according to some of my reading, the dates that aren't solstice or equinox related were often set by planting or harvest times, so depending on where you were geographically you could be celebrating them anywhere from a week to two weeks apart. Since we're really not (in many cases, anyway) an agrarian society, the dates have been fixed.
That might be, yet I never read or heard about it...
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Also you must remeber that the old calendars were lunar based, 28 day cycles, and would not correspond to our modern calendar dates.
So our Feb 1st is not the same day that the old ones celebrated on.
Wasn't that about what I said...? Having the time of the sabbats determined by a constellation of stars is about the most precise thing I can think of. It doesn't matter what kind of calender we use. This is why I was wondering about the fixed dates that were provided here. Meaning: it doesn't matter whether we call it day number x of Rowan or day y of February or maybe day z of the second moon of the year. That's all just names. The important thing is that the acording zodiac shows 15°. And that event should be around February 6th at the moment. Not because it is February 6th, but because the stars tell that it's the right time. (And I definitely have the feeling that today is the first day you really can feel Imbolc out there... But maybe you may feel that different... I don't know...)
Anyway, I thought I wouldn't comment again on that subject for I don't want to make anyone believe me, who wants to may just do so. Yet I somehow felt that the words I chose earlier didn't make my thinking clear and I wanted to try to make you understand my thinking. Hopefully I succeeded...
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Your words were clear, I was just supporting your argument with another way of saying it.
The "fixed dates" provided here came from many sources and most of the posts already existed before I became the moderator for this forum.
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I support the separation of church and hate!
IMAGINATION - the freest and largest nation in the world!
One can not profess to be of "GOD" and show intolerence and prejudice towards the beliefs of others.
Am fear nach gleidh na h–airm san t–sith, cha bhi iad aige ’n am a’ chogaidh. He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war.
"We're all in this together , in the parking lot between faith and fear" ... O.C.M.S.
“Beasts feed; man eats; only the man of intellect knows how to eat well.”
"Without food we are nothing, without history we are lost." - SHADOWS
Is iomadh duine laghach a mhill an Creideamh. Religion has spoiled many a good man.
It's easy to get confused on this. Think about how it is for people living in the Southern Hemisphere. Imagine celebrating Yule in 90 degree weather! And then you add in those of us who can't always do group rituals on the DAY but have to do them on the Sunday before because that's the only time we can get together. I WISH we could do Ritual on the correct day; it would be so much more meaningful!
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Just a wee deoch an dorris "Not all who wander are lost"
Well, it probably would be strange to do so. But since I'm from Germany and we mesure in Celsius I have some problems imagening what 90°F are like.
Anyway, I friend of mine who visited New Zealand somewhen around Samhain told me they celebrate the sabbats according to their own seasons, meaning when she was there around Samhain they had Beltane. What made her having three times Beltane in a row without having Samhain somewhere in between. I'd hate that, I like Samhain much more than Beltane, although that's nice as well...
As for the date... We usually celebrate the Saturday before or after the actual date. Yet since it's all a matter of energy building up and having the zenith at the date of the sabbat it's no problem to celebrate somewhen before or after. It's not as if all the energy was gone at 6am the following morning or something like that. It is cool to celebrate on the real day. But when I feel like doing so, I take a few minutes and do something myself, just a very little thing, so that there's still the actual celebration with the rest of the group...
Celtic saboths are great but if you want to go further than just celebrating the holidays you can perform ceramonies to the celtic gods. This may sound weird but when your around nature it is peaceful and relaxing. If you want som info go to
Realm: Sweden, but me heart's in Scotland - An t-Suain, ach tha mo chridhe às ann Alba
I celebrate all festvals, but as I'm in Sweden and brought up in a family where the Old Ways were very much alive, it wasn't until recently that I started to call some of them the more usual names.
Here's my list with the names of the Sabbats:
De Äldstes Natt, (Night of the Ancient Ones) An t-Samhain = Samhain Jul = Yule, midwinter solstice Imbolc Freya, or Eostra = Ostara Valborgsmässoafton (Walpurgis's Eve), Den Stora Elden (The Great Fire), Bealteine = Beltaine Dièsnatten, Midsommar = Midsummer solstice, Litha ( Night of the Faeries) Den Första Skörden, (The First Harvest) An Lugh, Lughnasadh =Lughnasadh Äppelfesten (Apple Feast) Mabon = Modron, Mabon
By the way, on Mabon I always decorate my apartment with leaves from the Horse Chestnut, as well as the horse chestnuts, as this tree is holy to me ( for excample a horse chestnut was planted when I was born near my grandparents place, and there goes no year that there aren't at least one leaf and a chestnut in my apartment...
If you think you can hold me down I beg to differ If you think you can twist my words I'll sing forever
Tha gach uile dhuine air a bhreth saor agus co-ionnan ann an urram 's ann an còirichean. Tha iad air am breth le reusan is le cogais agus mar sin bu chòir dhaibh a bhith beò nam measg fhein ann an spiorad bràthaireil
If you think you can hold me down I beg to differ If you think you can twist my words I'll sing forever
I'm curious, can someone tell my the origin of the word Sabbat in this context? The reason I wonder is that it's a Hebrew word for a holy day, and it seems an odd coincidence that a Celtic word would have much the same meaning.
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I am a stag: of seven tines, I am a flood: across a plain, I am a wind: on a deep lake, I am a tear: the Sun lets fall, I am a hawk: above the cliff, I am a thorn: beneath the nail, I am a wonder: among flowers, I am a wizard: who but I Sets the cool head aflame with smoke?
I am a spear: that roars for blood, I am a salmon: in a pool, I am a lure: from paradise, I am a hill: where poets walk, I am a boar: ruthless and red, I am a breaker: threatening doom, I am a tide: that drags to death, I am an infant: who but I Peeps from the unhewn dolmen, arch?
I am the womb: of every holt, I am the blaze: on every hill, I am the queen: of every hive, I am the shield: for every head, I am the tomb: of every hope.
I'm curious, can someone tell my the origin of the word Sabbat in this context? The reason I wonder is that it's a Hebrew word for a holy day, and it seems an odd coincidence that a Celtic word would have much the same meaning.
Amergin;
Sabbat becomes Sabbath in Latin and was more than likely introduced to the Celts through the early Christian missionaries. Christianity in Ireland became Catholicism which became Celtic Catholicism as opposed to Roman Catholicism. Eventually the Roman Church won out.