

their deities by burning victims in wickerwork gages. All
other fires were to be extinguished and lighted again from

spring equinox (Ostara), March 21; summer solstice, June 21;
and autumn equinox, September 21.

the sacrificial fire. This custom still continues in Ireland
and Scotland, all fires in homes are extinguished and

Winter solstice: December 22. The winter solstice marks the

lighted again from bonfires, but without sacrificial
victims. Samhain marks the third harvests and the storage of

longest night of the year. It is when the Goddess awakes to
find that she is pregnant with the Sun God. The rituals for

provisions for winter. The veil between the worlds of the
living and dead is the thinnest during this time making

both the summer and winter solstices are designed to help
change the course of the sum. The winter solstice has been

communications easier. Souls of the dead can come into the
land of the living. Samhain is a time for eliminating

Christianized as Yule or Christmas.

weaknesses, when pagan once slaughtered weak animals that
were thought not to be able to survive the winter. This

Oimelc: February 2. A winter purification and Fire Festival,
often called the Feast of Lights, Imbolc or Imbolg

custom resulted in the modern practice by some who wanted to
get rid of their weaknesses of writing them on a piece of

(pronounced ‘im mol g"). which means "in the belly" and
signifies the growing of life in the womb of Mother Earth.

paper and dropping them into a fire. Some baked cakes to be
offered for the souls of the dead. Samhain was Christianized

It celebrates Brigid (Brigit), the Irish Celtic goddess of
fire, fertility, crops, livestock, wisdom, poetry, and

into All Hallow’s Eve or Halloween. The modern custom or
trick-and-treating may have originated from an old Irish

household arts. Oimelc brings the first signs of life in the
darkness of the Earth. The Goddess prepares for the birth of

peasant custom of going door-to-door to collect money,
breadcake, cheese, eggs, butter, nuts, apples and other

the Sun God. This sabbat has been named Candlemas in
Christianity, also called St. Brigid’s Day. It is

foods in preparation for the festival of St. Columb Kill.
Apples are included in many rites, especially as ingredients

celebrated by candlelight processionals and commemorates the
Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Eastern Church) or the

in brews. Dunking for apples may have been a divinatory
practice. A.G.H.