A Beginner's Guide To The 8 Sabbats From The Witches Voice

I am sharing the following information with you so that you can better understand the roots of paganism and how it has infiltrated into the Church and our present day society. These are pagan holidays and celebrations. You will begin to understand the deceptions that have crept in over the centuries as you begin to understand these pagan holidays. God bless you as you read and begin to understand how the adopted pagan holidays are now fully integrated into mainstream christianity.

 These descriptions are from the website of the Witches Voice.

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 1 Corinthians 10.21

There are 8 Wiccan Sabbats in a year. Each has its own meanings and associations. These Sabbats are put into two categories: The Minor Sabbats and the Major Sabbats. They are spaced about 45 days apart from each other.

The Minor Sabbats consist of four Sabbats. There are two Equinoxes, March 21st (Spring Equinox – Ostara) and September 21st (Autumn Equinox – Mabon), when day and night are each 12 hours long.


Then there are the two Solstices of June 21st (Summer Solstice – Litha) and December 21st (Winter Solstice – Yule). Litha has the longest daytime of the year and Yule has the longest night of the year. The exact dates of the Minor Sabbats vary from year to year and may occur on the 20th to the 23rd of the month.


The Major Sabbats consist of four Sabbats as well. They occur roughly midway between the Minor Sabbats and are usually at the end of the month. There are many names and dates to these Sabbats, but the meanings of them are the same. Samhain (October 31st), Imbolg (February 2nd), Beltaine (April 30th), and Lammas (August 1st) are the 8 Major Sabbats.


Notice how the enemy has taken the Hebrew Shabbat and calls his holidays sabbat.


The Wheel of the Year as it is called, starts with Samhain and ends with Mabon. The following is the descriptions and associations for each Sabbat starting with Samhain.


Samhain (October 31st):

Samhain is a time to remember those who have left us. This is a time to remember our ancestors, both ancient and wise. This is the time when the barriers between our world and the next become blurred, and those from the other side are free to visit our world, as well as guide us.

It is also the time when the Witches and Wiccans say goodbye to the god. Though this temporary as the God gets ready to be reborn from the Goddess.

This is a time for reflection, to look back over the past year. A time to come to terms with the one great phenomenon of life in which we have no control of – Death.

The year starts with Samhain, for it is in the dark half of the year. The great Druids believed that the day began with the setting of the sun; therefore, the dark half of the year is the beginning. New Years resolutions are made on Samhain. Samhain is the traditional day to raise a Covener within a circle.

Other Names: Third Harvest, Samana, Vigil of Saman, Shadowfest (Strega), Halloween, All Hallows Eve, Hallowe’en, and the Scottish Gaelic spellings for Samhain are Samhuin or Samhuinn.

This holiday has become Halloween in the present day Christian community!


Yule
(December 21st):
Yule has the longest night and the shortest day of the year. It is the time when the Goddess gives birth to a son, the God. Witches and Wiccans celebrate the Festival of the God’s Rebirth. It is a time to honor the Holly King. Accomplishes of the past, love, togetherness, and love are also celebrated. These things are celebrated by burning the Yule Log in a bonfire. A portion of the Yule Log is always saved to light next years Yule Log. The Yule Log is usually oak. It is kept throughout the year to protect the home as well.

Other Names: Winter Solstice, Christmas, Alban Arthan, Finn’s Day, Festival of Sol, Yuletide, Great Day of the Cauldron, and the Festival of Growth.

This is the true pagan roots of Christmas. In fact, it can be proven scripturally that the Lord was born in the fall about the time of the Feast of Tabernacles in Sept/Oct.


Imbolg
(February 2nd):
Imbolg is the time to welcome spring, and celebrate the festival of the end of winter. It is a Festival of Light and Fertility. Imbolg is the recovery of the Goddess after giving birth to the God. The lengthening periods of light awaken her. The God is now young and lusty, but his power is felt during the longer days. Marking the return of Spring, the Earth feels his warmth. Imbolg represents new beginnings, spiritual growth, and the “sweeping of the old”.

Other Names: Imbolic, Candlemas, St. Bridget’s Day, Brides Day, Lady Day, Imbolc, Lupercus, and the Snowdrop Festival.


Ostara (March 21st):
Ostara marks the true fist day of spring. This is the time to celebrate the balance of seasons and the passage of Night into Day. The Goddess covers the earth with Fertility as she bursts forth from her sleep. The God stretches and grows into maturity. He walks among the greening earth and delights in the abundance of nature. On Ostara, the hours of the day and night are equal. This is a time of beginnings, of action, or planting seeds for future grains.

As spring reaches its midpoint, night and day stand in perfect balance. (With light on the increase.) The young Sun God now celebrates a sacred marriage with the young maiden Goddess, who conceives. In nine months she will again become the Great Mother. It is a time of great fertility and growth, and newborn animals. Ostara is the time of Fertility of the Earth.

Other Names: Eostre and Spring Equinox.

This is the pagan roots of Easter. Buunies that lay eggs! Candy and bonnets!


Beltaine
(April 30th to May 1st):
Beltaine marks the emergence of the Sun God in manhood. Stirred by the energies at work in nature, he desires the Goddess. They fall in love, lying amongst the grass and flowers and unite. The Goddess then becomes pregnant.


Beltaine marks the return of vitality, of passions and hopes consummated. This is the last Spring Fertility Festival. It is time to dance around the Maypole, a symbol of Fertility. This Festival celebrates the union and marriage of the God and Goddess and reawakening of the Earth’s fertility at its greatest. The time for plating seeds has ended and the time to wait has begun. It is one of the two most important Sabbats of the year. Beltaine is the compliment of Samhain. The Barriers between our world and the next are again blurred. At Samhain the Otherworld visits us, at Beltaine we can visit the Otherworld.

Jumping over the bonfire promotes fertility and prosperity. Wild Water is collected on this day and used to bathe in or used to drink for health. Beltaine literally means “Fire of Bel” (Celtic God of Light and Fire.). May is the month for sensuality and sexuality to be revitalized. The awakening of the Earth and her Children.

Other Names: Beltane, May Day, or May Eve.

A big pagan holiday in witchcraft!


Litha
(June 21st):
Litha is the Summer Solstice. It marks the longest day of the year. Litha is the classic time for Magick of all kinds. Believe whatever is dreamt of will become true for the dreamer. This is a time to celebrate passion and success. Litha is the opposite of Yule. On this day of the longest daylight, life and light are abundant. This is the time when the Sun God has reached his greatest strength. Seated on his greenwood throne, he is God of the forests. The powers of nature are at their highest point. Bonfires are lit to represent the Sun God and to rouse love, purification, health, and fertility. Litha Eve is also special for adherents of the Faerie Faith.

Other Names: Midsummer, and Leetha.

Interestingly June is a popular month for people to get married.


Lammas (August 1st):
Lammas is the time for the first Harvest, when the plants begin to wither and drop their seeds for our use as well to ensure future crops. The Sun God losses his strength as the sun rises farther in the south each day and the nights grow longer. The God is dying, but living inside the Goddess as her child.

We are reminded that nothing in the universe is constant. Lammas stands for the funeral games of Lugh. (Lugh referring to the Irish Sun God.) However, the funeral is not his own, but the funeral games he hosts for his foster-mother Tailte. For that reason, the traditional Tailtean Craft fairs and Tailtean Marriages are celebrated at this time.

Other Names: Lughnasadh, Cornucopia, Lughsasa, and Thingtide.


Mabon (September 21st):
Mabon is the Autumn Equinox. Mabon is the completion of the Harvest that began at Lammas. Once again day and night are equal. The God prepares to leave his physical body and begin the great journey to the unseen, towards renewal and rebirth of the Goddess. Nature begins to die, laying in rest for next springs bounty. The Goddess nods in the weakening sun, but fire burns within her womb. We all take a moment to pay our respects to impending darkness. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight as we store our harvest of this year’s crops. Offerings of Ciders, Wines, Herbs, and Fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Witches and Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.

Other Names: Fall or Autumn Equinox

A conterfeit of God's harvest feasts.

 

ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR EASTER AND CHRISTMAS

Baal became Venus and Cupid in Roman times. Asterah means seed of Easter. Ishtar, Isis, Tammuz are all versions of the sun god. Ancient Egyptian art has suns everywhere.

The catholic eucharist is based on sun worship. It has become a sacrament of the church. The communal host is displayed in the Monstrance which is a sunburst. The obelisk in St. Peter’s square is surround by an eight point sun. The obelisk is Baal’s shaft.

Pinecones are ancient sun god symbols. The trident is a satanic symbol seen in many ancient god statues. Also known as the “devil’s pitchfork”.

A crosier is a staff that is shaped like a serpent. It is a symbol of power and is similar to a shepherd’s staff. Remember Moses throwing down his staff and it became a serpent. The Egyptians also threw their crosiers down and they turned into a serpent, but Moses staff ate them. Statues of Athena often depict her with a serpent crosier. Crosiers are popular within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.

Symbols often seen in catholic churches are winged dragons, serpent crosiers, sun symbols, and sunbursts.

At the council of Nicea the emperor Constantine set the winter solstice of Dec25^th as the day to celebrate the Lord’s birth. He was a sun worshipper of Mithras and the winter solstice is a supreme sun worship day. This would make it easier for pagans to accept Christianity. Constantine also abolished all “Jewish” festivals and celebrations, replacing them with pagan dates. This was the beginning of the church losing her Hebraic roots.

The twelve days of Christmas comes from the twelve days of burning the Yule log during the winter solstice. Yule day was the “day of the infant”. Not Jesus, but Tammuz, the sun god. The twelve days of burning celebrated Ishtar for bringing back the sun god Tammuz from the dead. In ancient pagan Israel animals and children where sacrificed to the fire on this day. This was an abomination to the Lord. The Roman feast of Saturnalia is also twelve days.

All sun god’s can be traced to Nimrod (Genesis 11).

Easter comes for Ishtar/Ashtar/Isis. Easter celebrates the rising from the dead of Tammuz. They fasted 40 days. It is also the root of Lent. Jesus was crucified on Passover. Easter and Passover do not occur together. This sun god festival was turned into the Easter celebration as it occurred in the spring around the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In reality, Easter is sun god worship and sun rise service is rooted in sun worship. Ham is eaten at this time because a boar killed Tammuz and he rose again.

As you can see the enemy has polluted and mixed into our faith the pagan festivals and celebrations which take us away from our Hebraic roots. The feasts of the Lord are laid out in Lev 23. These are not “Jewish feasts” but are referred to as the feasts of the Lord. Returning to the feasts of the Lord bring special blessings and understanding as we begin to observe them.