hello??!! any body!!!! i have a question:

do you have to believe in the wiccan god/ess to celebrate esbats and sabbats?

romana dosent know much about this one so is there someone else out there who can answer my question?

I don't know much about it either. But I would say that even if you don't believ in the god and godess you are allowed to celebrate? No one can stop you. Or am I wrong?

i dont quite know either.... where is hero? where is gifted?
someone, SPEAK TO ME!

Sorry im back now Well the word esbat and sabbat are thought to come from the french word s'esbattre which means "to joyfully celebrate". Esbat is basicly a moon ceremony, to a particular moon phase or other planetary alignment. You can do these ceremonys once a week or even once a month.

A sabbat on the other hand is normally related to the eight high holy days which is designed to honor the gods and goddesses. Just a ritual to give thanks i suppose, like when christians go to church on a sunday, or celebrate christian days.

So esbats are mostly used for spell purposes, when you do a spell you ask the gods and goddesses for their energies etc. Look up esbats, when you can do them and how you can do them. Because every zodiac sign on when you do the spell, has a different energies from the purpose of the spell. You could do a ritual to draw down the energy to have strength, positivity, making choices with head etc. Do some research about it, because you do not have to be a wiccan to do an esbat. Its not a requirment, its basicly another spell your doing.

A sabbat on the other hand is honouring the gods and goddesses so you do not have to be a wiccan to do this either, to honor the holidays. Wiccans have the same gods and godesses they honor.

So im pretty sure you don't have to be a wiccan to do esbats or sabbats. Just practice witchcraft, hope that helps

In some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere, August 1 is Lammas Day (loaf-mass day), the festival of the first wheat harvest of the year. On this day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop. In many parts of England, tenants were bound to present freshly harvested wheat to their landlords on or before the first day of August. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where it is referred to regularly, it is called "the feast of first fruits". The blessing of new fruits was performed annually in both the Eastern and Western Churches on the first or the sixth of August (the latter being the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ). The Sacramentary of Pope Gregory I (died 604) specifies the sixth.[citation needed]

In mediæval times the feast was known as the "Gule of August", but the meaning of "gule" is unclear. Ronald Hutton suggests that it may be an Anglicisation of Gŵyl Awst, the Welsh name for August 1 meaning "feast of August", but this is not certain. If so, this points to a pre-Christian origin for Lammas among the Anglo-Saxons and a link to the Gaelic festival of Lughnasadh. 'Gule' could also come from 'Geohhol' (Old English form of 'jule' and thus Lammas Day was the 'Jule of August'.[citation needed]

There are several historical references to it being known as Lambess eve, such as 'Publications of the Scottish Historical Society' 1964 and this alternate name is the origin of the Lambess surname, just as Hallowmass and Christmas were also adopted as familial titles.

No Shadow. You don't have to follow the Wiccan path to celebrate the Sabbats and Estbats.

The Sabats fall eight times a year, and they mark the solar events(solstices and equinoxes) and the cross quarters ( times in between the solar events).

Estbats fall twice a month, full moon and new ( dark) moon.

You can also just celebrate when ever the need strikes.