Author: A Solitary Pagan

Mabon : The Festival and its Meaning

Mabon celebrates the “Harvest home” the end of the grain harvest. The fields are all cleared and in the garden, most of the crops have come to an end. Only the Apples and Pears and the winter-hardy plants remain. As the sun retreats, the earth pulls in. All growth stops, the sap is withdrawn into the tree roots and the leaves begin to turn. It is time to look over what we have achieved and what we...

Mabon: A time of Balance

Mabon is a time of balance when there are equal hours of darkness and light, and that can affect people in different ways. For some, it’s a season to honor the darker aspects of the goddess, calling upon that which is devoid of light. For others, it’s a time of thankfulness, of gratitude for the abundance we have at the season of harvest. Because this is, for many people, a time of high energy, th...

Mabon: Raising Energy

It’s not uncommon for Pagans and Witches to make remarks regarding the “energy” of an experience or event. If you’re having friends or family over to celebrate Mabon with you, you can raise group energy by working together. A great way to do this is with a drum or music circle. Invite everyone to bring drums, rattles, bells, or other instruments. Those who don’t have an instrument can clap their h...

Mabon; Goddess and Gods

At Mabon the Goddess is the Lady of the fruitful harvest. She has given nearly all she has to give and watches over us while we reap the final sheave. She is growing old and wise with the year and offers us wisdom, healing and rest. In the Land of Shadows, she receives the dying God with outstretched arms and yet, in her maiden aspect, she is pregnant with the God who will be born at Yule. The God...

Mabon: A time to get back to Nature

Fall is here, and that means the weather is bearable once more. The nights are becoming crisp and cool, and there’s a chill in the air. Take your family on a nature walk, and enjoy the changing sights and sounds of the outdoors. Listen for geese honking in the sky above you, check the trees for changing in the colors of the leaves, and watch the ground for dropped items like acorns, nuts, and seed...

Mabon: Celebrating Hearth and Home

As autumn rolls in, we know we’ll be spending more time indoors in just a few months. Take some time to do a fall version of spring cleaning. Physically clean your home from top to bottom, and then do a ritual smudging. Use sage or sweetgrass, or asperge with consecrated water as you go through your home and bless each room. Decorate your home with symbols of the harvest season, and set up a famil...

Kitchen Witch: Mabon, September 21st/ 23rd

Mabon marks the second harvest. The bounty of nature is dwindling. Earth begins to pull her fertility from the land. Humans and wild animals alike scramble to gather as much food as possible in preparation for the hard winter ahead. Grains are appropriate for Mabon—particularly corn. Corn chowder, boiled ears of corn, and creamed corn fit Mabon symbolism well. Beans, squash, and all other fall veg...

Honour the Darkness at Mabon

Without darkness, there is no light. Without night, there can be no day. Despite a basic human need to overlook the dark, there are many positive aspects to embracing the dark side, if it’s just for a short time. After all, it was Demeter’s love for her daughter Persephone that led her to wander the world, mourning for six months at a time, bringing us the death of the soil each fall. In some path...

Mabon : The Festival and its Meaning

Mabon celebrates the “Harvest home” the end of the grain harvest. The fields are all cleared and in the garden, most of the crops have come to an end. Only the Apples and Pears and the winter-hardy plants remain. As the sun retreats, the earth pulls in. All growth stops, the sap is withdrawn into the tree roots and the leaves begin to turn. It is time to look over what we have achieved and what we...

Mabon Explained

Autumn Equinox, 2nd Harvest, Falls Between September 21 – 23 Mabon, (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon, or MAH-bawn) is the Autumn Equinox. The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally, and we all take a moment to pay our respects to the impending dark. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year’s crops. The Druids call this celebration, Mea’n Fo’...

Lughnasadh Rites and Rituals for a Hedgewitch

This is the time of the first harvest, when the wheat that has ripened in the summer months is ready for harvest, turning golden as the sun. This is also when, hopefully, we begin to see the results of the work that we have done throughout the year. Know, however, that there is still much work to be done, and we cannot rest on our laurels! If you can, visit a field of wheat and pluck a few sheaves...

Lughnassadh

Time: Sunset 31 July-sunset 2 August (31 January-2 February in the southern hemisphere) Focus: Willing sacrifice for the greater good, natural justice and karma, trusting the cosmos to provide by giving without seeking immediate return; also spiritual transformation, renewal of the life force by absorbing the powers of the spirit of the corn through food and drink. This is the festival of the corn...