Autumn Equinox is "Giving Thanks". Mabon is the Witch's Thanksgiving, this is a time where the Sun's path crosses over the equator, traveling south. We now celebrate the darkness as the whole world honors equal night and day. The summer is gone. This was the time when the ancients and our ancestors gathered fruits and vegetables from the garden in preparation for the winter. This is a time to give away what we no longer need. We now must reap what we have sown from the spring equinox. Many people find this to be the perfect time for storing their own fruits and vegetables by canning, pickling, and other storing methods . With the fall comes cooler, crisp air and the dulling of colors. Everything is now turning with the season, there is a restlessness in the air and the harvest moon is round and almost wheat colored, glowing from the sun.
The flaming color of the leaves is a reminder that life burns most intensely just before it dies. Mabon is the time where we can reflect and remember those friends and relatives who may have past in the past year, as we watch the falling leaves. We give thanks for the abundance in our lives, as the sun is about to enter Libra, the cardinal air sign of balance.
Rituals and Ceremonies
Depending on your individual spiritual path, there are many different ways you can celebrate Mabon, but typically the focus is on either the second harvest aspect or the balance between light and dark. This, after all, is the time when there is an equal amount of day and night. While we celebrate the gifts of the earth, we also accept that the soil is dying. We have food to eat, but the crops are brown and going dormant. Warmth is behind us, cold lies ahead. Here are a few rituals you may want to think about trying.
Setting Up Your Mabon Altar
Celebrate the Mabon Sabbat by decorating your altar with the colors and symbols of the late harvest season.
Candles:
Brown - Stability, Focus, grounding
Orange - Vitality, Energy
Yellow - Warmth, Friendship, Creativity
Stones: Smoky quartz, Bloodstone, Carnelian, Quartz, Jasper
Sunflowers and their seeds, marigolds, dried summertime flowers, pumpkin seeds, mini pumpkins and gourds, apples (fresh or dried), pears (fresh or dried), ears of dried corn and/or corn husks, sheaves of wheat, fall leaves, acorns, chestnuts, seed pods & feathers.
Create An Outdoor Mabon Altar
If you have a safe, private place to do so, consider creating a seasonal altar outdoors for Mabon or adorning an existing outdoor altar in ways that align with Mabon and your spiritual path.
Your altar need not be massive. You can base it off of small outdoor table, a stable rock or tree stump, or simply a cleared spot of land.
Create A Crystal Grid For Mabon
Crystal grids are incredible ways to harness the power, energy and benefits of working with crystals.
I adore putting together blessed and charged crystal grids for the Pagan holidays, often leaving them on one of my altars until the next sabbat approaches.
The sky is the limit when it comes to designing and laying out a crystal grid for Mabon.
You could opt to include only crystals, stones and/or rocks or may wish to involve other natural or manmade elements as well.
Numerous crystals are associated with Mabon. These include, but are not limited to, citrine, aragonite, jasper, sunstone, garnet, amber, cat’s eye, orange calcite, carnelian, pyrite, aventurine, peach selenite, rhyolite, and peach moonstone.
Mabon Meditation Ritual
If you're feeling a bit spiritually lopsided, with this simple meditation ritual you can restore a little balance into your life.
You will need 1 x Black Candle, 1 x White Candle
The setting for this ritual should be calm and a quiet place.
Light both candles, and say the following:
A balance of night and day, a balance of light and dark
Tonight I seek balance in my life
as it is found in the Universe.
A black candle for darkness and pain
and things I can eliminate from my life.
A white candle for the light, and for joy
and all the abundance I wish to bring forth.
At Mabon, the time of the equinox,
there is harmony and balance in the Universe,
and so there shall be in my life.
Say Goodbye On A Leaf
Write things you want to let go of on a fallen leaf. Just as the trees are shedding what they no longer need, so too can we say goodbye to what no longer serves us.
After writing on the leaf, you can crush it or leave it whole, let it blow away, burn it, bury it, whatever feels good to you.
Symbols of Mabon
The Cornucopia
The Cornucopia, or Horn of Plenty, is a traditional symbol for Mabon. It is a wonderful symbol for the wealth of harvest and is beautifuly balanced symbol which is both male (phallic) and female (hollow and receptive)
The Apple
The apple is the symbol of the Fruit Harvest. The apple figures significantly in many sacred traditions. It is a symbol for life and immortality, for healing, renewal, regeneration and wholeness. It is associated with beauty, long life and restored youth. The Ogham name for apple is Quert and Quert is the epitome of health and vitality. The apple is at the heart of the Ogham grove and is the source of life. For Pagans, the apple contains a 'secret'. Cut an apple width ways and it reveals a pentagram containing seeds. It is a much loved symbol of Paganism. The five points represent the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water with Spirit at the top, and thus also the directions of East, South, West, North and Within.
The Gods and Goddesses of Mabon
This festival takes its name from the Welsh god of mythology, Mabon. He is the son of the Earth Mother Goddess Modron, and is the Child of Light. He is also known as Mabon ap Modron. Wiccans celebrate this as the time where the goddess is ageing. She is descending into the underworld and passing from her Mother to her Crone state. Druids used this time of year to honour the god of the forest, The Green Man. He is a symbol of life, nature and divinity.
Pagans see the Green Man as a symbol of seasonal renewal. The Green Man is seen as a representation of The Horned God, which is viewed as the masculine side of divinity.
Mabon Autumn Equinox Herbal Magic
Sage, Yarrow, Cinnamon, Rosemary, Mugwort, Rosehip
Mabon Flowers
Sunflowers, Thistle, Marigolds
Mabon Animals
Owl, Stag, Blackbird, Salmon
Mabon Incense, Candles, and Scents
Apple, Clove, Cinnamon, Pumpkin
More Easy Ways To Celebrate Mabon
🍁 Host a bonfire for friends and family
🍁 Decorate your porch or entryway with traditional autumn greenery
🍁 Write down all your blessings from the past year in a journal
🍁 Go apple picking
🍁 Have a picnic
🍁 Clean your house and get rid of stagnant or negative energy
🍁 Host a Mabon dinner with your family
Mystiques Enchantments Mabon House Tip: A simple Mabon celebration you can do at bedtime is light a candle, close your eyes and breathe deeply for five minutes, giving thanks for all your blessings.