Sabbats History


 







 As with most aspects of Witchcraft the sabbats, or assemblies at which Witches meet on certain days of the year, have been distorted by Christianity. Most of these distortions evolved out of the witch- hunts which occurred during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The sabbats were depicted as meetings where obscene behavior occurred such as worshipping and copulating with the Devil after a session of dancing, merry making and feasting on a fowl, animal or unbaptized babies. (see: Initiation) However, the origins of the sabbats seem to be a mixture of rites that still exist, such as the great Druidic festivals of Beltane (observed April 30) and Samhain (observed October 31), and the entrenched idea that heretics held obscene rituals. Possibly the sabbats also are related to the Bacchanalian and Saturnalian rites observed by the Greeks and Romans. The term sabbat is from the Old French and is partially derived from the Hebrew Shabbath, "to rest," which pertains to the seventh day of the week as designated by the Ten Commandments in the Bible as a day devoted to rest and worship. Some historians theorized that the derogative connotation of sabbat as it was applied to heretics and witches was possibly Anti-Semitic since Jews also were classified as heretics. Another term which was synonymously used with sabbat was the synagogues in which heretics and sometimes witches supposedly met. Sabbat was more prominently used in continental Europe where the witch-hunts were more fierce than it was in England. There is no record of a witch sabbat in England prior to 1620, except for the mention of the term in the Lancaster witch trails of 1612. The term was first introduced in an Inquisition trail at Toulouse, France in 1335. It along with Sabbath did not appear regularly until the mid-15th century. Once it made its appearance in trails it quickly assumed common usage. The times and locations that the sabbats were held were quickly and definitely fixed too. They were said to be held at night in remote locations such as mountains, caves, and deep forest areas. The Brocken in the Harz Mountains of Germany was the best known place for holding sabbats. There, one of the greatest feasts was said to occur on Walpurgisnacht (Beltane), April 30. The witches' modes of transportation to the sabbats were quite imaginary. Witches were said to have flew through the night either on the backs of demons that had metempsychosed into animals, or astride of broomsticks. The witches themselves sometimes changed into animals and were accompanied by their familiars. They were said to fly home before daybreak. The sabbat nights varied. Some witches said to have attended weekly sabbats while others said the only went once or twice a year. Sabbats of modern Witchcraft: Sabbats observed by Witches in traditions and solitary Witches of modern Witchcraft and neo-Paganism are not diabolical and have nothing to do with the Devil or demoniacal worship. Usually they are considered to be eight seasonal holy days of the year which correspond to the former pagan seasonal festivals. The rites celebrated at the sabbats are centered in nature. They contain the ancient pagan customs of Europe and the British Isles, especially the Celtic traditions, and newer elements of the modern Craft and neo-Paganism. The central worship is of the Goddess, the Horned God, and Nature which give the participants amble opportunity to give thanks for the bounties of the Earth. Not all traditions, however, celebrate the eight sabbats, but only observe those important to their history and customs. They observe the sabbats in their own way, some skyclad, or nude, while others in traditional or ceremonial dress, while others create new practices. The sabbats of Beltane and Samhain are the most universally observed. The Greater sabbats and their observation dates are: Oimelc (also Imbolc, Imbolg), February 2; Beltane (also Beltaine, Walpurgisnacht ), April 30; Lughnasadh (also Lammas), July 31; and Samhain, October 31. The Lesser Sabbats fall on the solstices and equinoxes: winter solstice, December 22; spring equinox (Ostara), March 21; summer solstice, June 21; and autumn equinox, September 21. Winter solstice: December 22. The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year. It is when the Goddess awakes to find that she is pregnant with the Sun God. The rituals for both the summer and winter solstices are designed to help change the course of the sum. The winter solstice has been Christianized as Yule or Christmas. Oimelc: February 2. A winter purification and Fire Festival, often called the Feast of Lights, Imbolc or Imbolg (pronounced `im mol g"). which means "in the belly" and signifies the growing of life in the womb of Mother Earth. It celebrates Brigid (Brigit), the Irish Celtic goddess of fire, fertility, crops, livestock, wisdom, poetry, and household arts. Oimelc brings the first signs of life in the darkness of the Earth. The Goddess prepares for the birth of the Sun God. This sabbat has been named Candlemas in Christianity, also called St. Brigid's Day. It is celebrated by candlelight processionals and commemorates the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Eastern Church) or the Purification of the Virgin Mary (Western Church). Oimelc, also, corresponds with Ground Hog Day, the popular litmus test for the arrival of spring. Spring equinox: March 21. A solar festival, in which day and night, and the forces of male and female, are equally balanced. This is the first day of spring, which marks the birth of the infant Sun God and makes way for the lushness of summer. Dionysian rites are performed. The Christianizing of this sabbat is Easter. Beltane: April 30. One of the great Celtic solar festivals, celebrated in ancient times with bonfires. Beltane rites celebrate birth, fertility and the blossoming of all life, as personified by the union of the Goddess and the Sun God, also known in Christianized lore as King Winter and Queen May. The celebrants jump over broomsticks and dance around maypoles, both are fertility symbols. The sabbat begins at moonrise on Beltane Eve. Supposedly it is bad luck to be out late that night because witches and fairies roam the countryside in great numbers and conduct wild revelries. Beltane bonfires are believed to bring fertility to crops, homes and livestock. People dance deosil, or clockwise, around the fires or creep between the fires for protection against illness. Cattle are driven through the fires for protection against disease. Ancient Druids lit bonfires on hills and uttered incantations. When Beltane was Christianized by the Church, the pagan rites were replaced with church services and processionals in the fields, where the priests lit the fires.This festival also is known as Walburgisnacht. Summer solstice: June 21. A solar festival which was almost universally celebrated; and, especially in Europe. In the European tradition, the night before was Midsummer's Eve; a time for great magic , especially for love charms. Certain herbs were picked at midnight to bring protection against lightning, fire, witchcraft, disease and ill fortune. Witches and fairies roam on Midsummer's Eve, as they do at Beltane; there is a bit of madness in the air. Great bonfires are lit to help change the course of the sun in the sky, the rites resemble those of Beltane. Burning wheels are rolled down hills, and burning disks are thrown at the sun. The zenith of the power of the Sun God is manifested in the flourishing of crops and livestock. The sabbat was Christianized to St. John's Day (for John the Baptist). Lughnasadh: July 31. A great festival of games and dance, named in honor of the Irish Celtic solar god Lugh. The word Lughnasadh is related to words meaning "to give in marriage" and once was associated with marriage contracts. Nine moths away is the next Beltane, the birth of summer and life. According to medieval legend, the festival celebrates Lugh's marriage to "the Sovranty of Ireland," the goddess Eriu. A hag, Eriu is transformed into a beauty who personifies the land of Ireland. First harvests are made, along with thanksgivings and rites to ensure the bounty of the crops for the coming year. To ensure this same purpose, some traditions observe, as a sacrifice, the death of the Sacred King. In old pagan customs, the blood of a cock would be scattered over the fields. Lammas, from Old English terms for "loaf" and "mass," is a Christianized name for an old Saxon fruit-and-grain festival designated by the early English church. The holiday celebrated the ripening of apples and winter wheat, the latter of which, according to tradition, was made into loaves and blessed in the church. Lammas Day also was a day to settle accounts. In Scotland, tenant farmers took their first grain harvests to their landlords on August 1 to pay the rent. Autumn equinox: September 21. Once again, day and night, and male and female forces are equally balanced. This is the time for the second harvests. Traditionally, the Eleusinian mysteries are observed in rites and dramas. The mysteries concern the myth of Demeter and her daughter Kore (Persephone), and of the attainment of immortality through the adoration of them. Samhain: October 31. An ancient Celtic festival which celebrates the beginning of winter, marked by death, and the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Samhain means "end of summer." The Druids, in ancient Ireland, once sacrificed to their deities by burning victims in wickerwork gages. All other fires were to be extinguished and lighted again from the sacrificial fire. This custom still continues in Ireland and Scotland, all fires in homes are extinguished and lighted again from bonfires, but without sacrificial victims. Samhain marks the third harvests and the storage of provisions for winter. The veil between the worlds of the living and dead is the thinnest during this time making communications easier. Souls of the dead can come into the land of the living. Samhain is a time for eliminating weaknesses, when pagan once slaughtered weak animals that were thought not to be able to survive the winter. This custom resulted in the modern practice by some who wanted to get rid of their weaknesses of writing them on a piece of paper and dropping them into a fire. Some baked cakes to be offered for the souls of the dead. Samhain was Christianized into All Hallow's Eve or Halloween. The modern custom or trick-and-treating may have originated from an old Irish peasant custom of going door-to-door to collect money, breadcake, cheese, eggs, butter, nuts, apples and other foods in preparation for the festival of St. Columb Kill. Apples are included in many rites, especially as ingredients in brews. Dunking for apples may have been a divinatory practice. A.G.H. Wicca Wicca is a religion of Nature, which venerates Nature by worshiping both the feminine as masculine aspects of Divinity. Its spiritual roots go back to pre-Christian belief and practices in Europe. Wicca first attained public attention through the efforts of Gerald B.Gardner in the 1950s, as it was portrayed as the remnant of an ancient European fertility cult. Those practicing Wicca refer to it as the Old Religion, or the Craft of the Wise. Outwardly modern Wicca appears to be a system of folklore and folk magic, but its composition consists of pre-Christian European Mystery Teachings. The main philosophical teachings of Wicca teach that the Divinity is composed of both masculine and feminine principles, which most Traditions personify as a Goddess and a God. (see The Horned God) Other Traditions teach that the supreme Deity is the Goddess who possesses within Herself the polarities of masculine and feminine energy. Such Wiccan theology dates back to Neolithic, if not Paleolithic, times. Many debate whether modern Wicca is the survival of the Old Religion or a new religion, but it contains remnants of Old Religion theology. Others vigorously argue that nothing resembling modern Wicca ever previously existed. The truth may remain uncertain, but one certainty is that Wicca has been influenced by Masonic, Hermetic (see Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn), and Kabbalistic elements as well as various tenets of Western Occultism and Eastern mysticism. As it will be shown there exists a debate as to whether modern Wicca shares a linkage with the past. Even though some deny any association with the past others truly believe in such a linkage and gain a spiritual strength from it. Although some currently may try to separate Wicca from Witchcraft, this appears to be a hard feat to accomplish especially Wicca embodies the veneration of Nature and the Goddess as a supreme Deity. Archeology has discovered paintings on wall depicting female figures giving birth to children. Ancient female figurines with enormous breasts were elsewhere found; both the paintings and figurines give evidence that even the primitive people knew the birth, or generative, process resided within the female. It was the feminine energy that was first acknowledged before the recognition of the male energy appeared. Coinciding with the recognition of this feminine generative process was the natural recognition and acknowledgement of the agricultural surroundings. Even primitive people soon realize that they had to eat to survive. This is not meant to be a demeaning statement, but rather a statement of fact. Food came from the earth; there were times when the earth gave forth more food that at other times. Out of this knowledge the concepts of the seasons and year were later formed. However Wicca may have changed, essentially it is a religion of Nature. Most Wiccans celebrates the eight seasonal sabbats, marked by the solstice and equinox as well as the midpoints of the calendar between each period. Some Traditions hold rituals during the time of the full moon while others observe the time of the new moon. The worshipping of the various deities along with the conducting of various rites are pretty much dependent in the cultural foundation of the Tradition. Cultural Wiccan Traditions include Celtic, Germanic, Nordic, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Polish, Hungarian, Italian, and many others. Each Tradition mainly possesses particular cultural elements; some of the popular Traditions emphasize Irish, English, and Welsh elements. Gerald B. Gardner gave emphasis to Wicca by presenting it as the Old Religion, a surviving sect of Witches practicing a form of pre- Christian religion. Wicca entered the United States in the early 1960s where it quickly took root. Also helping to form the foundation of the new Craft were several works that included Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough (10), Robert Graves' The White Goddess, T. C. Lethbridge's Witches, and Erich Neumann's The Great Goddess, from which the new Wiccans drew inspiration. During the 1960s Wicca was commonly associated with the goddess Diana and Rex Nemorensis, the King of the Woods (see Slain God). Also during this period many Aegean/Mediterranean influences intermixed into the modern Wiccan structure. This also was the time of the peace- loving hippies who were drawn to the ecological message of this Nature religion. A distinguishing characteristic of Wicca during the 1960s was a longing for a linkage to an ancient religion evolved, which gave birth to stories of a grandmother who was secretly a Witch and had passed her teachings onto her children. In the 1970s Wicca began to be thought of as a Celtic religion. This was helped by the writings of Dion Fortune, Aleister Crowley, and Kabbalistic teachings, which began merging with Wiccan beliefs and practices. This was a time the many new systems were evolving, particularly within the United States, which generated in some a feeling of lost. The romantic fantasy of the ancient Celts being noble savages filled this void for many during the 1970s. Along with this experience came an increased interest in Celtic literature and many Witches turned to Celtic mythology including such early works as the Mabinogi, a collection of heroic tales, myths, and legends. During the 1980s Wicca experienced the effects of the New Age movement that promoted the self-styled Wiccan, whom stopped using the word "Witch" and made distinctions between Witchcraft and Wicca. A self-interpretive approach to Wicca lead to the turning away from structured Traditions and time-honored practices. There was a sharp increase in the number of people choosing Wicca for their religion, the majority of these individuals lack connections to established Traditions as guidelines or initiated Witches as teachers. The definitions of Wicca and Wiccans of the previous two decades now changed. The practitioners of the 1980s held more divergent views. There was a combination of vestiges of Judaic-Christian morality and philosophy imported from these religious backgrounds along with gender politics and sexual preferences, which transformed Wicca during the decade. The Wiccan elders returned to the community in the 1990s, many of whom wrote influential magazine articles and books. The decade saw an effort to move toward a balance, an attempt was made to blend tradition, training, and structure, together with the self-styled systems carried over from the past decade. Although the elders continued to write and teach throughout the decade, many Wiccans, especially the younger practitioners, thought the teaching was too "preachy" and looked on it with disfavor, but gradually the two philosophies edged closer together in balance. A.G.H. http://www.themystica.com/mystica/info/topics.htm

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