SYLVAN

WICCA /SHAMANISM

 

LESSON 11

 

Lesson Eleven: Esbats

It was a clear summer night, the full moon hanging like a rich, ripe

fruit in the starry sky.

Our Coven's ritual had just ended; all of us were hot and panting from

another

enthusiastic spiral dance, led by one of our younger members. I wandered

off alone,

sitting in the midst of a nearby field while the rest of the coven talked

and milled about,

exchanging stories of the previous week and making plans for the coming

days.

There, in the darkness, sitting alone in the grassy field, I gazed upon

the face of Luna

and wondered what my ancestors thought and felt when they gazed up at the

same sky.

One by one, my Coven-mates came and joined me and we talked about the

past, about

the legacy our ancestors had left us. Did they realize that the moon was

a satellite that

orbited the earth we live on? Or was it simply a constant companion whose

light ebbed

and flowed, setting the lunar month? We talked about what each of us

would feel if,

unfettered by the words of science, we stared up at the moon with a

mystical awe. How

would we feel simply knowing it as a soft light in our night sky, whose

phases mirrored the cycle of growth we saw in the Goddess?

It wasn't a book we were learning from, or even a physical teacher. We

learned from the

moon itself, from the magick that permeated the air from our Circle and

spiral dance. It

was the whispered voices of our ancestors that spoke to us, as our minds

let go of the

bonds of time and slipped back through the centuries to earlier rituals.

And for the first time, as we lay in the open field, gazing up at the

light of the full moon,

I didn't just know what the moon meant. I understood.

In modern Witchcraft, the moon is associated with the Goddess. The new

moon

symbolizes new beginnings; an appropriate time to perform magick that

begins a new

chapter of our lives or blesses a new undertaking. It's like a blank

canvas, waiting for

the touch of our magick, just as it is waiting to peek out of the earth's

shadow and

reflect the sun's light once more. As the moon tiptoes just past new,

waxing toward

fullness, it represents the Goddess as Maiden. When the moon is new, the

lunar month

is fresh and ready for change, to tie it's energy to a new undertaking,

regardless of

whether it is a magickal endeavor such as crafting a tool, spell or

charm, or whether our

goals are more mundane, such as looking for a new job or beginning a

large home improvement task; the possibilities it holds are endless.

Just as we grow and mature, so the moon waxes and grows full. In the full

moon we find

a time of bounty and fullness, the perfect time to charge ritual tools

and stones with

lunar energy. It is symbolizes the Goddess as Mother, fertile and full.

It is a time of

harvest, a time when the lunar energy saturates the night air.

As the lunar month continues, the moon begins to wane, the time of the

Crone. Though

the moon's light is fading, we are filled with the wisdom that we have

gleaned since the

moon was new, all through the lunar month. This is an appropriate time to

cleanse ritual

tools and stones in moonlight, leaving them on a window sill or under a

tree, letting the

waning moon take the old energy with it as it fades, leaving the items

clean and fresh as the moon becomes new.

 

Exercise Twelve: Understanding the Sacred Moon

This exercise takes place on two nights, one during the new moon and

one

during the full moon. While I personally try to hold my observances

on the

exact night of that moon's phase, traditionally you can observe that

lunar

phase within three days of its occurrence - either three days before

or three

days after. When you add the night when the moon reaches the peak of

that phase, you'll find that you have a week's leeway to find a time

to do the exercise.

Find a safe place to sit outside under the moon (if you live in an

environment that isn't particularly safe, make the proper

adjustments; even

if it means sitting inside and observing the moon through your

window).

As you gaze up into the night sky, let the thoughts drift from your

mind

until it's reasonably clear. As you sit there (or lay on your back)

gazing up

at the moon, imagine that you're a young Pagan villager centuries in

the

past. Most likely you're illiterate. You believe strongly in magick,

that the

world around you is alive, and that spirits exist in every living

thing.

You've been chosen by one of the spiritual leaders of your community

to

begin studying to take their place when you've grown to maturity. As

you

gaze up at the moon, imagine what it means to your people, how you

see it

from your perspective within your tiny village. Can you imagine the

rites

your people may have done to celebrate its phases? Can you imagine

certain symbology it may have for you and your community? What your

spiritual elders may teach?

What this exercise does is begin the process of connecting you to the

magick of lunar

energy. Way back at the beginning of this course, you learned to connect

with the energy

of the moon, to see it as something magickal in your life that you could

tap into. Now

we're making another shift, slipping a little deeper into the magick, and

learning to see the lunar cycle in a slightly different way.

Modern Witches often set aside a night, traditionally held within three

days of the full or

new moon, to quiet themselves, to hold a ritual to reconnect and

recharge, to work needed

magick, to grow, or to simply celebrate with other Pagan friends. We

refer to this night's

ritual as an Esbat and, while full moon Esbats are more common, many

Witches celebrate the new moon Esbat as well.

What do you do on these nights? That, my friend, is up to you. To

continue to grow, to

develop your own path, you need to begin using the tools that you've been

given to find

your own way. Look at your life and determine what processes you're going

through.

There may be specific issues you want to address. You may find that you

simply want to

ask the energy to aid you in your growth. You may find that a specific

phase of the moon

is perfectly suited to observe a milestone, much like the ritual we held

for the Crone in the

last lesson. The new and full moon Esbats may be as simple as a time when

you can

practice creating and carrying out rituals until you feel comfortable and

confident with the process.

As you look through modern Pagan literature, you may also find that

certain moons have

certain names associated with them. The Oak Moon. The Wolf Moon. The Moon

of Geese

Returning. While it may seem exciting to adopt a system of moon names as

your own, I'd

encourage you not to do so. Within the path I teach, moons are named

based on natural

occurrences in the environment you live in. While Witches in New England

may observe

The Moon of the First Snow, it's not a very useful name to those Witches

living in

Southern California. Finding our own system of names for various moons of

the year is a

topic we'll address in Phase Three of this course.

Until then, simply use the moons as a guide to working ritual and

reconnecting with the

magick around you. It may seem a simple task to do so but, like many

things on this path,

the simple things are often the most powerful.

The First Cycle course is written by Graelan Wintertide

and is © 1999 All Rights Reserved