Traditional Witchcraft

Traditional Witchcraft

The Full Moons & Festivals

When it comes to how to learn witchcraft, there is the unexpected issue of terminology. Wicca and Traditional Witchcraft use different terms for the Full Moons and the Festivals.

The Full Moons were historically called the sabbats before the 1950's. But along came Wiccans and they adopted the use of the term sabbat to refer to the festivals, and esbat to refer to the Full Moons. Neo-Pagans refer to the festivals as High Days. Since those Wicca and Neo-Paganism are the majority, the use of their terms have become the standard.

To avoid confusion, we now use the term Full Moon to refer to each of the thirteen Full Moons and Festivals to refer to the festivals. We do not normally use the commonly accepted Wiccan (Neo-Pagan) terms except to be clear when speaking to Wiccans or Neo-Pagans. Most Wiccans are unaware they use historically incorrect terms.

The Full Moons

Rituals usually involve the laying of a Compass Round for meditation, magic, celebration, and libations, although this varies between Trads.

But most importantly, the Full Moons are a time of magic and are very special because environmental energies are enhanced during this period, making this the most favorable time for many forms of spellwork.

The Festivals

Festivals are joyous celebrations. Trads vary in the festivals they recognize. Some celebrate many, others celebrate few. The festivals normally have little religious significance other than to celebrate the cycle of the seasons, and thus, the glory of Nature, which is symbolic of the gods.

Festivals are not as important as the Full Moons because festivals are culturally associated rather than being directly related to witchcraft or with magic workings. We celebrate the festivals to honour our pagan past; however, they should not be considered "witchcraft holy days."

The festivals that are celebrated do vary between Trads. Some Trads celebrate the solstices and equinoxes of the moon because they are closely associated with the seasons, with sacred Nature. Other Trads observe only the four Celtic or British cultural festivals because they are more historically based on actual old celebrations that have come down through tradition. Those that honour the Roman pantheon may celebrate the Roman holidays, such as Saturnalia.

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Traditional Witchcraft