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What are the "accepted" sabats?
Explain what sabats you follow and why
What are the most important Esbats in your practice?
What culture do you draw these myths from?
Are their other "holidays' That you participate in?
What is an esbat to you?
How many esbas do you perform a year and when?

What are the "accepted" sabats?
For my path the celebrations are as follow:

Helajuhla (4.20)
Juhannus (6.24)
Karhunpäivä (7.13)
Kekri (11.1 sometimes celebrated earlier, in the end of October)
Keskitalvi (12.24)
Talvennapa (1.13)

Those are the most commonly accepted names and dates, though sometimes they may vary, and there can be more or less on that list, too.

Explain what sabats you follow and why
All of those on the list - because they all have their purpose. Hard to give a more detailed answer than that to the "why", without going to details on all of the celebrations and their meanings. They all have some myths tied to them, that make them worth celebrating, so I note the days and celebrate them if I just can.

What are the most important Esbats in your practice?
Umm, no idea? I've sometimes heard the word, but I'm not familiar with it. Not sure if that sort of thing even exists within my path.

What culture do you draw these myths from?
Finnish.

Are their other "holidays' That you participate in?
Not so much. I do spend Christmas with my family, but that falls to the same date that one of the Finn recon celebrations, so it's more like I'm celebrating the Midwinter there. Similarly the Midsummer (juhannus) is a national holiday around here, and though it has been added a bunch of Christian ideas to it, it's still celebrated pretty much like it used to be when it was a pagan holiday...

What is an esbat to you?
Still don't know the answer to that one. sweatdrop

How many esbas do you perform a year and when?
... or this.

Sure. 3nodding

The spring festival called Helajuhla is held in purpose of honoring the gods and spirits of fields and crops, since Finland is quite agricultural place. (This one doesn't hold much personal meaning to me, because I'm not a farmer, obviously, but the myths still say the crops are going to stop growing if the celebration is not held, so I'll keep on with it.)

Juhannus is a midsummer festival. It's not a too major celebration, since this wasn't even seen as the "actual" midsummer, that's the next one. Juhannus is often celebrated in honor to the sky god called Ukko, and for the sun as the days are now going to get shorter.

Now, Karhunpäivä, the day of the bear, literally translating, is one of the most important holidays (this one's also the actual midsummer, the warmest time of the year). The bear is a holy creature in Finnish mythology, and quite often he's also seen as a brother to humans. According to the myths, the bear was born in midsummer, so Karhunpäivä is sort of a birthday celebration for him.

Kekri is the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter, and also a time to remember and honor the ancestors. It's also celebrated as the end of the old year and the beginning of the new one.

Not too much to tell about keskitalvi (meaning midwinter, though again, not "actual" one) since it's not very important day, and sometimes not even celebrated. It's for the shortest day of the year, and for the sun as it's turning on its course.

Talvennapa is the actual midwinter, and the second feast for the bear. According to the myths, now's the time for the sleeping bear to turn around and break the winter so the spring will come. Sometimes this day is also for celebrating the death of the bear (just as the midsummer is for his birth).


Well, I think I did that above.


Oh. Not those for me, then.


Mostly folk stories, songs and poems. Not much in addition to those when it comes to things like mythology.


Meaning the midsummer? Well, though the day is now meant to honor John the Baptist, people still celebrate it by burning bonfires, drinking toasts and getting drunk - and that's how it was celebrated before Christianity came to Finland, only that the toasts were for Ukko.