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A WITCH'S APPROACH TO LIVING THE OLD WAYS
In The Sabbats, Edain McCoy reveals the eight major holidays of Witchcraft and the many ways in which they are celebrated.
There are two basic types of holidays. The first come at the Solstices and Equinoxes. The others divide the time between those dates in two, resulting in eight major holidays or Sabbats with approximately the same amount of days between them. The balance, here, gives the appearance of spokes in a wheel, so this cycle is commonly called the Wheel of the Year.
The holidays represent two things. First, the harvest cycle. Each holiday represents a time in the growth of crops. From planting to growth, from harvesting to letting the lands lie fallow in the cold winter, the festivals follow the agricultural cycles of ancient times. However, they also represent the eternal love of the God and Goddess, following the God's birth from the Goddess and his death before she gives birth to him again. This also follows the pattern of the Sun which moves from warm and high in the sky to cold and low in the sky.
The book is filled with ways you can follow the Wheel of the Year, whether you work with a coven, with your family, or by yourself. You will learn the secrets of ritual construction and handicrafts appropriate to each of the festivals. You will also learn recipes for traditional foods for each holiday and even songs appropriate to the Sabbats.
This is a wonderful, joyous book filled with color, information, and wisdom. If you are involved with Paganism in any way, this book is a must for your studies and practices. This book functions as both a resource and as a practical manual for the celebration of the holidays.
Sabbats
You may have noticed bookmarks or sticky tabs in some of our photos. This is a much loved book, owned by one of our team members. Every wrinkle and crack shows many years of reference and use. Your book, however, will be brand new, for you to wear in on your own!
This book has been in my personal library since about 2005, almost as long as I've been practicing. It was first published in 1994. My copy, the orange and black one pictured above, was the 12th printing, and the current printing is the 22nd. I constantly refer to this book, so it was one of the first books to make the list when we were deciding what to sell. It's a great choice for anyone new to celebrating sabbats or people like me who have been in tune with the wheel of the year for decades.