ESBATS:
"The coven meets in moontime, new full, or dark. The rituals are healing rituals, magical workings, times of growth, inspiration, insight. They change constantly, are never static. We make them anew, rewrite them, recreate them, but always on the same pattern: the creation of the sacred space, the invocations, the use of magical symbols, the raising of the Cone of Power, trance, sharing of food and drink and laughter, and the formal return to ordinary space and time. The ritual may be formal or informal; scripted or spontaneous; structured or loose -- as long as it is alive. As long as it sings."
Generally speaking, any Wiccan ritual held at any time other than a Sabbat is an Esbat. Full Moon rituals are Esbats, but not the only Esbats. New Moon rituals are also Esbats.
There are many reasons to observe Esbats. You may wish to talk with Mother Earth, and there's no better place to do so than safely within a circle. You may have an urgent need that demands a circle be held and power raised within it.
Most Full Moon rituals are, obviously, held on the Full Moon. If this isn't possible, two days prior to or two days after the actual phase is considered to be close enough to the time.
At its full, the Moon subtly increases the amount of energy available from our bodies, thus making makgick performed during this phase that much more powerful. Women whose menstruation coincides with the Full Moon may be doubly or triply empowered.
When you invoke the Goddess in a Full Moon ritual, only invoke Her in Her lunar aspect.
Go here for a list of the different Phases of the Moon and their correspondences to give you some ideas of what each Esbat(Moon) deals with.
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