What the Eight Sabbats Mean to Me
by Taina Faerystar
Quotes from 'The Wheel of the Wiccan Year' by Gail Duff
Samhain-
“It’s a Punky Night, tonight,
It’s Punky Night tonight,
Give us a candle, give us a light,
It’s Punky Night tonight.”
Samhain is a time of death and rebirth. But to me it doesn’t just
symbolise the death of things but the anticipation of starting out new.
You can put behind what you don’t want to carry with you into the
coming year, acknowledge it and go on and take the good with you, using
it for your best advantage.
Being a young pagan means that sometimes my Samhain ritual may involve
just having a nice time with my non-pagan friends, celebrating Halloween.
I usually end up doing a ritual with my pagan friends later too, but when
all my friends are together we can end up carving pumpkins, dressing up,
bobbing for apples, and listening to the latest music. But while I do
this with my friends I still acknowledge the death of the god, the winter,
the dying season. This is usually quite easy to acknowledge by the freezing
night temperature that hits us when we leave the house to go trick or
treating.
Yule-
“Now the Holly bears a berry as green
as the grass
And the Sun it will grow stronger as the winter day’s pass
And the Sun it will grow stronger the springtime to foresee
And the first tree in the Greenwood it was the Holly
Holly, Holly,
And the first tree in the Greenwood it was the Holly.”
Yule is a promise of new beginnings. I remember my first Yule ritual.
A close friend of mine dedicated herself to a pagan path. In a way this
was a new beginning for her. For every person this turn in the year shows
changes and new beginnings. The start of a new year can herald so much.
Yule expresses the rebirth of the Sun God and promises that the sun is
on its way. For me Yule is a very joyful point in the wheel of the year
and gives hope to our ideas and wishes that we may have been losing a
grip on as we got caught up in last year’s confusions and doubts.
The sun is coming, to spread light across the earth and across our imaginations.
Bringing joy.
Imbolc-
“Farewell to darkness, to unlit corners,
The light steals in, the crone retreats.
See the light at the edge of the shadows,
Slowly it comes, the spring to greet.”
Clearing out the old and letting in the new, cleansing the Earth and
sprinkling the seeds of inspiration. During Imbolc I like to contemplate
about these new beginnings and thinking about the future, forming new
dreams, and of course, celebrating the Goddess Brighid.
Relaxing while weaving a Brighid cross, or making a Brighid doll and baking
are all part of my Imbolc.
Pinecones are a symbol of the God at Imbolc and the promise of his coming
together with the Goddess at Beltane. Snowdrops start to bless the ground
at this time, reminding me of the small pure and fragile forms of my thoughts,
wishes and hopes for the coming year.
Ostara-
“Hare in the wind,
No one shall you bind,
Hare in the rain,
You never seek gain.
Hare in the Sun,
Outwitting the gun.
Hare in the night,
You love the Moon’s light.
Hare of the Goddess at this turn of the year
Share with us your wildness and lack of all fear.
So mote it be.”
Hatching from the egg, new life begins. My wishes and hopes start to
blossom as I get out there and start new projects, meet new people and
explore new places.
At Ostara the key activities include painting eggs and putting small messages
inside them, rolling eggs, and even making eggs from clay.
With the returning sun my own adventurous self comes rising back. Like
the sun rises into the sky, so do my feet rise over the steps and out
of my door after a long hibernation inside my cosy house.
Sometimes I like to see the egg as the mother earth, when her sun arrives
home she steps out of her door to greet him.
Beltane-
“I am the spirit of the Greenwood.
I am the fire in your passion.
I am the warmth of the Sun.
I am the endurance of stone.
I am the strength in your heart.
I am the greening of leaves.
I am the God who brings life to the earth.
I come to my Lady.”
At this time, when the Beltane fire is burning, so is the passion of
the Goddess and God in there many forms. What started off as small wishes,
hopes and dreams have become much more and have spread like a blazing
fire.
Jumping over the fire to me is like ‘fulfilling our wishes’,
a wish to be brave enough to jump, a wish that the crops will grow high,
a wish that my project will continue to grow and grow and a wish that
the light of the Goddess and Gods love will carry on burning brightly.
Litha-
“Now the Oak tree bears green leaves
As thick as the grass,
But the Sun will grow weaker as the summer day’s pass.
And the Sun will grow weaker the winter to foresee,
And the first tree of the summer it was the Oak tree.
Oak tree, Oak tree,
And the first tree of the summer, it was the Oak tree.”
The Oak King is showing his full glory, this is the longest day of the
year. The Sun lingers on in the sky much longer. But at the same time
the sun is getting weaker. The sun is both strong but near weakening…this
is a between time.
And of course, as many may know, the between time is a perfect time for
faery mischief and love. Shakespeare even wrote a famous play on the subject
called The Midsummer Nights Dream.
At this point in the year I usually connect with the faery. Meditating
on them and creating many different faery things including havens and
hollows for them to hide out in once the sun has gone.
Preparing a faery party is a great thing to do at this time in the year
and may include creating masks, faery dust, and many a faery dish to either
give to the earth as offering to mother nature and the faery or even to
just gobble up the delicious food myself with my friends and family!
Lammas-
“Now, my love, the corn grows high,
The poppies bloom like blood so red.
Your loving eyes do me entice,
But I must be the sacrifice.”
Lammas celebrates the first harvest and acknowledges the passing of the
God and the year. Days start to become noticeable shorter and weather
may become colder. The sun is starting to drop and the year begins to
die.
Corn is being cut and fruits and berries ripen. This is both a season
of celebration and passing over.
At this point of the year I focus on the God in his aspect as Lugh the
God of the Sun, and also of artists, craftsmen and warriors. His name
means ‘shining’ I also see the Goddess as she matures, slowly
retreating into a crone aspect such as Blodeuwedd. Her name means ‘flower
face’. Blodeuwedd starts of as a flower maiden but becomes the wise
owl as the year progresses. Lammas teaches wisdom of the elders.
Mabon-
“The Earth has given us the harvest of
grain,
The Goddess and God have fulfilled our inner dreams,
The Elements of our life have worked in harmony,
We have reaped joy and sorrow, achievements and lessons.
For all this,
And for all of our lives,
We give thanks.”
Mabon celebrates the end of the harvest, and the beginning of the end
of the year. I use this time to look over everything I’ve done during
the past year, counting all the achievements and acknowledging and letting
go of the bad. At this point we get ready to acknowledge the death of
the God and the passing of the sun. To celebrate the crone and her wisdom.
What wise things have I learnt this year? How have I changed?
I step into the New Year with all my achievements and the memories of
all the ways I celebrated the wheel of the year.
