Sabbats The Turning of the Wheel
Individual Sabbat Articles
The Sabbats represent the turning of the wheel of life. Through their celebration, we bring the Goddess and God into our lives, connecting with them and the world around us. The Sabbats tell us the story of the birth, life, and death of the God. This continuing cycle is the basis for reincarnation, and represents the life, death, and rebirth of each of us in the physical plane of existence.
Samhain begins the wheel. It is a time of darkness but also a time of great possibilities. The nights are getting longer, and the future is uncertain. With the death of nature around us, we recognize the death of the God, the Lord of the animals and living things. The harvests are in and the Goddess is heavy with child. She is the crone, mother of all that lived and will live. As crone, she is the keeper of wisdom long since passed and knowledge not yet revealed.
Yule, the winter solstice, represents the promise of hope, when light begins to return to us. It is the birth of the God, and a time when the Goddess rests. From this point on, the days will begin to get longer, and we know that spring will return. Imbolc, the festival of lights, is the youth of the God. The Goddess has recovered from his birth and returned to her form as maiden. It is the time to look toward the spring at the promise that will be.
Ostara, the spring equinox, celebrates the adolescence of the God and Goddess. The spring equinox indicates the coming of spring in the world around us. We are renewed and strengthened by the lengthening days. Beltane represents the sexual maturity of the God and Goddess. We celebrate their union, represented by the Great Rite. It is a time of planting and fertility. Nature is blossoming all around us.
Litha, the Midsummer celebration, is when the God has reached his full maturity. The Goddess has taken the mother form as she carries within her the seed of the God, the seed that will become the reborn God. Lughnasadh (or Lammas) represents the first harvest. The God begins to weaken as he matures. He fills the fields with fruits of harvest to provide for the Goddess and her child. Mabon, the fall equinox, is a celebration of the final harvest. The God prepares for his death and rebirth, just as the world around us begins to show signs of death.
And Samhain returns again. The God passes beyond this physical world, but we celebrate with the knowledge that he will return again at Yule. As so the wheel of life continues.
The Sabbats Samhain
© 2000, 2001 Mother
