What is an Esbat: Day for Spiritual Gatherings

An esbat is a day for spiritual gatherings of a coven or circling group or observation by a solo practitioner.

Esbats are days specially set aside for spellwork or worship (or both) and may take place on either the full moon or the new moon or both depending on tradition.

What are Esbats?

Esbat is a term that indicates a minor event, but don’t be fooled by the concept of “minor”: it’s a bit like celebrating a new job, a raise in salary or some other fabulous event. It definitely deserves a party, but it doesn’t require all the precautions that are usually dedicated to the most important holidays.

To be precise, Esbats are dedicated to the Moon and its phases. There are those who celebrate all the lunar phases, even with small rituals; there are those who prefer to do it only for the full Moon, when our satellite is at its maximum splendor and its magical energies are more powerful than at any other time of the month.

So not only do we honor the fullness of the Moon, but we also collect its energy to manifest our desires, goals or intentions.

The celebration of the full Moon can take various forms, but usually includes the use of clothes and candles of certain colors, the creation of a themed altar and small symbolic and propitiatory gestures.

The theme of the celebrations and altars, the colors of the clothes and candles, and the small rituals vary depending on which moon is being celebrated. Each month has a different moon, each moon has a name, characteristics, energies, and specific themes.

The difference between Sabbat and Esbat

Esbats are the moon festivals. They can also be called the festivals of the 13 moons because that is the number of moons we have in a year.

Esbats are celebrated especially when the moon is full in the center of a coven’s circle or, better yet, on its own.

On the other hand, Sabbats are pagan festivals that have not been suffocated by the overlapping of current Christian festivals that have replaced and inspired them.

The eight Sabbats are divided into four major Sabbats and four minor Sabbats.

How does the energy work on Esbats?

Esbats are the 13 lunar celebrations of the Goddess in her mother aspect, tied to the moon’s 28-day cycle—much like the menstrual cycle.

The moon, like the triple Goddess (virgin, mother, crone), never dies but changes faces.

Long before the word “witch” existed, people gathered to honor the full moon, which was seen as essential to life, just like the sun.

Esbat altars are simple, often featuring a chalice of water, flower buds, red and white candles, or images of the Goddess.

Traditional offerings include cake (symbolizing Earth) and wine (symbolizing the moon), some of which are left for nature.

Moonbaths, soaking in moonlight or moon-charged water, are common magical practices.

Full moon water can be stored and used for empowerment during the new moon. The full moon’s influence lasts 7 days. Use the waning moon to banish and the waxing moon to attract.

The 13 moons

At the moment we have: the names of each of the 12 full moons according to different traditions, the name of the second full moon in a month (i.e. the Blue Moon!), the names of the full moons at perigee and apogee.

The most common names for the full moons are those of Native American tradition, used by the Algonquins, but there are also European ones, of presumed Celtic origin. The American ones are more common for the simple reason that American magazines and online newspapers are widely read here too, and, if in Europe traditional names no longer have a particular value, in America the custom is to (re)find the name for anything.

Let’s also add, at least as far as Italy is concerned, a certain degree of xenophilia, capable of guaranteeing the use of American names and traditions here too.

Full Moons probably had names in many different civilizations, and these names indicated not only the full moon, but the entire month that included it (the very concept of month comes from the cycle of lunar phases, of 29.5 days).

Naming a full moon is therefore not very different from calling the months by their names.

Wolf Moon, January

Wolves could be heard howling hungry around the Indian camps in the cold and thick blankets of snow in winter: hence the name of this full moon. Other names were Old Moon or Snow Moon (although most tribes gave this name to the following moon).

The European Celtic tradition called this lunar month “the Moon after Yule” (Yule was the Celts’ winter solstice celebration).

Snow Moon – February

The February moon was called this because it was the period when the heaviest snowfall occurred.

Some tribes used the name “Hunger Moon” because of the obvious difficulty in finding food during this period.

Worm Moon – March

The name is due to the appearance of earthworms in the soil as soon as the ground thaws. The gradual rise in temperatures during the month of March also allowed the collection of maple sap to obtain the well-known syrup and, for this reason, the full moon itself was also called the Sap Moon.

The northernmost tribes instead called it the Crow Moon because their croaking is another sign of the changing of the season.

Another name: Crust Moon because of the ice that forms at night on snow that melts during the day.

European colonizers also called it the Lenten Moon, while in Celtic languages ​​it was known as the Wind Moon, and in medieval England, it was the Chaste Moon. (Other source used: March’s full moon has some stories to tell)

The Easter full moon is, two out of three times, also the “Pink Moon” of April.

Pink Moon – April

This “moon” takes its name from the pink moss, or wild phlox, a very common flower in America, similar to hydrangeas, and with a characteristic pink bloom that anticipates the spring bloom of other flowers.

Other names used for the April full moon include: Egg Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon and, for coastal tribes, also Fish Moon as it is the period in which shad, fish of the same family as sardines and herrings, swim up the rivers to spawn.

Flower Moon – May

The reason for the name is quite obvious as in May flowers are abundant everywhere. Other possible names are Milk Moon or Corn Planting Moon.

Strawberry Moon – June

This is a name universally used by the Algonquins (while in Europe it was called Rose Moon) due to the relatively short strawberry harvest period, which falls in June.

Buck Moon – July

It is the month in which the new antlers, still covered in down, sprout on the foreheads of deer: hence the name of the month. An alternative is Thunder Moon, as thunderstorms are more frequent in this period. Another name was Hay Moon.

Sturgeon Moon – August

It is thought that the fishing tribes gave the Moon this name because the sturgeon, present in the Great Lakes and also in other large basins, were easier to catch.

Corn Moon or Harvest Moon, Maize Moon or Harvest Moon – September

It indicated the period in which corn had to be harvested. The term “Harvest Moon” properly refers to the full Moon closest to the autumn equinox and, once every three years or so, this moon does not fall in September but in October.

It should be noted that the great work of harvesting can also be prolonged at night under the light of the full Harvest Moon. In fact, if usually the Moon rises every day about 50 minutes later than the previous day, the full Moon close to the autumn equinox rises at almost the same time, with a delay that can be only a quarter of an hour.

Corn, pumpkins, beans and wild rice, the main foods of the Indian diet, are now ready for harvest.

Hunter’s Moon or Harvest Moon, Hunter’s Moon or Harvest Moon – October

This full moon is also called the Blood Moon or Sanguinary Moon, as well as the Hunter’s Moon, and this for obvious reasons: in view of winter, food supplies must be collected.

In the fields that had been harvested in September and October, it is easy for hunters to spot foxes and other animals. This Moon, probably because of the looming threats of winter, was particularly revered, both in the Old and New Continents.

Beaver Moon – November

It fell in the period in which traps were set for beavers before the swamps froze in order to stock up on warm furs for the winter. Another interpretation refers to the fact that beavers at this time are preparing for hibernation. Another name for this moon is Frosty, which means Frozen.

Cold Moon or Long Nights Moon, The Cold Moon or the Moon of the Long Nights – December

Winter tightens its grip in this month and the nights become longer, darker and… colder! The American Almanac recalls that this moon was also called the Moon before Yule, of course by people of Celtic ancestry.

Conclusion

Esbats are powerful occasions for us to use in order to honor the moon, its energy and manifest specific blessings into our lives.