The Wheel Of The Year Turns To Mabon On September 22nd
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Autumn Equinox occurs when the sun crosses the equator on it's journey southward. Day and night are of equal length. Up until Mabon, the hours of daylight were longer than the hours of night. From now on, it's the reverse. At Mabon though, light and dark are all in perfect balance. This is the time which celebrates our being right on this point.
On the Wheel of the Year, Mabon is traditionally the time of rest and celebration after the hard work of gathering in the crops. Warm Autumn days give way to the cooler nights. The Sun God's power fades away. The declining power of the Sun God is inevitable and we remember all things must come to an end. So as the Sun journeys back into the lands of winter we need to celebrate our successes, remember any of our hard life lessons and give thanks to whatever and whoever may have helped us. We, too, are part of this eternal balance of life
This is also our time to reap what we have sown. This happens literally, by physical harvesting of the bounty of the land, to eat and store. We also harvest metaphorically, by giving thanks for all the good things that have happened in our lives so far. This is a time to look back not just on the past year, but your whole life, and to plan for the future. Mabon is also the perfect time to finish up projects and plans and then plant the seeds for new enterprises and changes.
Mabon is also such a wonderful time to gather together and enjoy preparing and sharing all the foods of this lovely season with your friends and family to celebrate the Harvest. If you prefer a more solitary path of celebration, you can and should enjoy the bounty on offer at this time of year by preparing a delicious meal for yourself or by displaying colourful Fall food and flora on a Mabon altar.
Special activities and rituals for Mabon
A Mabon Ritual of Letting Go
Gather up some leaves that have fallen from the trees. I particularly like to work with Oak leaves at this time of year. Give thanks to the trees for the gift. Take the leaves and place them where they can dry out. On the morning of Mabon, take your leaves and as you hold them, consider any issues in your life that you now wish to heal or discard.
- As you think of each thing, select a single leaf to represent it. You can work further in this way by mentally attaching symbols to each leaf or physically making a mark on each of them that represent the issues to you.
- As you hold each leaf, consider the circumstances around each issue, what led to it, what you could have done differently or how your own behaviour might have been a contributing factor.
- Now hold each dried leaf in turn, take slow deep breaths and focus on what you can do better to help you avoid regrets in the future. Hold your leaf up to the God and The Goddess and ask that this problem be taken from you and healed - for the good of all and with harm to none.
Crush each leaf in your hand as you make this invocation. Gather the leaves and cast them away. You can cast them into the water - the sea or a river, as moving water is best for this. You can burn them away in an Autumn Equinox fire or bonfire or you can cast them to the winds, to blow away forever.....
You can choose to decorate your home with symbols of the harvest season, Autumn leaves, gourds and fallen twigs look really beautiful placed in decorative baskets or containers around the house.
On a practical level- do some maintenance and repairs! If anything needs to be done, do it now so you don't have to worry over the coming Winter. Re-gift, recycle or give away any items that are no longer of use in your home or your life.
If you're going to gather with friends for a Mabon/Harvest meal, before you enjoy the delicious food you've prepared, here's a prayer you can say as you bless the food on your table. You can light Mabon candles as you do this - yellow, orange or red to honour The Sun, black for the darker nights to come, green to honour the prosperity of the harvest and brown for The Earth
A Mabon Prayer
Harvest is here
The light dims and the land sleeps once more
We gather to honour the bounty of The Earth
On our table and in our hearts and lives
For this we give eternal thanks to the God and the Goddess
Blessed Be.
Have a wonderful and bountiful Mabon. I wish you Autumn Equinox blessings!