(^156) A Wiccan Bible
understood, or slang version of the French term s’esbattre, which means ‘to frolic.’ Al-
though Pierre de Lancre was clear in the use of that word being a general reference to
the gatherings of Witches, by the time Dr. Murray encountered the reference she had
already decided that all Witches everywhere used the word Sabbat to describe those
gatherings. This is an important point because a great deal of what Gerald Gardner
claimed was an ancient religion when he introduced his tradition to the public was in
fact based largely on Dr. Murray’s books. Rather than recognizing the fact that differ-
ent cultures use different words to describe the same thing, she took it upon herself to
decide the word Esbat was another of the universal Witch words. As such, she had to
invent a meaning other than the one she assigned to Sabbat. As she had decided the
word Sabbat was a reference to a holiday, then Esbat must be a workday despite its
origin in a word denoting frolic. Eventually, maybe via Gardner, the note that the Sabbats
were marked by the sun probably lent itself well to the evolution of the Esbats as being
marked by the moon. Today, many folk use the word Esbat to refer to the full moon.
In the Book of Sun, I said the Sabbats are better termed holidays. Here I tell you
the Esbats are better termed meetings. Although not nearly as spooky as the other
words, they do convey meaning much better. It’s not really a hard concept to grasp; a
household/coven celebrates Holidays together and it has household/coven meetings
separate from those celebrations. Although the word Esbat was not used by pre-Chris-
tian fertility religions, if a group were to schedule monthly meetings they would have
likely based those meetings on the lunar cycles because those cycles were their calen-
dar. Setting a date like the full moon is not unlike a modern group stating that it will
meet on the second Tuesday of each month.
This is not to say that Wiccans do not mark the cycles of the Moon with holidays
and celebrations. In fact, a large amount of lunar lore has come to be connected with
the eight solar holidays. Although it might seem shocking, although we celebrate the
eight solar holidays on dates determined by the Earth’s travel around the Sun, that
concept is not exactly universal. This is most notably with Samhain and Bealtaine. Be-
fore the modern Pagan movement decided to place Samhain between the Fall Equi-
nox and Winter Solstice, its day of celebration was marked by lunar cycles. Likewise,
prior to Bealtaine being marked half way between Spring Equinox and Summer Sol-
stice, it was marked by lunar cycles as well.
As mentioned in Book of Three Part II, the cycles of the moon have been con-
nected to our Lady in popular lore. As Maiden she is connected to the new and waxing
moon, as Mother to the full moon, and as Crone to the dark and waning moon.
q WB Chap 09.p65 156 7/11/2003, 5:53 PM
barré
(Barré)
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