Sabbat Box Blog — Sabbat Box Theme

The next sabbat in the Wheel of the Year that we will reach in the Northern Hemisphere is Ostara, the celebration of spring and the vernal equinox--that point where the light and the dark of the day is equal. During the sabbat of Ostara, it is common to work magick corresponding to balance and duality, (due to the actual representation of both light and dark being displayed within nature around this time of year), but instead of taking the typical route with this year's Ostara Box, we decided to connect with the energies and celestial wisdom of the moon, which also encompasses the duality of both light and dark, in her own unique way. An important part of following a magickal path is learning to incorporate new and unique approaches to your spiritual practice and breaking away from the standard cookie-cutter mold of modern Paganism from time to time. For this Ostara’s Sabbat Box: the Goddess, represented by the Moon, and her magick will be the main focus and where we have drawn our inspiration from for this theme. 

When it comes to the moon you can find direct parallels between the Wheel of the Year and the lunar cycle. More specifically, each moon phase could actually be representative of a sabbat in and of its self, simply based on the similar correspondences that they each share. On top of that, most would agree that within the craft, the moon and her phases are considered to be one of the most important and influential celestial bodies that can effect our magick and the energies we attempt to work with and manifest. This makes working with the moon an integral part of the craft, regardless of the sabbat. The items featured inside this box were curated to help assist with opening up, channeling and working with the lunar energies this sabbat, and all throughout the year.

We hope the 2017 Ostara Sabbat Box and the surprises it holds inside will add a unique addition to your next ritual, meditation, or magickal working, and that you are able to connect with the guiding light of the moon to bring forth and manifest your desires for the coming spring.

  

LOOKING FOR MORE INSPIRATION TO HELP CELEBRATE OSTARA?
• Check out our previous Ostara Sabbat Box products shipped to our customers.
• Check out our previous Sabbat Box blog articles for Ostara here. 
• Purchase your copy of Ostara Rituals Recipes and Lore by Kerri Connor.

The Goddess, dormant since Her Cronehood at Yule, reawakens at Imbolc as the pure Maiden, the “first” aspect of Her triple manifestation. Because She waxes and wanes like our moon, the Goddess waxes at this time, her renewed fertility about to blossom, soon to become one with the God at Beltane. She has shaken off the old, and prepares for the new.

Imbolc is a time to reawaken. Like the earth itself, it is a time to prepare ourselves, to make ready for the spring and summer ahead. Part of that preparation involves rituals of purification and renewal while looking forward to the brighter days and months ahead on the Wheel of the Year.

The light of the sun is beginning to return, the days lengthening now, and the light and energy of growth and increase is making its way into our lives. We are anticipating the things to come, the eventual harvesting of the seeds we sow at this time of year. Hopefully we learn and grow along with the length of days, positivity and light following us as we move forward.

We have selected items for 2017’s Imbolc Sabbat Box with these aspects in mind. Purification and reawakening, celebration of the Maiden Goddess and sparking magical inspiration toward the coming season are just some of the aspects of the items we are including in this year's Imbolc Sabbat Box. We hope you find what we are offering helpful and meaningful to your Imbolc observance this year.

2017 Imbolc/Candlemas Sabbat Boxes are scheduled to ship out 1/25/17.

LOOKING FOR MORE INSPIRATION TO HELP CELEBRATE IMBOLC?
• Check out our previous Imbolc Sabbat Box products shipped to our customers.
• Check out our previous Sabbat Box blog articles from Imbolc here. 
• Purchase your copy of Imbolc Rituals Recipes and Lore by Carl Neal.

Painting: Diane Sortant du Bain (“Diana Leaving Her Bath”) by François Boucher, 1742. Public domain.

• Discover the 2017 Imbolc Sabbat Box Here •

Traditional pagan tradition states that this time of year, the Holly King—sometimes referred to as The Dark Lord or the Dark aspect of the masculine God—prepares for the infant Oak King to come forth. His appearance at Yule is to relinquish his crown of berries to the new Lord of the Light, soon to be crowned with acorns.

The winter solstice is the culmination of darkness. The sun rises late in the morning and leaves us early in the evening; it is the shortest day of the year. We can honor that darkness, even as we celebrate Yule as a festival of lights. Because what is worked in the dark can sometimes allow time for manifestation in the light of day.

Contrary to other spiritual paths, darkness doesn’t equal evil. For Pagans it is merely the “other side” of light. As creatures of balance we must strive to practice our craft amidst the darkness, just as the mouse may learn to move and protect herself under the cloak of night. The darkness, for her—like us—is not evil at all. In fact, the ability to use darkness for protection and accomplishing things without being seen ensures we will not catch the eye of those people or energies who might stand in our way.

The theme of this Yule’s Sabbat Box is manifesting midwinter magick. As you celebrate Yule this year, we hope that you will come to appreciate this shortest of days and see the power in manifesting your will with the help of falling night. We are curating a collection of items that will allow you to work unseen and gather the skill to make manifest your intent. We cherish the light—and will celebrate its soon return—at Yule, but witchcraft can sometimes work its greatest magic away from the hearth fires and lights. Sometimes the manifestation of magick works best unseen.

The moon rises in the easterly sky, its amber hue reflecting the color of the spent cornfields. The grain has been put up. The darkness of evening creeps in earlier and earlier as the days pass. Someone, somewhere, burns their spent cornstalks, filling the air with the warm fragrance of decay and the last promises of summer fulfilled.

You move across the fields and hear things waking to the night: the owl’s low trill, the bat's swoops and circles, the wolf’s whine and howl, the nightingale’s call to arms. It reminds you of the shorter days ahead…the drain of blues and greens and reds under a purpling sky. A thousand stars start to twinkle overhead, its canvas turning blue-black, a cold reminder of how small—insignificant—you are on the moving earth. 

The last signs of summer are moving behind us, and the darkness that approaches for winter reminds us that the plenty and abundance of greener times is leaving us for other seasons. Our ancestors would start to prepare well in advanced for the upcoming season, especially moreso for the darker half of the year, because where there was darkness, protection was required. Though Mabon may be commonly celebrated today somewhat as a "Pagan Thanksgiving," being that it is the Sabbat of the great harvest, or a time to honor balance (because the Sabbat falls on the equinox), we decided to focus our intent to finding products aimed at protecting the hearthside when curating this box for Mabon. 

So too, as Pagans and witches practice their craft, sometimes the seeds of intent have long since been sown and, like the long hot days of summer, it can seem as if returns on that intent may never come. But, as long as conditions are met, as long as the sun continues to shine, and—yes, even as the dark storms and rains come—the first harvest of all that hard work means the first actual benefits of all we’ve worked for will come to pass. With hard work and effort, we are able to help manifest abundance and prosperity, which go hand in hand with the first harvest Sabbat. 

We waited with hope as Imbolc came and went; we worked the fertile ground of Ostara; we took action on what we willed for Beltane, and we stood squinting in the sun as the green stalks grew taller on Litha. Now, finally!…we come to the time to reap the fruits of all that hope and patience in the form of the witches' first harvest.

This Sabbat Box celebrates those first fruits, and commemorates the manifestation of our will and the effects of our intent. The time of waiting is over and we have evidence of all of our hard work for the first time this season. So celebrate the results and rejoice in the abundance of the first harvest—the Witches Harvest. Interested in joining Sabbat Box? Join the waiting list here.