12th Night By Deenagh © 16/06/2007
This sabbat has largely been ( on the whole ) Overlooked by the Pagan Community and has now become the Forgotten 9th sabbat.
However it is a wonderful time to re-establish your own Journey and set of instructions for the way ahead.
On the 12th night, 12 days after Yule on or about the 2nd of january, we celebrate the sabbat of The Rite of Passage. Following the celebrations of Yule at the birth of the Sun God, the young God is Initiated into his clan and his heritage. One day in our realm represents about 1 yearfor the Gods & Goddesses, so at the age of 12 years, the God is given his instructions for his life in this rite of passage.It is on this night that the Goddess carries out her final duty as the crone before she is transformed into her Maiden Phase at Imbolc. She can be viewed as the God's Grandmother and her wisdom is passed onto her Grandson. She names the God and Initates him into his clan and his heritage. She gives him his majikal tools and sends him forth to fulfil heis destiny.This is a time to honour the God and send him wishes of success on his journey ahead. It is also a time to honour the Goddess and her wisdomas the crone. She is the wise one who has fulfilled her destiny and reaches the end of her cycle, ready to rest before her transformation into the maiden, the cycle starts again and she to moves out on her Journey where she will be re-united with the God at beltaine.
It is a pitty that this sabbat has been forgotten, it shows us that everyone ( even the Goddesses & Gods ) have to go through some sort of Initation to become Adult. We still see some tribal cultures sending out their young into danger and if they survive to return home, they return as Adults to take their place in tribal society. It also shows the importance of the Old and the valuable information that they have to impart to the younger generation. By Stormwalker
