The most important thing to understand about the eight Witchcraft Sabbats is that they are not man-made. They are not holidays in the same way that a calendar anniversary of some date that has a special importance in history. The eight Sabbats of Witchcraft were not man-made because they existed long before man was made. These eight holidays can be said to be as old as the Earth itself.
Solstices happen twice a year - in June and December. The June Solstice happens around June 21, when the Sun is directly overhead the Tropic of Cancer. The December Solstice takes place around December 21. On this day, the Sun is precisely over the Tropic of Capricorn.
Solstice comes from the Latin words sol, meaning 'Sun ' and sistere, meaning 'to come to
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There are two more days that are similar and equally important. Each Spring, there’s a day when the hours between sunrise and sunset are exactly equal to the hours between sunset and sunrise. This is the "Vernal Equinox". Also, there’s a day each Fall when the hours of darkness and the hours of daylight are exactly in balance. This is the "Autumnal Equinox". It can’t be overemphasized that the importance of these four days is simply a part of how the Earth works.
We can assume that the most primitive of humans noticed this change in the hours of daylight, and the subsequent change in the seasons.
Prehistoric sites such as Stonehenge have clear alignments to both the Summer and Winter Solstice, and the Vernal and Autumnal Equinox. This isn’t alignments confined simply to the British Isles. They can be found the world over such as the pyramids of ancient Egypt, the cliff dwellings of the Native Americans, the temples of Peru and the ancient temples of China. The two Solstices and two Equinoxes certainly must be the oldest holidays known to us, and they were known across the planet. These four days are sometimes known as the "quarter-days", meaning they appear each quarter of the year.
The four "Greater Sabbats" or "High Holidays" of the Witches calendar may seem slightly less obvious at first. With these in place, the circle of the year begins to look like an eight-spoked wheel, which is a sacred symbol in many ancient