#religious holidays
Purim: They tried to kill us, we survived. Let’s tell the story, wear silly costumes, and get wasted. (Optional: have a carnival or a play!)
Passover: They enslaved us, God freed us. Remember this via a big ceremony/feast and then don’t eat bread for a week. This is a big one; you’re going to have to clean your house and host all your relatives.
Tu B'Shevat: It’s Earth Day, let’s eat some fruit.
Simchas Torah: We read the entire Torah every year, and we got to the end! Let’s have a dance party and then start all over again!
Tisha B'Av: They destroyed our temples. That sucked.
Rosh HaShanah: Happy New Year! It’s time to ask (and grant) forgiveness for the wrongs done in the past year, pledge to do better, and wish for a sweet new year. And go to synagogue for HOURS.
Yom Kippur: Rosh HaShanah’s somber counterpart. God decides on this day your fate for the next year. Repent your sins, hope for forgiveness, and fast. (And go to synagogue for HOURS.)
Yom HaShoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Sukkot: Harvest festival! Sleep in a hut under the stars.
Shemini Atzeret: Man, I don’t even know?
Shavuot: God gave us the Torah! That was pretty nice of him.
Chanukah: They busted up our temple and tried to forcibly convert us. We responded with guerilla warfare. Let’s eat some fried food. Candles!
So basically the entire Jewish holiday calendar is giving the middle finger to death and high-fiving, with or without various combinations of prayer and foods.
Yup. Or as we say, “They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat.”
Quick Guide to Celebrating the Sabbats
LITHA
Fruit & veg, herbed bread, cheese, honey cakes, chicken, pork, sunflower seeds, lemonade, ice tea.
Lemon, orange, cinnamon, rose oils.
Moonstone, tigers eye, amethyst, flourite, agate. {Or any crystals in warm colours}.
See the sun rise & set, eat outdoors, make or buy a sun catcher, bake a sweet cake, let sunlight cleanse your rooms, clear cobwebs, wear a flower crown, make honey/sugar scrub, wear warm tones.
Peter Pan, Fairy Tale, Ferngully, Stardust, Tinkerbell, Maleficent.
LAMMAS
Multi grain bread, corn on the cob, bbq meats, fried chicken, potatoes, soup, rice, nuts, black current juice, beer, peppermint tea.
Rose, chamomile, passion fruit, all spice oils/scents.
Citrine, clear quartz, tigers eye.
Finish a project, make a bread to share, enjoy nature, take care of plants, decorate or craft, acknowledge what you are grateful for, journal future hopes.
Parent Trap, Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Cheaper by the Dozen.
MABON
Pies, nuts, smoked or roast poultry [bbq chicken with smoky bbq sauce], soup, corn, apples, plums, grapes, cinnamon donuts, caramel popcorn, peanut butter, butterscotch.
Sage, pine, cinnamon oils/scents.
Amethyst, clear quartz, citrine, yellow agate.
Make scented pinecones, spend time under the stars, donate food or goods [RSPCA], burn bad habits, visit the deceased, harvest take care of plants, bask in nature, meditate.
Open Season, Brother Bear, Spirit, Pocahontas, Brave.
SAMHAIN
Pumpkins, toffee apples, ginger bread, chai, nutmeg or cinnamon spiced foods, hazelnuts, sweets.
Nutmeg, cinnamon scents.
Obsidian, onyx, bloodstone, amber, fossils.
Cook a family recipe, light a fire, remember & honour the deceased.
Hocus Pocus, Addams Family, Monsters Inc, Little Vampire, Corpse Bride, Casper, Hansel Gretel Witch Hunters, Underworld, Van Helsing.
YULE
Cookies, fruit cake, turkey, eggnog, ginger tea.
Cedar, frankincense, myrrh oils.
Bloodstone, citrine, clear quartz.
❄Give or volunteer, bake shortbread or sugar cookies, share a meal with loved ones.
Santa Clause, Rise of the Guardians, 101 Dalmatians, Frozen, Snow White Winters War, Narnia.
IMBOLC
Poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, bread butter pudding, scones, muffins, garlic, onions.
☕Vanilla, cinnamon oil.
Amethyst, bloodstone, onyx.
Light white candles, plant seeds, bless your pets, declutter & clean your living space, bake orange and poppy seed muffins or cake.
Mr Poppers Penguins, Happy Feet, Balto, Ice Age, Mirror Mirror.
OSTARA
Roast ham & pineapple, eggs, milk, seeds & nuts, banana bread, chocolate milk, green vegetables.
Jasmine, light florals, sweet garden, wild flowers.
Amethyst, rose quartz, moonstone.
Light candles, plant seeds, share a roast ham with loved ones, bake banana bread, finish spring cleaning, lay tumbled stones in your garden bed, take deep breaths [inhale new energy & exhale old energies], wear spring colours whites & florals, collect wildflowers or buy flowers that call to you & research what they mean, walk through nature.
Epic, Strange Magic, The Secret Garden, Spiderwick, A Bugs Life, Barbie Fairies.
BELTANE
Breads, cakes, honey, leafy greens, fruit & veg, seafood, iced tea, lemonade, milk.
Florals, sweet garden, honeysuckle, jasmine, rose.
Amber, citrine, moonstone, red jasper, rose quartz.
Wear a flower crown or flowers in your hair, dress in red or white, make a bonfire & roast marshmallows, garden, take a walk, spend time in nature, pick fresh flowers to decorate.
Moana, Arthur Trilogy, Avatar, Jungle Book, Tinkerbell, Barbie.
HOW I CELEBRATE ALL SABBATS OR ESBATS
☾Sage cleanse the house, light candles, diffuse oils.
☾Clean sheets/bedding/pillowcases/towels.
☾Eat at least one traditional food.
☾Watch a relevant movie.
☾Take notes in my BOS of how I celebrated the Sabbat to look back on next year.
☾Charge my crystals & tarot decks in the full moonlight.
☾Do a tarot reading relevant to the Sabbat.
☾Spend time outside with my dogs
