On the Autumn Equinox, we celebrate Mabon!

♥ 12 + 12 ♥

Mabon marks the Autumnal Equinox, when darkness and light are in absolute balance. The day has exactly as many hours as the night, and in this moment, harmony rules the universe. After this, the scales will tip.

Mabon is the second, and center, of the three major harvest festivals. It’s a little more somber than Lammas, as now there’s no denying that the season is in full flux. The cool air that greets you in the early mornings. The state of gardens and meadows and parks across town, all drooping dried plants and fallen fruit. And the light that’s slicing harsher across the horizon, casting everything is contrast of brightness and shadow. It’s beautiful, but ominous.

Because Mabon reminds us that winter is coming. After this festival, the days will be shorter than the nights. Darkness returns, and will continue to grow, all the way until we crest the Winter Solstice at Yule. So, this is a time of fortification. Battening down the hatches, if you will. We harvest and prepare, we reap and we preserve. It’s time to start stockpiling, both literally and metaphorically, so that we’ll be able to make it through the winter.

For the second time this year, the sun moves across the celestial equator — this time heading south. The sun, our incredible celestial life-giver from no less than 92 million miles away, has almost completed her annual journey. And on this day, on Mabon, she will rise at exactly due east, and she will set directly due west. On the equinoxes, I’m always reminded that you don’t need to believe in gods or goddesses, or an all-knowing universe, or anything else supernatural, to appreciate the exquisite symmetry of this moment. The natural is super enough. Teeming with chaos, random and massive and at times so overwhelming, and yet still, always — dependably and reliably — in perfect alignment.

And my goodness, I think that’s something to celebrate.

Mabon, the Autumn Equinox, has been recognized and celebrated by almost every culture across the world for as long as humans have been looking at stars. This year, the equinox falls on March 23rd. Some suggestions for celebrating in modern day include:

♥ Work in the garden. Gather and dry herbs, turn the soil, spread mulch. Focus on harvesting, fortifying, and amending types of tasks. ♥

♥ Make magic around unfinished business, both practical and spiritual. Clean your physical space. Tie up loose ends and complete lingering projects. Kondo your house and have a garage sale! Get your affairs in order. ♥

♥ For cooking: harvest bounty like apples, squash, corn, bread, autumn veggies, and baked goods.
For drinking: red wine, mulled cider, dark fruity drinks. ♥

♥ Reflect back on your year: are you reaping what you tried to sow? On Imbolc, when the world is still quiet, we set our intentions for the coming year. And then, on Ostara, we began to turn those aspirations into real action.

So, looking back, how did you do? It’s not too late to make a change . . . ♥





The candles burn. The days shorten. The seasons turn.

However you celebrate Mabon (or not!), I wish you a fall filled with coziness and cuddles, warm drinks and full bellies, gratitude and friendship and laughter and love. Happy Autumnal Equinox!

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Tags: holidays, witchcraft

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