Mike Nichols - The Witches Sabbats

Praise for The Witches Sabbats

An excellent collection of essays with a treasure trove of information coupled by the strong backdrop of Mike Nichols thirty-six plus years of involvement in the Midwestern Pagan community Youll love his personable writing style, the well-researched information, and his bold and interesting theories.

Silver Ravenwolf, author of To Ride a Silver Broomstick, Halloween, and HedgeWitch

One of the best books on the Wheel of the Year.

Christopher Penczak, author of The Living Temple of Witchcraft

You couldnt ask for a better explanation of what the holidays are all about.

Robin Wood, author/creator of The Robin Wood Tarot

Mikes articles provoke thought, make you consider how and why you do the things you do. Be prepared, however, to have your brain cells exercised.

Ellen Cannon Reed, author/creator of The Witches Tarot and The Witches Qabala

Mike Nichols is one of those unique scholars that has the unique ability to make historical and advanced information accessible to everyone.

Kristin Madden, author of Magickal Crafts

Arguably the finest Sabbats writing in the modern Craft today.

Fritz Jung, The Witches Voice

A worthy addition to any pagans bookshelf.

new Witch magazine

Mike Nichols holds a wealth of knowledge and lore.

M. Macha NightMare, coauthor with Starhawk of The Pagan Book of Living and Dying

His work is at once both traditional and innovativethe perfect alchemy for a Witch of true power.

Storm Faerywolf, author of The Stars Within the Earth

Written in a gently accessible style which can be enjoyed by everyone from the newbie to the seasoned Witch, and which can educate them all.

Valerie Walker, author of The Dustbunnies Big Damn Handbook, Volume One

Mikes good humor and clear writing style, as well as his solid scholarship, make these articles the benchmarks that many strive to achieve.

Davens Journal

Recommended Reading.

Publishers Weekly, All Faiths Calendar (Nov. 05 - Jan. 06)

Many of Mikes articles including his beloved essays on the Pagan holidays have by now reached and influenced a worldwide readership.

Dallas Heltzell, online news editor-producer, The Denver Post

The sine qua non of any Craft libraryerudite, thoughtful, and clear elucidations of the Holy Days of Wicca.

Judith Hawkins-Tillirson, New Leaf Distributing

Published by Acorn Guild Press, LLC
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd # 168
Portland, OR 97206-6267

1986, 1995, 2005, 2010 Mike Nichols. All rights reserved.
Kindle edition: 2011

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, without written permission from the publisher and author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission from the publisher and author. For specific exceptions to this copyright notice, see Mike Nichols Web site, The Witches Sabbats, http://www.witchessabbats.com

ISBN 978-0-9710050-9-9
Print ISBN 978-0-9710050-2-0

Cover illustration: Heather Lloyd
Cover parchment: courtesy of istockphoto.com
Chapter illustrations: Heather Lloyd
Chapter Eleven diagrams: Jim Schuette
Layout: Jim Schuette

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nichols, Mike, 1952
The witches sabbats / by Mike Nichols; foreword by Wren Walker. 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-9710050-2-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Sabbat. I. Title.

BF1572.S28N53 2005
299.94dc22

2005006181

To Kristi and Colin

CHAPTER ILLUSTRATIONS

DIAGRAMS

The old that is strong does not wither.

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

When we decided several years ago to add a Basics of Witchcraft section to The Witches Voice Web site, we knew that information on what is commonly referred to as the eight Sabbats or the wheel of the year would be a major part of that plan. We began our research with great enthusiasm and several pads of sticky notes. After all, we naively thought, we already had dozens of Pagan-related books that the two of us had individually collected in the years before we merged both our personal and professional lives, so how hard could it be to come up with a concise, detailed, and yet still spiritually inspirational collection of Pagan holiday traditions and lore? Well, we were soon to find out.

First of all, possessing such an extensive traditional library proved to be more of a hindrance than help. Although we did manage to weed out duplicateand sometimes triplicate (now, how did that happen?)copies of the usual Pagan classics, we quickly found ourselves forced to navigate through stacks of evermore-tipsy hardcover and paperback pylons marked Beltane, Solstice, and Overview.

Complicating matters even more, one of the cats was then going through her terrible twos, and in the big golden eyes of little Ruby our sacred research library was magically transformed into one fine feline racetrack.

After a few weeks of sorting references and flipping pages, we began to imagine that those sticky-note bookmarks were sticking their little paper tongues out at us whenever we left the room.

So we did then what we should have done at the startand what so many other Pagans have done so many times sincewe went to the Internet.

Lets type in Samhain. Ah, here is a piece by someone named Mike Nichols that looks good. (Bookmark that!) Lets see what can we find on Beltane. Well, it seems as though this very same Mike Nichols has also written a nice in-depth essay on that one, too. (Already bookmarked!)

Yule? Mike Nichols. Midsummer? Yes, we should have knownMike Nichols. So who is this Mike Nichols guy and how did he manage to corneror perhaps more aptly, coverthe entire essayists free market on the Witches holidays?

Drawing upon his twenty-five-plus years in the Pagan/Witchcraft community, Mike Nichols initially set to paper an overview of the major and minor Sabbats as a gentle guide for those who might wish to rekindle the celebration of the ongoing cycles of life as reflected in the rhythms of nature. And this they are.

But as these things so often do, the essays that you are about to read and enjoy have evolved into something much more than a straightforward how-to manual. They have a life of their own. It is as if a once-forgotten muse, reawakened, pours forth her wisdom as rain upon a shriveling and thirsty world.

And she is not done speaking yet. Even as these very essays were written over a span of many years, the magick behind them and within them shall continue to expand and to grow. We dare say that Mike would never claim that they are a final product. They are meant rather to open a spiritual doorway by which one might enter and begin to recover what has been lost.

For as Tolkien goes on to say, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. / From the ashes a fire shall be woken, / A light from the shadows shall spring.

Mike, in his premiere series of essays on the Pagan holidays, tapped into these roots, followed underground currents, and now, within his words, the old ways of honoring the Earth cycles live again. And in future years, others shall likewise come forth to perpetuate the traditions, and that, too, is as it should be.