The Festivals

Pagans celebrate the eight great sabbats of the year and the thirteen full moons (esbats). Below are the very beginnings of my descriptions, it is here that I am going to add a lot more material and give lots of alternative ideas for each festival - for now what is here is only a start . . . .

Imbolc is the time when we celebrate the beginning of spring, the child of promise growing into the phallic god. "Imbolc" means "in the belly", it is the end of winter and the turning of the year when leaves and shoots and buds appear and it is a time for the blossoming of new things. Often it is still cold but we remind ourselves of the light and warmth growing in the earth, preparing to spring forth in great abundance of life and growth.

Ostara is the night of the spring equinox and is another turning point marking the space between first emergence of new things and their evolution into the year - it is a time of balance and of learning. It is a time for sharing wisdom and using gifts of sight and perspective, light and dark are equal but it is light in the ascendance, symbolic of the new sun overcoming the darkness of death. The young god is also coming into manhood and, in spring, his eye is a-roving . . . .

Beltane (or May Eve) is the symbolic growing up of the child, the time of the Green Man, the lover of the goddess and all expressions and outpourings of fertility as the growing of the earth gets into full swing at last and is at the height of its push upwards and outwards. The greenwood lord chases the goddess through the wonder of the world, through the bright woods and together, in the meadows they make sweet and wonderful love together . . . probably very "early in the morning, just as the sun is rising"

Midsummer is the exact midpoint of the year, light is strongest now, the day is longest and darkness and death is defeated and forgotten. It is a celebration of this victory but there is a strong twist because although a time of feasting and joy is also the marker of when light's power begins to wane and from here onwards darkness begins to take back his territory. It is the transformation (symbolic death) of the Oak King into the Holly King. Some of us (myself included) take this a chance for reflection and peace and save the "big" celebration for Beltane.

Lammas is the time of joining, the marriage of the Sun King to the Goddess, when he accepts his maturity and becomes one with the land. It is a joyous time and sits eequidistant from Beltane astride midsummer. It is the old harvest festival, a time when all is gathered in for the winter, a time of rest from labour and hard work and a time of taking stock and preparation. Usually we get a great big harvest moon and a fantastic sunset to mark this wonderful night of the year.

Mabon is the night of the autumn equinox and is usually around the 21st September. It is the end of the harvest and the counterpoint time of balance to Eostar. Often we reflect on the plans we made at Spring Equinox and how they have developped and been fulfilled. The god is now dying again, darkness has overcome him and he knows it. He is not sad however, recognising his time to rule the twilight of the land and some who have connected strongly with the god at this time of year say that he is at his happiest now, surveying the fruition of all his works.

Samhain (pronounced "sow-wain") or Halloween is the time of the great mystery, where the Sun King becomes the Dark Lord having taken the perilous journey. Indeed, darkness has won and the king is dead, descending, in death, to the underworld to be reborn as the dark lord of winter. It is a most auspicious time for magick and (especially) initiation. It is also a time of passing, the death of the year and the veils are very thin between the worlds and most ceremonies are in some way solemn. Solemn does NOT mean bleak however as the dead are remembered and honoured with many toasts.

Yule is the winter solstice, which is sometimes a time for reflection and peace and also a joyous celebration of keeping up of spirits in the long dark winter. It is the time when Light overcomes Dark at last and starts to grows in power through the coming months. In older days there was little to do and the feast would often last many days. The lady is here somewhere, bt as the crone, and she has wisdom to impart to those who seek her out in the darkness.