Each year the wiccan calendar changes. There are 8 primary Sabbats or wiccan holidays. Four of them are fixed dates and four of them have dates that change. Four of the Sabbats are known as the “Major Sabbats” and the other four are the “Minor Sabbats” The dates of the minor Sabbats change from year to year and the major Sabbats are fixed. The four major Sabbats are Samhain, which occurs on October 31, Imbolic on February 2, beltane, which occurs on May 1, Beltane Eve, which is another recognized associated holiday is on April 30, and Lugnasadh, which is on August 1.
The greater or major Sabbats are also known as the “Cross Quarter Days.” These Sabbats are keyed on significant annual times associated with the cycles of nature, and timed with annual harvest and planting cycles. wicca is an earth-based religion and as such, the annual cycle of the seasons is critical to the Wiccan calendar. These hallmarks mark the passage of time and the natural world, planting and harvest, the rebirth of nature after the winter sleep and all that it symbolizes. Some believe that these same festivals influenced the major western Christian holidays, and is a controversial opinion to some.
The Lesser Sabbats
Each year the Wiccan calendar changes, oddly enough not for the major Sabbats but rather the minor ones. The minor Sabbats are the “Quarter Days,” and include Yule, the winter solstice on December 22 2011; Ostara, the spring equinox on March 20 and thought to be Easter’s origins; Litha, the summer solstice on June 21 2011, and, finally, mabon on September 23, the 2011 autumn equinox.
The major Sabbats are thought to represent the peak or height of each season. This is why the actual dates of transition from one season to another are considered the minor Sabbats and the major Sabbats are the mid-points between them. The only other elements of the Wiccan calendar are the Esbats. These are either lunar Esbats, or the time of the full moon each month or coven Esbats, regularly scheduled meetings held by wiccans. Interestingly enough Wiccans in the southern hemisphere have a reversed calendar, as the seasons are different from the northern hemisphere.
