Esbats

Traditionally the full moon is the time when the Goddess grants wishes to her followers, so the monthly meeting of a coven, called an Esbat, takes place at the time of the Full Moon.

The word Esbat probably comes from the Old French s’esbattre, meaning to frolic and amuse oneself. The Full Moon is a good time to acknowledge blessings received, for feasting and celebrations, for giving your crystals and jewellery a moon-bath, to renew your protections, or to drink down the Moon to increase your psychic sensitivity so it makes sense to have a recognized and named meeting at this special time.

Athough Esbats and Sabbats are all frolics, they are different celebrations of different energy. Esbats celebrate the full psychic power at the Full Moon. A Sabbat is the general name for any one of the eight major festivals celebrated in old times.

Sabbats

Sometimes these Sabbat festivals are referred to as the Greater Sabbats (Samhainn, Imbolc, Beltaine, Lammas) and the Lesser Sabbats (the equinoxes and solstices). Although some people choose to celebrate their Sabbat at the closest Full Moon, it always seems a shame to me to waste a chance to party by lumping two separate celebrations together (bit like saying Christmas is close to New Year's Eve so let's save time and celebrate them together). Please be aware that the dates given are for Southern hemisphere celebrations:

Greater Sabbats

Samhainn is also called Ancestor Night or Halloween and is celebrated on the 30th April. This is the Celtic New Year, the end which is the beginning, and a good time to seek advice on future actions through divination, settle problems and clear out old ideas. Setting a place at the table for those who have gone before to honour and remember our ancestors is especially appropriate at this time.

Gather in, Gather in
All we do on Halloween
Gather in, Gather in
So that nothing may remain
No thing to darken sunlight days
Or frighten those not of our ways
Thyme & rosemary & narrow leaved rue
Bless us now in all we do

Imbolc, Feast of Torches, Feast of Pan, Snowdrop Festival or Candlemas: this festival honours women and is celebrated on the 1st August. This is the first stirrings of Mother Earth honouring the triple Goddess Brigid, a time to turn on every light in your house to celebrate and welcome the strengthening light to bring clarity to your life and to cleanse the unwanted. Use cinnamon or oranges and orange candles to call joy into your home & life.

Dance tonight
With candles bright
To celebrate Earth’s thaw
Wear white
Summon the light
Spring returns once more

Beltaine, Summer Welcome, Lady Day, May Day, is celebrated on the 31st October. Beltaine means Bel’s fire which is good to cleanse people & animals and this is a good time to honour the house guardian. Beltaine is a time of fertility and of loving, of joy and magic and music. It’s a time to dance summer in with bright coloured ribbons around the maypole to a one TWO three stamping rhythm & to enjoy the delights of loving and of life.

Bel’s fires burning bright
Cleanse us all this Beltaine night
Sing and dance with ribbons bright
Weave summer wishes strong tonight
Summon love and health and mirth
Bless all good people on this Earth

Lammas is the Lady’s Festival which is celebrated in the Southern Hemisphere on 1 February. This is a turning point in the Earth calendar, a harvest festival where work for good fortune and abundance using orange candles, ivy or autumn flowers is timely. Lammas is a sad time because the fields are bare and forlorn, and a happy time because we now have harvested grain for the year.

Mourn to see the fields so bare
That rippled ripe with grain
Rejoice in Harvest we will share
Till harvest comes again

Lesser Sabbats

Midwinter, Yule or Alban Arthuan is a time to work for abundance, give thanks and presents. Be thankful for home & family when the world is cold & dark. Feast & tell stories & plan for Spring. Welcome the birth of the Divine Child. The Songs of Cycle give Ar Hyd Y Nos which is today known as All through the night as the Englyn for Midwinter, the darkest and longest night of the year.

This longest night,
Frolic and feast
Call a blessing

Drink a toast
With wine and cake

Bless our host
Son of the Sun

Celebrate His birth
Yule tree and gifts

Stories and mirth
Frolic and feast

Call back the light
This longest night

Spring Equinox, Alban Eiler or Eostar farewells the dark half of the year. Dance and sing the summer in with wine and honeycake, green & yellow candles and fertility symbols of rabbits & eggs. Herbs for this time are heartsease & violets. This is the time to sow our thought seeds for the attributes we want to grow in ourselves in seasons to come. The Englyn for Spring is Eilir Tydain which is known as the Prayer of the Breton Fisherman and is a plea for spring to return.

Oh festival of green and gold
Oh festival of Spring
Oh balance of the Universe
Come, call the Summer in

Midsummer Solstice or Litha is a good time to recognize what brings light into your life and work to nurture what brings you joy. This is the festival of the Sun’s power, the longest day of the year. After this point the year begins to wane. Celebrate with red flowers and fruit, friends and family.

Midsummer is come
Greet the Sun
Honour Him lest we forget
Green leaves of Summer
Help me remember
Promises made in winter’s depth

Autumn Equinox or Alban Elved is a time of balance and is a time to rest after labour, celebrate completion of harvest, give thanks, take stock and to repair damage done to you or to your relationships with others. The traditional Celtic Songs of Cycle give Aileach as the Englyn for Autumn, known today as Londonderry Air or more popularly as Danny Boy.

This is our time to say farewell
To that which is no longer dear
Look within to find ourselves
Seek out what needs repair
Balance our self and take stock
In the Autumn of our year