The word "Sabbath" has French roots. In turn, it was borrowed by the French in Hebrew. The word was uttered as "Shabbat" and meant "day off." In this context, its meaning is strongly intertwined with the biblical commandments, in particular, with the seventh day of the week, in which it is necessary to postpone all affairs and devote oneself to rest.
The subtleties of etymology
In the word "Sabbath," the emphasis is on the first syllable, if it means a bunch of witches, festivities. It should also be noted that a word can be pronounced with an emphasis placed on the second syllable, but then its meaning will be different. For example, it can be used as an exclamation and mean “enough”, “enough”. For the word "Sabbath" the synonyms presented above are not the only ones. You can recall such words as: revelry, debauchery, orgy, feast, etc.
Historical reference
The first record of the Sabbath in court documents dates from 1335. It was then in Toulouse that about sixty people were accused of practicing magic and witchcraft. They confessed to the atrocities committed only under terrible torture, but this did not bother the inquisitors. What happened to the accused is unknown, but knowing the mores of those times, it is easy to guess.
In other parts of Europe, no records were kept until 1620, when the Sabbath of witches was first described in England.
This action is presented as a bunch of witches and demons, copulating with each other. Bloody rites in the name of Satan, blasphemy, gluttony and alcohol - this is what the Sabbath is in the eyes of a person from the era of the witch hunt.
Where and how were the sabbaths conducted?
It is only natural that secluded places were chosen for such an action. In impassable thickets hidden from prying eyes, on high mountains, in deep caves - it was there that the protagonists gathered for their evil deeds.
Undoubtedly, the most famous venue for the covens is Mount Brocken in Germany. On Walpurgis Night , the most powerful witches and demons gather here to conduct their rites.
They get to the venue of the witch’s coven either using levitation, to heighten the effect of riding a pomelo, or in the form of an animal or bird. Many arrive on the backs of demons. Animals can be with them, most often these are black cats, known as constant companions of witches.
After collecting all the witches and demons, the devil is expected to appear.
He appears before the congregation in the form of a goat, for even witches cannot bear his true face. Sitting on the throne, he dominates the coven, he gets pre-prepared sacrifices - babies or virgins.
Witch's initiation
An important part of the coven is the initiation into witches. A woman who expresses a desire to become a witch must swear an oath of allegiance to Satan. She undertakes to appear at the first call of her master, to recruit new members, to keep the secrets of the witch community.
After pronouncing the oath, the newly-made witch bows to the devil and kisses him under the tail. The devil gives her witch attributes, powders and ingredients that can instantly transfer the witch to the venue of the coven.
Witch initiation is the final ritual, after which feasting and revelry begin. Participants of the Sabbath overeat and get drunk, dance wildly and randomly copulate. Just before dawn, the bacchanalia ends, and guests fly to where.
Modern coven
What is the Sabbath in the current realities? It is hard to imagine that in the age of scientific discoveries and space travel, similar actions are carried out somewhere in the form in which the Middle Ages knew them. With worship of the devil, eating babies and killing virgins.
Nowadays, being a witch is not shameful and harmless. They are shown on television, they offer their services in newspapers and on the pages of Internet sites. If there is demand, then there is supply - these are the laws of the market.
Today it’s almost first-hand to find out what the Sabbath is. Gone are the days when a witch was punished by death for revealing a secret. And the witch’s sabbath itself became different: the characters migrated from gloomy dense forests to city apartments or to personal plots of country houses.
The rituals have also changed. From devil worship, witches turned to paganism. The spirits of Earth, Water, Air, Fire are revered, nature is praised. From the medieval Sabbaths, only the traditions of bodily exposure were left, but not all witches preach them. A lot of new trends appeared, for example, the use of masks and ritual clothes.
Important dates
Sabbaths are held eight times a year. These dates are timed to the changing seasons, to the end of the harvest, to the beginning of sowing. Significant holidays are:
- Oimelk, celebrated on February 2.
- Walpurgis Night, celebrated on April 30th.
- Lunasadh - July 31.
- Samgein is celebrated on October 31.
On the days of the winter and summer solstices, autumn and spring equinoxes, Sabbaths are also held.
In Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union there are several holidays to which these mystical events are timed. This is Kolyada - December 21-22, the end of Maslenitsa - March 21 and the day of Ivan Kupala.
So, in order to answer the question of what the Sabbath is, one does not need to stir up the ancient treatises of the medieval ministers of religion. This knowledge is only interesting to researchers in the history of the occult sciences, and the current witches have nothing to draw from there. You can hold discussions for a long time about whether naked women on a broomstick are still flocking to Brocken Mountain, and whether the truth is shown to us on television in various shows. Only one thing can be said with confidence: many innocent lives were given to the glory of Satan, so it’s not at all bad that the time of the sabbaths in their true form has long passed.