I’m often asked about Wiccan holidays recognised as part of this spiritual path and people usually mean the seasonal festivals that witches know as Sabbats.  These are often marked with Bank Holidays and national holidays because the traditional Sabbat days coincide with the dates of most Christian (and other religious) festivals.   When Christianity was introduced to a Pagan British Isles, many of the Sabbats were overlayed with a similar festival to make the introduction of another spiritual faith integrate easier into culture.  For example, Samhain/ All Souls Eve, Yule/Christmas, Imbolc/Candlemas, Oestara/Easter and Madron/Harvest Festival.

Witches’ Sabbats

So here’s a description of all our Sabbats that those practising the art of Wicca and Witchcraft traditionally follow.

There are eight Sabbats altogether which comprise the Witches’ Wheel of the Year.  The festivals vary in importance and are divided into two groups of four major Sabbats  and four lesser Sabbats.

The Four Major Sabbats

Samhain: 31 October

Imbolc: 2 February

Beltane: 1 May

Lammas: 1 August

These comprise the ancient fire festivals and are often celebrated by witches with a small ritual fire outside or more simply with candles.  These four represent the major parts of the Witches’ year with Samhain being the most important as the start of the New Year.  At Imbolc, new life is stirring under the last frosts of Winter, Beltane the heat of the sun can be felt and the first blossoms bloom, Lammas sees the harvests gathered and Samhain sees the year come full circle again.

The Four Lesser Sabbats

Yule: 21 December

Oestara: 21 March

Litha: 21 June

Madron: 21 September

The lesser Sabbats are the two solstices of Yule and Litha, Winter’s shortest day and Summer’s longest day and the two equinoxes of Oestara and Madron where day and night are equal in length.

Click the individual names of these Wiccan holidays or festivals to find out more about how I, and other witches, celebrate these special times of our year.

Ostara and the Annual Chuck Out!

I love Ostara. The Earth is now hotting up for sure with day and night of equal length, we can be expecting (or hoping for!) those warm summer evenings. I love Imbolc too, but in Ostara I get really excited and am literally filled with the joys of Spring. I notice the Earth showing her abundant glories with all the flowers poking through the ground like snowdrops, daffodils, tulips and crocuses. I like to bless my house with their presence after I’ve had my yearly chuck out of excess stuff. My house looks and feels a lot better.

Internal Chuck Out

As well as a physical purge of excess belongings I also have an internal check-in with myself at Ostara to see if there’s any unwanted ‘stuff’ hanging around that’s holding me back from being my best. We can also ponder what to invite into our life at this time. Whatever magic spell we choose to do, a love spell to encourage new love and friendship, a new home, children, we can ride on Ostara’s energy of rebirth and renewal.

The Mood of Ostara

Ostara is all about renewal and rebirth. The Earth is moving towards greater light and less darkness and I look into myself for a similar movement to echo this time of year. In my practise of Witchcraft I am influenced by some traditions from the land of Bharata Bhumi, otherwise known as India. Bhumi is Gaia or Mother Earth and Bharata is the Sanskrit name for India, with Bha meaning ‘light’ and ‘knowledge’ and rata meaning ‘devoted’. So Bharata Bhumi means devoted to light moving away from the darkness.

How Ostara Can Help us with the three Modes

This tradition teaches about different modes of being that everything fits into on this planet be it our behaviour, food groups, times of the day – everything. These three modes are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas which translate into Goodness, Passion and Inertia/Darkness. We are all influenced by these modes in our day to day existence and the idea is to move our consciousness more towards the light of Sattva and away from Tamas though our evolution. Our spiritual practise helps us to do this.

Through my ritual, I am recognising the Goddess Ostara and asking her to help me help myself in this evolution of my consciousness, moving away from tendencies of Darkness/Tamas towards the light of Goodness/Sattva.

Who’s in these Modes?

We are all a blend of these modes. I notice any Tamas in me like tendency towards laziness and vengefulness for example, and ask for help in moving away from these tendencies towards energetic fulfillment and detachment. Much more Sattvic and towards the light! It helps our selves, our community and ultimately the world.

Approaching the worship of this Sabbat in this way is very apt for this time of year. To honour Ostara is to honour the gifts she gives us. I think it is honouring Ostara fully if we ask her for help in being the best we can be.

If you have any questions about anything covered in this post, just ask