Parent's Guide to the Sabbats

By Patrick McCleary

This ebook is a culmination of the many years and the many posts here at PaganDad. Inside you will find activities and crafts for all ages to help you teach and celebrate the Sabbats with your children. There are ideas for traditions for your family to start as well as kid-friendly rituals for all the Sabbats. In other words it is the best of what can be found here at PaganDad in one convenient package. And for the younger kids there is a small wordsearch at the end of each chapter with questions about the Sabbats. And don’t worry I included the answers as well, for those with test anxiety.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Patrick McCleary
• Release date: Jul 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781370328444

Patrick McCleary

Patrick is a Pagan father of two wonderful daughters, hence why he is PaganDad. He runs the blog PaganDad and moderates the blogs The Pagan Household as well as the Pagan Village, the go to place for Pagan families to network on the web.

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The Parent's Guide to the Sabbats

By

Patrick McCleary

PaganDad

SMASHWORDS EDITION

* * * *

PUBLISHED BY:

Patrick McCleary on Smashwords

Paren'ts Guide to the Sabbats

Copyright © 2012 by Patrick McCleary

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IMBOLC

To our ancestors Imbolc was  the time that they looked forward to the end of snow and the slow return of light as the days begin to lengthen. Food was getting scarce and the food that they had was beginning to spoil. So now was an opportune time to have a feast to eat what could be saved before it spoiled further.

Today we have grocery stores filled with an abundance of food, and the concept of starving is foreign to many of us. So how do we explain this return of light to our children, especially the younger ones?

If you live where there is snow then it is easy to point out that the snow will be ending very soon. Yes I know that in some places that snow may continue to fall in large amounts all the way into April and May but for the most part we should see the snow begin to lessen.  You can also point out how this is the time that we begin to help the earth to wake up.

But none of this will help you to celebrate this February Sabbat with your kids, will it? There are many things that you can do from small crafts, to traditions you can start and even decorating you can do. So continue on for those different sections.

Decorating Tips

While decorating may not seem to be important to teaching your kids about Imbolc, it is the changing of this wreath with the changing seasons that will help them to connect it to something tangible. This helps in areas especially that don't have a clear change of seasons.

In our house we decorate a grapevine wreath with silk flowers traditional to this time of the year. But there is more than just silk flowers for you to decorate with. Here is a short list, but almost anything that invokes the return of the light.

Daffodils

Snowdrops

Daisies

If you lay it down and let it act as a centerpiece then you could put a candle in the center

If you choose to you can also set a Corn Dolly in among the flowers. Letting the wreath act as the Bride's Bed

Corn Dollies

For this project you are going to need dry corn husks. These should be available for purchase in your local grocer. For a simple one you are going to need five to six of these. You will also need string or raffia to make the necessary ties.

To start you need to soak them in room temperature water for about an hour. Just long enough for them to become supple.

After this you will need to lay four of them in a stack. With the flat ends all on side. About ¾ from the flat end you need to tie a string around them and cinch it tight. Then you are going to pull the other ends up and over, effectively turning the whole thing inside-out". Then tie again to form the head.

Then take a single husk and roll it up into a small tube. This