Yesterday, I made my argument that paganism is a “real” religion. And, like most “real” religions, paganism has holidays. In fact, it has lots of them.
Just as the God is related to the sun and the Goddess is associated with the moon, pagan holidays are also linked to either the sun or the moon. Holidays based on the cycle of the sun and the seasons are called “sabbats,” while important moon-related days (generally full moons) are called “esbats.”
I’m sorry to say, there aren’t any sabbats this month, so I won’t get to tell you about what I’m sure would have been a rocking celebration. I will be celebrating an esbat later this week, though, so stay tuned for that.
For today, I’m going to focus on the eight sabbats—the celebrations that are organized according to the seasons in what is known as the Wheel of the Year.
Samhain
The pagan year begins with the onset of wintry weather (at least, that is, in the Northern Hemisphere—the Wheel of the Year is reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, so remember that if you want to celebrate with your Australian friends). The first sabbat on the Wheel of the Year is Samhain, which is celebrated on October 31.
Okay, so you’re probably thinking that’s just Halloween. But where do you think Halloween came from? Believe it or not, it wasn’t invented by candy manufacturers.
In the past, Samhain was a time to celebrate the end of the harvest. The winter was coming and natural things like trees and other plants were dying. Not surprisingly, Samhain came to be associated with death—including the death of the God, who is born, lives, and dies all within the cycle of every single year.
The association with death led some people to believe that Samhain was a time when the barrier between the material world and the spirit world was easier to cross than usual, so Samhain became a time to show respect for and even converse with deceased loved ones.
The idea of showing reverence for the dead was appropriated by the Christians when they took over pagan Europe. Over time, Samhain became All Saints’ Day (November 1)—a date to celebrate departed Christian holy people. The night before All Saints’ Day became Halloween—and even today, it’s easy to see the remnants of the pagan past in the modern holiday. I mean, who hasn’t seen a bunch of miniature witches wandering around the neighborhood on Halloween, toting their bags of candy?
Yule
The next spoke on the Wheel of the Year is Yule, which corresponds to the winter solstice around December 21. Although the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year (in terms of sunlight), it marks the “rebirth of the sun,” because from that day on, the days will grow longer, until the summer solstice reverses things.
At Yule, the Goddess gives birth to the God—the new God, who is the son of the God who died back at Samhain. (Confused yet? Yeah, me too.)
Ancient pagans celebrated Yule by exchanging gifts, decorating with boughs of holly, and even kissing under the mistletoe. Sound familiar?
It’s hardly surprising that Christians took over Yule to mark the birth of Jesus. It made it easy for pagans to accept the new religion. After all, they were already used to celebrating the birth of a God at that time of year. Why not let him be named Jesus Christ?
Imbolc (Candlemas)
Imbolc takes place on February 2 (shoot—I’m going to miss this one by just a couple of days!). It celebrates the Goddess’s return to strength after giving birth to the God at Yule. The days are getting longer and the sun is revitalizing her while her son, the young God, increases in power.
Imbolc celebrates hope for the coming spring after the long winter when everyone is huddled indoors, shut in against the cold and darkness. Because the spring and the light are coming, Imbolc is a festival of lights (candles are often burned to mark the day). It’s also a festival of fertility—a day of new beginnings.
As with the other pagan holidays, the Christians left their mark on Imbolc, too, converting it to Candlemas, a day to celebrate the Virgin Mary. Even today, you might celebrate Imbolc—as Groundhog Day, when we all look forward to the spring weather that's just around the corner.
Ostara
Ostara, the spring equinox, takes place around March 21—whenever the first official day of spring takes place. It’s a time to celebrate the full-fledged arrival of spring and the fertility of the Earth (and the Goddess).
While the Goddess gets ready to blanket the world with flowers and grass in preparation for the coming agricultural planting, the God is growing to full maturity. Soon, he’ll become the Goddess’s lover—no longer the son she gave birth to at Yule.
Guess who decided to use Ostara for their own biggest holiday? Yup. The Christians. Even the word Easter, the holiday that recalls Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, comes from the name Eostre—the Germanic goddess of the spring and the dawn.
Beltane
At Beltane (April 30–May 1), the God becomes a full-grown man and falls in love with the Goddess. Amid the greenery of spring and the flowering Earth, they . . . well, you know . . . get it on. And, of course, the Goddess gets pregnant.
It should come as no surprise that Beltane is a day to celebrate fertility—both in terms of reproduction and in terms of agriculture, since the ancient pagans were farmers who worked the soil.
Following the example of the God and Goddess, many pagans in ancient times (and possibly a few today, for all I know, but I won’t get into that) celebrated Beltane by spending the night out in the fields and having sex—because they believed that all that random sex outdoors would help make the land itself more fertile for the coming growing season.
Sure—let’s all have sex to make the fields more fertile. That sounds like about as good a justification for naughty behavior as a man telling his wife that he goes to strip clubs because he appreciates the art of the dance.
Anyway, after Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, non-pagans took over Beltane. They turned it into May Day, which is more of a secular holiday—just a time to celebrate the spring and maybe dance around a May Pole. Hey, why not? You gotta get your kicks somehow and if weaving ribbons around a pole does it for you, enjoy.
Litha (Midsummer)
Litha celebrates the summer solstice, around June 21. The Goddess is pregnant and the crops are growing.
The Oak King battles the Holly King. (The Oak King symbolizes the aspect of the God who presides over the sunny part of the year, while the Holly King rules the dark part.) Unlike at Yule, when the Oak King wins, this time it’s the Holly King who kicks ass—which means the darkness is coming back.
Ancient pagans used to jump over bonfires to increase fertility and to symbolize health, love, and purity. (I don’t know about you, but I would think leaping over a bonfire would be a good way to decrease fertility, since you’re quite likely to burn your junk.)
Modern pagans say that Litha is a great time for all kinds of magic. Sadly, I guess we won’t find out if that’s true this year, since I’ll no longer be pagan by then. Maybe next year. . . .
Lughnasadh
August 1 is Lughnasadh, or “Lugh’s festival”—named after an Irish god. It celebrates the beginning of the harvest.
The God begins to lose strength as the year moves on, and he takes the form of the Corn King. Symbolically, he begins to give up his own life so that the people can “kill” the grain by harvesting it and eating it. The Goddess mourns as she sees the God dying, but she knows that he will live on—as the growing child in her womb.
Pagans celebrate Lughnasadh by giving thanks for the blessings in their lives—in other words, the “fruits” they are harvesting.
Even after Christianity tried to alter many pagan traditions beyond recognition, Lughnasadh survived. It became known as Lammas—a time to celebrate the loaves of bread that were baked with the first of the year’s grain harvest. This sounds a little odd to me. I mean, I love bread—I’d probably eat a nice big crusty loaf every day if I wouldn’t end up weighing 900 pounds—but I’m not sure it’s something I’d base a whole holiday on.
Mabon
The last spoke on the Wheel of the Year is Mabon, the fall equinox, which takes place around September 21, on the first day of autumn. Named after a Welsh god, Mabon recognizes the declining health of the God as he prepares to die on Samhain.
Mabon also celebrates the idea of getting tasks finished. As the days get shorter and the harvest nears completion, pagans look at what’s left undone in their lives and try to finish up before the next cycle begins at Samhain. Procrastinators of the world, beware—Mabon is coming for you!
So, that’s the Wheel of the Year. Like I said, I’m sorry I won’t get to celebrate any of the sabbats as part of this project. But the esbats—the moon-based celebrations—are still to come, so we can still have some holiday fun. Who doesn't love a good full moon?
No comments:
Post a Comment