Pagan Blog Project - S is for Sabbat

As the Wheel of the Year turns, some Neopagans keep track by celebrating the sabbats. Sabbats divide the year into eighths and are sun holidays (mark the path of sun in the sky) as opposed to esbats which are moon holidays (mark the phases of the moon). It is not mandatory to celebrate sabbats but I encourage you to keep track for at least a year and watch the seasons change.

My path does not require a myth to go with the WotY. Therefore, I won't be providing any. The dates are not fixed due to the fact that the earth's orbit is not round. Sabbats are from a northern hemisphere perspective and I'm referencing the traditional (tropical) zodiac.

Dark half
Yule, winter solstice - 12/21
AKA: Christmas
0 deg Capricorn
Moon phase: new
Colors: red, green

Imbolc - 2/3
AKA: Groundhog Day
15 deg Aquarius
Moon phase: waxing crescent
Colors: ?

Ostara, spring equinox - 3/20
AKA: Easter
0 deg Aries
Moon phase: 1st quarter
Colors: all pastels

Beltane - 5/4
AKA: May Day
15 deg Taurus
Moon phase: waxing gibbous
Colors: all jewel tones

Light half
Litha, summer solstice - 6/20
AKA: St. John's Day
0 deg Cancer
Moon phase: full
Colors: bright reds, oranges, and yellows; green

Lammas - 8/6
AKA: Lammas, St. Peter in Chains
15 deg Leo
Moon phase: waxing gibbous
Colors: tan

Mabon, fall equinox - 9/22
AKA:
0 deg Libra
Moon phase: 3rd quarter
Colors: dark reds, dark oranges, gold, brown

Samhain - 11/6
AKA: Halloween
15 deg Scorpio
Moon phase: waxing crescent
Colors: orange, black

The last 3 sabbats are sometimes known as harvest holidays. Since I'm an urban witch and not a farmer, it's hard for me to make that connect. Lammas is back-to-school time and Mabon is near my birthday. For Samhain and Yule, my family celebrates a secular version and a spiritual version on different days.