Sabbath

===Wicca===
{{See also|Sabbat|Esbat|Witches' Sabbath}}
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2022}}
The annual cycle of the Earth's seasons is called the Wheel of the Year in [[Wicca]] and [[neopaganism]]. Eight [[sabbat]]s (occasionally "sabbaths", or "Sun sabbats") are spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. [[Samhain]], which coincides with [[Halloween]], is considered the first sabbat of the year.

An esbat is a ritual observance of the [[full moon]] in Wicca and neopaganism. Some groups extend the esbat to include the dark moon and the first and last quarters. "Esbat" and "sabbat" are distinct and are probably not [[cognate]] terms, although an esbat is also called "moon sabbat".

European records from the [[Middle Ages]] to the 17th century or later also place Witches' Sabbaths on similar dates to sabbats in modern Wicca, but with some disagreement; medieval reports of sabbat activity are generally not firsthand and may be imaginative, but many persons were accused of, or tried for, taking part in sabbats.