Spokes & Spaces
The eight Sabbats are the markers that anchor us in the turning tide by reminding us of our connection to celestial events and terrestrial cycles. Sacred days on the Wheel are powerful days, imprinted with the energy of thousands of years of observance and revitalized by the growing number of people who are opening their attention to nature.
The natural world is at the core of the Sabbats, which means that the myths, legends and practices surrounding these days reflect occurrences in nature at that time of year, in that area of the world. In ancient Egypt, when the star Sothis rose in the night sky, the Nile flooded, bringing fertility to the river valley. The births of the five great Egyptian deities, who brought life, order and light to the world, were observed with feasts, rites and sacred processionals in the same month. At almost the same time of year in the British Isles, the people were preparing for the feast of the first harvest and celebrating the festival of Lughnassa. Humankind’s close dependence on and interaction with nature led to observances occurring at key points along the agricultural, pastoral and hunting cycles.
While the dates of earth-tied sacred days may have varied by culture and area, the solstices and equinoxes were almost universally observed. The winter solstice, for instance, was recorded as the birth of solar divinities including Mithras, Apollo, Jesus, Horus and Ra. Cross-culturally, these deities brought the promise of light and life into a darkened world and were symbolized by the star that illuminates our world. Scholars once believed that the people of Britain did not observe the solstices or equinoxes until the coming of the Angles, Saxons and Norse, but new evidence is casting doubt on that theory. The equinoxes and solstices, the solar Sabbats are less about terrestrial concerns and more about the phenomenon in the skies, the coming of warmth and light, the immanence of the dark half of the year or the fleeting balance between the two.
Most modern Wiccans, but certainly not all, celebrate the eight Sabbats, which are heavily influenced by the traditions of the British Isles, where the majority of Wicca’s influential elders lived. Some Wiccan covens celebrate only the solar sabbats, while others observe only the Greater or Major Sabbats of Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnassa and Samhain. Some groups celebrate 6 of the 8, or a variation thereof, while others add festivals to the Wheel. Twelfth Night, which falls between the winter solstice and Imbolg is frequently added as a naming day, a day to bring new members into a coven or welcome a child into adulthood. The date a coven was founded or the day of a personal initiation are also commonly added as celebrations along the Wheel. Other modern pagan groups, Asatru, Greek Reconstructionist, and Kemetic practitioners for instance, follow different sacred calendars that better reflect their heritage and/or beliefs. While their inspiration may derive from a different culture and the exact dates, names and number of festivals may change, the reflection of the cycles of nature and man’s interaction with them may be seen in the meaning and practices of the celebrations.
The eight Sabbats are days to realign, to reconnect, to celebrate and to feel the power of the ages, but they are only a few of the days of the year. The Wheel of a Year should have meaning to you personally, it should reflect the area in which you live and the belief system that you follow. It should also display your life and important dates along it, birthdays, anniversaries, days goals were achieved and days when friends and loved ones were lost. Just like a year, your life is a wheel. Perhaps one of the reasons that the Sabbats are so often called “spokes” is to call attention to the spaces between, to illuminate to us that these spaces may be filled with the sacred days in our own lives.