How Does a Closet Witch Celebrate the Esbats?

Hello there!

This past Saturday the 6th of December was the last full moon of the year! What better way to talk about Esbats than after this magical time? 

This weekend I did get to celebrate at home, so it was a little more elaborate, but there are two ways I as a closet witch celebrate the esbats in a private manner: the at-home Esbat and the dorm Esbat.

First let's get into the at-home Esbat since that's what I did this weekend. 

The first thing I like to do is look up which full moon is coming up and what it signifies.

This last full moon in the Northern Hemisphere was the Long Nights Moon (also known by a few other names). It signifies the longer nights during winter time and also the darker times in life. During this time it is important to focus on the knowledge that just as the sun will become stronger in the coming months, we can make it through the darker times and come out stronger ourselves. 

For each Esbat and Sabbat I like to write out a sort of order of prayers, chants and events that I will be doing a) for a record of what I did to look back on and b) to have a guideline of what I want to do without sitting in my sacred space twiddling my thumbs and wondering what I should do.

I like to make one up from scratch everytime to try out new things, however there are a few things I always like to include as a basic outline.

1) Circle Casting

2) Goddess Songs

3) A Prayer to the Goddess 

4) Esbat Ritual

5) Have a pen and blank paper

Before my Esbat I like to find a window that has a view of the full moon, or walk outside my house if necessary, and just breathe deep and focus on the feeling of the night. 

1) For my circle casting at home I use candles and incense for my altar. Here is a typical altar set-up for an esbat at home.

Here is a basic four element set-up of earth, water, air, fire. Along with that I put a triple moon to represent the stages of the goddess. I only put these moon symbols like this for Esbats. I also only have one candle to focus on the aspects of the Goddess at this time, although I do acknowledge the force of the god in my ritual. This is all on my altar cloth.

2) I like to listen to songs about the Goddess to raise awareness and energy. Some of my favorites are Inkubus Sukkubus's Wytches Chant, oh my god it is so powerful I have to listen to it at every Esbat, and also Marie Bruce's Moon Chant, which to be honest I didn't like at first, but I love listening to it every Esbat now. While I listen to these songs I think of the aspects of the Goddess in all of her forms. I am very effected by music so this is often my favorite part. 

3) I like to look up different Goddess prayers that focus on her power and love, but also focus on guidance and wisdom. 

4) The first Esbat rite I found was on paganwiccan.about.com and I still use it with little variation because I find that it still serves me rather well. 

5) And last but not least I always have a blank piece of paper and pen ready. At the end of my ritual I start by reading my previous paper that I have kept with my altar kit. This is what I had written down during the previous month's Esbat. I write what I would like to banish in my life and what I would like to gain in this next month. I journal in my Book of Mirrors/Stars and write what has changed over the last month and what I look forward to in the next month. 

Once the rite is done, if I have any meditation I have wanted to try during a full moon I will go into that, I will consecrate any new tools, or I will cleanse some new stones. I like to end by listening to another Goddess song usually and then I close the circle. After the circle is closed I often like to go to an open window and read the two columns of Banish and Receive as I can't normally burn my paper in ritual. I usually just put the previous months Banish and Receive list in a shredder. 

For the dorm Esbat I do a similar ritual except I usually have to sit in my bed while my roomates are doing homework below (I have a top bunk), or wait until they are not there (I tend not to do the latter because I'm nervous that they will enter the room). I set up the altar like so:

Here I have just an emptied pencil holder from Target or Staples, my tea-light battery candle, and my triple moon on my altar cloth. When its dark it looks really cool!

The circle casting is very mental instead of represented by physical symbols, I call the four quarters but just imagine what each element represents and imagine their traits, i.e. fire is passionate but literally hot. 

The rest of the Esbat follows the same steps other than that, just a little more discreet. 

Something that helps me the most as a solitary closet witch is the reminder that we are all together underneath the moon. The fact that another person is celebrating the Goddess under the same moon, possibly at the same time as me, always brings a smile to my face.

Brightest Blessings and I hope you had a wonderful Esbat!

The Closet Witch

Coming Up: Divination: Tarot

Coming Up After: The Wheel of the Year Turning to Yule