Esbats
What is an Esbat?
An Esbat simply put, is a gathering of witches who belong to a coven who meet at a particular moon phase to perform various forms of magics. Covens don’t have to wait for a particular moon phase to get together to perform magic though, they can decide to meet whenever it is convenient. Although the most common times to host an Esbat is usually as close as is practical to the actual astrological timing of the Full or New moon. Sabbats are of course the other times when witches gather together, but these are Seasonal celebrations which tend to be more festive and celebratory in nature.
An Esbat is in our coven, is usually focused on spells and other types of magic. In our tradition, only those who have attained the level of Covener 1st degree are permitted to participate in Esbat meetings. This is because a certain level of proficiency needs to have been demonstrated first. Another reason for this is that the nature of the workings are often more private, in that the workings are often tradition specific and specialized knowledge is required.
Only skilled individuals are permitted to attend Esbats, is because a great deal of harmony and one-mindedness is required in order to be successful in magical endeavors. One of our elders talked at length about why successful results are achieved in a coven that values quality over quantity. In other words it is not the number of witches who are performing the magic together, but rather the quality that is important, because: “..a mass number of witches working on an issue does not necessarily equal success in any way. Instead, it is the quality of work, skill and training that dictates success. A small group of three serious occultists can out-power a large mass of sloppy occult work. The emphasis should be on quality, rather than quantity. With so many large groupings of people divided over the things that don’t seem to matter much, this is a word of caution for those that don’t have like-minded focus. When it comes to witchcraft, it is rarely politics and opinions that matter – actual results are the only measure of success.”
