The eight solar holidays, or Sabbats as they are commonly known, make up the core of the myth system that underlies the vibrant, eclectic, earth-centered religion known as Wicca, or modern Witchcraft. The eight-fold cycle of the Wheel of the Year is rooted in the pre-Christian folk-culture of ancient Europe. The story that it tells seems at first odd to our logical, Western minds...then becomes strangely familiar, as if reminding us of a long-forgotten truth or favorite childhood fairytale. The Sabbats celebrate seasonal changes in nature and contain surprisingly powerful personal metaphors within their simple story of the cycles of birth, death and rebirth inherent in all things.

The positive power of the Wheel of the Year lies in its multifaceted nature. The story it contains takes place on several different levels. First, it works purely in myth, containing metaphoric truths that speak to our subconscious as all good fairytales do. Secondly, the truths of the tale are powerfully mirrored in nature, in the changing seasons that we can feel and smell and touch. Lastly, the Sabbats work their magick in our own psyches -- the myth unfolds, showing us a blueprint of personal growth and self-discovery. As above, so below; as within, so without; as the universe, so the soul runs the popular Wiccan phrase about the mirroring effect of the mysterious universe some say is holographic. So it is within the Wheel of the Year, for the Sabbats’ power to facilitate personal transformation lies in the levels of mirroring they contain. The ancient myth of the God and the Goddess is mirrored in nature and the changes of the seasons in nature also mirror our inner growth process. As the holidays are celebrated with special rituals, cycle after cycle, these parallels are amazingly empowering. See for yourself as you explore the different aspects of these ancient and beautiful holidays (note also how they exist in modernized or Christianized versions in our current calendar.)