Esbat

What an esbat is

Wiccans use the word esbat for any coven meeting or rite that falls outside the festivals of their year. The occasions differ widely. A group may gather to settle coven business, to bring a new member through initiation, to share a meal, to work for healing, or to train in psychic skills. Janet and Stewart Farrar, two well-known writers in the tradition, called an esbat a chance for shared food, healing and the growth of psychic ability. Because these rites are set apart for worship, some compare them to Sunday for Christians or Friday evening for Jews. A coven may open its esbat to outsiders or keep it for initiated members only, and accounts differ.

The name and its history

The word comes from Old French s'esbattre, which the modern French ébat still echoes; it means to amuse oneself or to frolic. The anthropologist Margaret Murray took the term from French records of witch trials while she was trying to piece together a witch religion in western Europe, and Pagans later adopted it. Murray also wrote that an esbat differed from a sabbat because it was mainly for business, and that often it was kept for enjoyment alone. The high priestess Doreen Valiente later drew a line between esbats held at the full moon and other esbatic occasions.

How rites are held

Covens meet in a member's home or outdoors. An altar is laid with candles, an athame, incense, pentacles, things gathered from nature, bowls of water, mirrors and crystals. Those taking part first set the space apart as sacred. Then come prayer, meditation and contact with the divine. Much of the work is reflection: what has shifted since the last moon, what the group hopes to change before the next one, and what they are thankful for. A closing follows. Members often say these nights leave them spiritually satisfied and help their own growth.

The two moons

Rites timed to a full moon are busy and joyful. Those present may work for wholeness, for children and families, for clear sight, or for love, and many covens gather at midnight, when the moon shows best. A central act is drawing down the moon: the essence of the lunar goddess is called into a member, usually a priestess, through a tool such as a chalice or a knife, and the goddess then speaks through her to the group. A rite at the new moon, sometimes called the dark moon, turns instead toward what is hidden. It may honour a dark or maiden goddess, put an end to something unwanted, or close a chapter of life, and it can be held in the mid-afternoon, when the moon stands high.

Bread, drink and meaning

The full moon esbat usually closes with cakes and ale. Cookies or a loaf of bread and a cup of wine or another drink are set on the altar at the centre. Each person in turn blesses the bread, breaks off a piece, eats it and passes the rest on clockwise; the cup goes round in the same way. Those taking part hold the bread and the drink to stand for the goddess herself, and sharing them lets each person honour her as they wish.

How Esbat is kept

A coven meets in a member's house or outdoors. An altar is prepared with candles, a ritual knife, incense, pentacles, natural objects, water, mirrors and crystals. The space is made sacred, and those present pray, meditate and open themselves to the divine. They then look back over the past moon, name what they hope to change before the next, and give thanks. A closing ends the rite, and a full moon night often finishes with bread and a shared cup. Some covens admit visitors, others only initiates, and one person may keep an esbat alone.

When and where

An esbat comes about once a month. Covens pick a night when the moon is full or new. Thirteen moons fall in a solar year, so thirteen such nights are available. Full moon rites are most often at midnight, and a new moon esbat may be held in the afternoon. Some covens also mark other esbatic occasions at different times.

Esbats belong to Wicca and to other contemporary Pagan paths that Wicca has shaped. Covens keep them wherever those traditions are followed, gathering in a member's home or in the open air. The sources tie the rite to no single town or region; Norway is recorded as its country of origin.

What Esbat means

Members treat the moon as a link to the feminine and to goddesses, so a meeting held under it carries that meaning. The night is set apart for worship rather than ordinary talk, and those who keep it describe it as feeding them inwardly. The reflection has weight too: what the past moon brought, what they want to alter, and what they are grateful for. Each gathering marks a small turn in the shared life of the group.

Questions people ask about Esbat

See also

NisseA small farm spirit of Nordic folklore, given porridge at midwinterCandlemasA Christian feast of candle blessings marking the end of the Christmas seasonOvooA stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipMikoA woman who serves at a Shinto shrine, dancing, cleansing and helping with rites

Good reading and sources

• Esbat on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.