Witches’ Sabbats for 2012 (Northern Hemisphere)
| Date | Name | Celebration | Other Names |
| FEB 2* Alt Date: When the first stirrings of spring are felt, or on the full moon that falls closest to this time. |
Imbolc (in the belly) |
This is a Greater Sabbat and High Holiday. It marks the first signs of life returning to the land; specifically, when lambing begins (hence “in the belly”). Just as the light is growing stronger, the young Sun God is growing stronger, too. The Mother Goddess, no longer required to nurse the babe born at Yule, exchanges her robes for those of the Maiden Goddess. As one of the four fire festivals, candles are lit to sweep away the winter darkness. This is also a traditional time for re-dedication and pledges for the coming year. | •Oimelc (milk of ewes), •Saint Brigid’s Day (also known as Brigit, Brighid, Bride, and Brid), •Candlemas, •La Fheill Brìghde (Scot), •La Fheile Bríde (Irish), •Gwyl y Canhwyllau (Welsh), •Brigantia, and •Lupercalia (Lupercus was the God of shepherds in Roman mythology and was associated with goats and dogs; he was identified with Faunus, the equivalent of the Greek God Pan) |
| Date | Name | Celebration | Other Names |
| MAR 20** (Spring/ Vernal Equinox)Alt Date: The festival of the Goddess Eostar may be celebrated on the full moon closest to the Spring/Vernal Equinox. |
Lady Day | This is a Lesser Sabbat and Low Holiday. It occurs when day and night are equal and light is on the ascendant. The Maiden Goddess welcomes the embraces of the green and flourishing Sun God and conceives a child to be born in nine months time at the Winter Solstice (Yule). In early agricultural societies, it was on this day that landowners and farmer tenants signed their year-long contracts before ploughing was to start. | •Festival of Trees, •Earrach (Celtic for Spring), •Gwyl Ganol y Gwanwyn (Welsh) and •Alban Eilir(Druidic) Ostara and Eostre (from which the holiday Easter is derived), both of which are incorrectly applied to this equinox and quarter day, celebrate the festival of the Goddess Eostar whose symbols are the egg and the hare. If you wish to celebrate this Goddess, see Alt Date. |
| Date | Name | Celebration | Other Names |
| MAY 1* Alt Date: As a result of the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, Bealltainn came to be celebrated on May 15, while in Ireland Sean Bhealtain (“Old May”) began the night of May 11. This festival may also be celebrated on the full moon nearest the mid-point between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. |
Beltane | This is a Greater Sabbat and High Holiday. It signals when the crops sown on Lady Day begin to sprout, the animals bear their young, and the people begin to get out of their houses.Activities center on fecundity and procreation, such as the maypole. The marriage of the Maiden Goddess and the Sun God is formally conducted and celebrated, and the Maiden Goddess becomes the official Mother Goddess. One of the four fire festivals, bonfires are lit. This is also the first of the three festivals of the Faerie Realm, but occurs only every seven years, when the faeries fight amongst themselves for the best ears of grain in the upcoming harvest. | •Beltaine, •May Day, •Walpurgis Night, •La Bealtaine (Irish), •Latha Bealltainn (Scot), and •Gwyl Galan Mai (Welsh) |
| Date | Name | Celebration | Other Names |
| JUN 20** (Summer Solstice) Alt Date: None |
Mid-Summer’s Eve | This is a Lesser Sabbat and Low Holiday. It is the longest day and shortest night of the year. From this time onwards, the days gradually grow shorter again.The Sun God is at the peak of his power. The bounty of the earth ripens, as does the Mother Goddess with Her child conceived on Lady Day. This is a time for rest and play, a respite between the planting and harvesting of the crops. This is also the day when the Oak King is defeated by the Holly King and the Holly King begins his six-month reign. This is the second of the three festivals of the Faerie Realm, when faeries ride forth singing and are at their gayest. The Seelie Court is predominant. | •Litha (non-traditional name introduced by Aidan Kelly in the 1970s; see Saxon below), •Samradh (Celtic for Summer), •Alban Hefin (Druidic), •Aerra Litha (Saxon for the month of June), •Gwyl Ganol yr Haf (Welsh), •Sun Blessing, •Gathering Day, and •St. John’s Eve |
| Date | Name | Celebration | Other Names |
| AUG 1* Alt Date: None |
Lammas | This is a Greater Sabbat and High Holiday. This is the celebration of the first harvest. Another of the four fire festivals, fire wheels were often rolled down hills to mark the declining of the Sun God’s power. Bonfires are also lit. This is the first of the three harvest festivals, which incorporates the baking of a figure of the Sun God in bread, then symbolically sacrificing and eating it. The Mother Goddess watches in both sorrow and joy as she realizes that the adult Sun God is dying, yet lives on inside Her as Her child. | •Lughnassah, •Lughnasadh, •Lamastide, •August Eve, •First Harvest, •Bread Harvest, •Festival of First Fruits, and •Gwyl Galan Awst (Welsh) |
| Date | Name | Celebration | Other Names |
| SEP 22** (Fall/Autumn Equinox) Alt Date: None |
Harvest Home | This is a Lesser Sabbat and Low Holiday. Once again, the balance of day and night are equal with darkness on the ascendant. This sabbat is a celebration and thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth in the second of the three harvest festivals. It is also a time of rest after hard work. The blessings of the God and Goddess for the upcoming winter months are sought. The Sun God dies, but his power is preserved in the spirit of the fields, trapped and crystallized in the plants and animals. He returns to the womb of the Mother Goddess and joins his spirit with that of his son. The Mother Goddess now takes on the aspect of the Crone Goddess, the old and wise one who stands at the crossroads of life and death, all-seeing and all-knowing. | •Mabon (coined by Aidan Kelly around 1970 as a reference to Mabon ap Modron, a character from Welsh mythology), •Second Harvest, •Fruit Harvest, •Wine Harvest, •Feast of the Ingathering, •Mean Fomhair (Irish), •Fogharadh (Celtic for Harvest), •Alban Elfed (Druidic) and •Gwyl Ganol yr Hydref (Welsh) |
| Date | Name | Celebration | Other Names |
| OCT 31* Alt Date: When the sun has reached 15 degrees Scorpio |
All Hallow’s Eve | This is a Greater Sabbat and High Holiday. It marks the beginning and end of the pagan year. This is the beginning of the resting season, a time of remembrance of those who have gone before, and a time to pierce the veil between the worlds and divine what the coming year holds. The Sun God waits to be reborn and the Crone Goddess stirs the cauldron of life, death and rebirth. The last of the three harvest festivals is held, respect is paid to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets and other loved ones who have died, and the spirits of the departed are invited to attend the festivities. One of the four fire festivals, bonfires are lit. This is the last of the three festivals of the Faerie Realm when faeries interact with humans, but they are gloomy and dance with ghosts. The Unseelie Court rises to power.
It is also at this time that the Queen of the Faeries leads the Wild Hunt and escorts the souls of the year’s dead (and anyone living unlucky enough to encounter the Hunt) through the veil to the Shining Land (also known as the Summerland). |
•Samhain (“Summer’s End”), •All Hallows, •Hallow E’en, •Halloween, •Last Harvest, •Blood Harvest, •Ancestor Night, •Feast of the Dead, and •Nos Calan Gaeaf (Welsh) |
| Date | Name | Celebration | Other Names |
| DEC 21** (Winter Solstice) Alt Date: None |
Yule | This is a Lesser Sabbat and Low Holiday. This sabbat occurs on the longest night and shortest day, when the decreasing days give way to increasing light and life. The Goddess Mother once again gives birth to the Sun God. As a newborn babe, he is the embodiment of innocence and joy, and represents the returning light. This is also the day when the Holly King is defeated by the Oak King and the Oak King begins his six-month reign. Some historians claim that the Yule celebration is connected to Odin’s Wild Hunt or was influenced by Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival. | •Mid-Winter, •Mid-Winter’s Eve, •The Mother’s Night, •Alban Arthan (Druidic), •Geamhradh (Irish) and •Winter Rite |
*This date stays the same each year.
**This date varies each year.
Greater Sabbats reflect the natural cycles of the earth, i.e., seasonal, earth-related changes that are not solar-related. Note that the four Greater Sabbats correspond with the fire festivals, which brings earth/nature (Goddess) and sun/fire (God) together. These sabbats mark monumental changes on the wheel of life and the natural energies on these dates are extremely high.
Lesser Sabbats, alternatively, are based on the the solstices and equinoxes, the exact dates of which can be determined astronomically. While these sabbats are solar-related and what is happening to the God is of foremost importance, they are also periods of rest and surcease for the Goddess while her monumental efforts take root, flower and fruit so they may be reaped. The natural energies on these dates may be slightly lower but are of equal quality to the Greater Sabbats.
It should be noted that magic/spells are not performed on sabbat holidays. These days are holy days set aside to celebrate and honor the Goddess and God, and magic is only performed in dire need (such as emergency healing magic).
