Mabon
Day and night are equal again, and this time the dark wins. The apples are in, the vines are heavy, the geese are going over, and the light has a colour it has at no other time of year. Mabon is the witches' thanksgiving, and the moment we turn, deliberately, to face the winter.
What it is
The autumn equinox had no single old name in the Celtic world; the harvest festivals ran from Lughnasadh to Samhain without stopping. The name Mabon, after the Welsh divine youth Mabon ap Modron, was given to the Sabbat in the 1970s by the American witch Aidan Kelly, and it has stuck. Mabon in the old stories was stolen from his mother three nights after his birth and found again, long after, in a prison beneath the earth, which makes him a good patron for a festival about the descent into the dark.
For witches, Mabon is the second harvest, of fruit and vine rather than grain, and the festival of balance tipping. The God is now the aged king, going down into the earth; the Goddess is turning from Mother toward Crone. It is a time to give thanks for what we have gathered, to share it, and to make sure we have enough for the winter, in the larder and in the heart.
How we keep it at the Hearth
- The harvest supper. Everyone brings a dish made of something from the season, and we eat until nobody can move. This is the Sabbat where the Hearth's cooks show off.
- The horn of plenty. The altar is heaped with apples, squash, nuts, grapes, and the last flowers. Afterwards it all goes to the food bank, and we think that is the most important part.
- The balance. As at Ostara we stand at the centre, but now we name what we are grateful for and what we are ready to let fall with the leaves.
- Apple divination. The apple cut crosswise shows the pentagram of seeds. We eat them and ask what the dark will teach us.
- Preparing the larder. Preserves, chutneys, dried herbs, cordials. Half the point of Mabon is jars.
Correspondences
| Colours | Russet, brown, deep gold, burgundy, dark green |
|---|---|
| Foods | Apples, pears, grapes, squash, nuts, root vegetables, cider, wine, blackberry crumble |
| Herbs and plants | Apple, oak, ivy, hazel, hops, marigold, sage, rosehip, bramble |
| Symbols | The cornucopia, the apple, the scales, the gourd, the falling leaf, the wine cup |
| Deities honoured | Mabon and Modron, Persephone descending, Dionysus, Pomona, the Dagda, the Mother turning Crone |
Small things to do
- Cut an apple across the middle and look at the star. Eat it slowly.
- Make one jar of anything that will keep. Label it with the date and a wish.
- Give away food. A bag to the food bank, a cake to a neighbour.
- Write down what you are thankful for this year. Be specific. Read it at Yule.
- Watch the geese go over, and let something go with them.
A Mabon blessing
The scale stands even, and tips toward the dark, and we are not afraid. For the fruit and the vine, for the full larder and the full heart, for every hand that helped to gather: thanks. Old King going down, Lady turning toward the dark: we will follow you into the quiet. We have enough.
Next on the wheel: Samhain, where the wheel begins again.