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Sabbats (Religious Holy Days)

Many Pagans follow 8 “religious holidays”, or Sabbats, each year, although some people may only observe 4 of these rather than all 8.  Unlike the traditional religious holidays most people are familiar with, Pagan Sabbats are set according to the seasons or the phases of the sun & moon.  This not only means that the date can change from year to year, but also from hemisphere to hemisphere. 

The dates of the Sabbats in Australia can be a controversial issue to some people! To many Australian Pagans the Sabbats are observed 6 months out of phase with the northern hemisphere simply because they are season based and these people can not see the sense in observing the Winter Solstice when it is in fact the Summer Solstice! Others however feel that we should observe according to the original northern hemisphere calendar regardless of where you are or what season it is. Whilst the former opinion is probably the most common, as every Pagan is able to find and follow their own path either option is perfectly acceptable!

Four of the Sabbats are known as the Greater Sabbats and celebrate the start of the seasons. These are Celtic in origin and are Imbolg, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain. The remaining four are known as the Lesser Sabbats and are solar festivals, the timing of which is governed by the relationship of the Sun to the Earth. These are the Winter Solstice (Yule), Summer Solstice (Litha), Spring Equinox (Ostara) and the Autumn Equinox (Mabon).

Pagan religious celebrations play a very important part in history, as many of the celebrations and traditions known today originated as Pagan celebrations in the northern hemisphere.  The dates for Christmas, Easter, Halloween, May Day and more were all influenced by existing Pagan celebrations.

Detailed below are the 8 Pagan Sabbats along with the approximate dates each are observed in Australia (South) and also in the Northern Hemisphere (North). A brief description of the celebration, and the corresponding Christian tradition influenced by the celebration, are also provided. Note that the Lesser Sabbats are not governed by calendar dates but rather by the phases of the sun, and so the date will change from year to year, but generally the celebration is held around the dates indicated.

Sabbat & Date	Details
Samhain (pronounced “sow-wyn”) South: 30 Apr/1 May North: 31 Oct/1 Nov Greater Sabbat	The start of the ancient Pagan Celtic year and marks the descent into the winter months. Traditions say that at this time of year the veil between the world of the living and the realm of the dead is at its thinnest. The dead are honoured and remembered at this time. As with many festivals celebrations started on the evening before, so Samhain festivals would start on October 31 in the north. This is the last of the 3 harvest festivals that started at Lughnasadh. Following Christianisation of the Celtic region this was changed to eventually become All Saints Day, with the night before becoming All Hallows Eve or Hallows Eve, eventually shortened to Halloween, which was introduced into the USA by Irish immigrants in the early 20th century.
Yule/Yuletide (pronounced “yewl”) South: 21/22 June North: 21/22 Dec Lesser Sabbat	Yule is the winter solstice and marks the celebration of the return of the sun. Although it is still winter and this is the longest night, from this point the days start to grow longer and so it is a celebration of the returning sun. In Pagan Rome December 25th was the celebration of the sun god and the birth day of the god Mithras. The Roman Church moved the date for the celebration of the birth of Jesus to the same day as the birth day of Mithras and the celebration of Saturnalia and so the Pagan festival of Yule or winter solstice became the Christian celebration of Christmas.
Imbolg/Imbolc (pronounced “imbolk”) South: 1 Aug North: 1 Feb Greater Sabbat	The festival of spring, the earth moves towards new life as the long cold nights of winter start to be replaced by the warmer days of spring. The Celtic goddess Brighid was celebrated at this time - she was transformed into Saint Brigit following the Christianisation of the Celts.
Ostara (pronounced “oh-star-rah”) South: 22/23 Sep North: 21/22 Mar Lesser Sabbat	The spring equinox is a celebration of both new life and fertility. Day and night are equal and in balance, but the days are growing longer. Rabbits and decorated eggs are just two of the traditional Pagan symbols of the spring equinox that were transferred across to the Christian version of the celebration, Easter. Small cakes with a cross on top were also a Pagan tradition for this celebration. One of the traditional Pagan goddesses honoured at this time was the goddess Eastre or Eostre, whose name is believed to have influenced the name of todays Easter.
Beltane or Bealtaine (pronounced “bell-tayn”, or “be-el-ten-ah”) South: 1 Nov North: 1 May Greater Sabbat	The name “Beltane” is derived from the Irish-Gaelic word meaning “Bel-fire”. The celebration marks the start of the summer days. The ancient Druids would build large fires on top of beacon hills and it was believed that these fires had healing properties. A pole with ribbons and dancers dancing around holding the ribbons was another activity that some Pagan communities observed, and continues today in the May Day celebration utilising the May Pole.
Litha (pronounced “lytha”) South: 21/22 Dec North: 21/22 June Lesser Sabbat	The summer solstice. The sun is at its highest point and the days are at their longest, but from this point on the days will begin to shorten so this is a festival that thanks the sun god for his blessing and calls forth the powers of winter to begin their work. “Christmas in July” celebrations continue in many parts of the west today.
Lughnasadh (pronounced “lood-nah-sahd”) South: 1 Feb North: 1 Aug Greater Sabbat	Also known as Lammas, this celebrates the bounty of the goddess of the harvest when people would take a rest for a while after the first harvest. It is a time of thanksgiving but also recognises that the strength of the sun is starting to wane and the spring plants are beginning to wither. This is the first of the 3 harvest festivals, and continues as the Harvest Festival in the UK.
Mabon (pronounced “may-bon”) South: 21/22 Mar North: 22/23 Sep Lesser Sabbat	The autumn equinox and the second harvest festival. All of the fruit and grain has now been gathered and the day and night are again equal, but the nights will start to grow longer as we head towards the beginning of a new cycle. It is a time to take in the satisfaction of the work done through summer, and reap its rewards.

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