Debunking "Eight Sabbats in a Year and a Day"

This is a very simple exercise - anyone with a compass, a protractor, and the math skills of a fourth grader can do it. As I said you will need:
A couple of sheets of ordinary paper
A compass or several different sized drinking glasses (to draw circles)
A protractor (no way around this one)
A couple of sharp pencils.


1. Take a sheet of paper and draw a large circle on it. Draw a smaller circle about 1 1/2 inches inside the first. Draw a third circle about 1 1/2 inches inside the second. This will produce three concentric rings.

2. Measure and mark a line vertically through the center of your three concentric rings. At the top of this mark a five pointed star and label it "Summer Solstice." Mark the bottom end of this line "Winter Solstice." Erase the section of line that would pass through your inner ring - the one that we label "British Commons Calendar"

4. Using the protractor, mark off sections of 30 degrees, starting at the Winter Solstice mark and proceeding *Counter Clockwise* around the outermost ring. When you've done this, use short lines to divide the outermost ring into 30 degree sections.

5. Once step four is finished, you will find that you have two short lines that *would* make a horizontal line through the whole drawing if they were connected. Label the line on the right side "Spring Equinox" and the one on the left "Fall Equinox"

6. Starting in the section immediately on the right side of the Winter Solstice point, label the sections, *Counter Clockwise*, in order: Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius.

7. Go to your "Capricorn" section. Mark a short line one degree to the right of the Winter Solstice. Label this "Extra." Mark a second short line 12 degrees to the right of the Winter Solstice and label this "Twelfth Night"

8. Go to your Aquarius section and shade in a "notch" from 1 to 15 Degrees Aquarius. Label this dark area "Candlemas" or "Imbolc"

9. Go to your Taurus section and shade in a "notch" from 1 to 15 Degrees Taurus. Label this dark area "Beltain" or "Roodmas"

10. Go to your Leo section and shade in a "notch" from 1 to 15 Degrees Leo. Label this dark area "Lammas" or "Lughnassad"

11. Go to your Scorpio section and shade in a "notch" from 1 to 15 Degrees Scorpio. Label this dark area "Samhain" or "Hallowmas"

12. Label your outer ring ""Zodiac" or "Cauldron of Annwfn" Calendar" and label the dark shaded, 15 degree, areas 'Sabbati.' Label the Equinoxes and Solstices "Albans." Label the Extra Day also as "Sabbati" and Twelfth Night as "Albans"

13. Move inward one ring on your drawing. Extend your "Extra" line segment through this ring.

14. Counting from the Extra Day, divide this ring into sections of 28 degrees just as you did with the Zodiac ring.

15. Label these sections counterclockwise, starting from the section that *More or Less* corresponds to Capricorn according to Graves, Gwen Thompson or what ever month naming source you use for the 13 month. System.

16. Label this ring "British Commons Calendar"

*** You will note that ONLY the Nameless Day and the two solstices align in both calendar rings*** This is because the 13 month calendar DOES NOT line up to include all FOUR PLUS ONE Sabbati and FOUR PLUS ONE Albans. It includes ONLY ONE OF EACH. The Zodiac calendar, on the other hand includes ALL FIVE OF EACH. This contrast has very specific significance to certain currents.

*** The Sabbati do NOT fall on specific days in either calendar. They do NOT have specific astronomic phenomena to mark them. In the Cauldron Calendar, they are regarded as "Outside of Time" This is because the Zodiac consists of 12 equal months of 30 days each, plus five days left over. These are the five Sabbati - the Festivals of Darkness and Saturn. They are ruled by the tides of the Void and powered by the force of Misrule.

*** The Albans (which means "Lights") DO fall on specific days and this is because they are marked, very precisely, by specific astronomic phenomena. The Winter Solstice occurs when the Sun passes from Sagittarius into Capricorn (and yes, from the ground, it appears to travel "counter clockwise" through the Zodiac) and is occasioned by the longest night and shortest day of the year. The Summer Solstice occurs when the sun passes from Gemini into Cancer and is marked by the longest day, and shortest night of the year. Likewise the Spring Equinox occurs when the sun passes from Pisces into Aries, and the Fall Equinox occurs when the sun passes from Virgo into Libra. These are both marked by equal day and night periods (Equinox = Equal Night)

*** You will note that the Albans deal with the Midpoints of Seasons - ritually speaking (the beginnings of seasons officially) and stay put - They are "Nailed Down" The Sabbati move around and the ONLY Sabbat that has a predictable date is the Extra Day.

*** You will note that the ONLY festivals that line up in BOTH systems are the Winter Solstice and the Extra Day. The Sabbati do not "crack" the Commons Calendar and the other Albans do not "nail it down" as they DO NOT occur between months.

*** You will note that the "And a day" (the extra day in the 13 month Calendar that is outside of time) is the Extra day.

I find it sad that when the Farrars wrote their horribly misleading "Eight Sabbats," they didn't have the sense to sit down and do this little exercise, even though *someone* certainly wanted to portray herself as "knowledgeable."

What is sadder still is that many people don't take the time to sit and think these things out at all. If they did, they would realize that the Cosmic Symbols, Land Symbols, Ritual Symbols and the Human Body all tie directly to each other.

It is also worth noting that the 13 month calendar *IS NOT* a "lunar calendar" in any way, shape, or form. Lunar Days and Months *ARE NOT* equal. There are not 13 lunations consistently in the year. There *can* be as few as 11 or as many as 14. Likewise, lunar months can have as few as 27 lunar days or as many as 29. The 13 month calendar measures from a SOLAR Event, in Exactly Equal months of Solar Days divided into four EXACTLY EQUAL Solar weeks. The only thing that could be called "lunar" is that the months contain a number of days consistent with an *approximately average* lunar month.


FFF,
Trystn