Mabon | Autumnal Equinox
A turn of the wheel. Nature's cycles bringing us to another harvest, a shifting into fall.
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I am currently into the second year of honoring the Wheel of the Year series that focuses on the eight Celtic/Pagan Sabbats. This year digging in and diving deeper… Welcome to Mabon. Love to you all!
The Wheel
And the Wheel of the Year turns again… We come to the last sabbat, Mabon, the autumnal equinox. An interval where the light and dark, day and night are of equal length and balance. This liminal space where multiple events are happening. In the Northern Hemisphere the longer days are dwindling, becoming equal in length with the nights. In the Southern Hemisphere the longer nights are abating, becoming more balanced with the days as the vernal equinox approaches. How glorious to consider that there is a point in time where all of this converges. A liminality of our shared experience.
Mabon
Mabon is the sabbat celebrated around the autumnal equinox. The approaching of the threshold, pausing at it and then crossing over.
Where I live the weather is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and arid climates. Summer days are hot. Recently though, as they creep towards autumn, this has brought cooler mornings and evenings. The trees have begun to change as well, the leaves shifting into new colors. Not so exquisitely manifest as in New England where I was raised, yet the pistachio trees around the neighborhood and in my back yard are quite wonderful.
Mabon is a more recent Celtic/pagan celebration, yet it still has roots in the harvest festivals of long ago. It’s considered the second harvest after the first one of Lughnasadha, that of berries, vegetables and grains. At Mabon it’s the apples, and they are sure abundant and delicious right now. Living in wine country, it’s about the grapes too, and they are almost ready for picking. Other items harvested at this time are squashes, pumpkins, root vegetables and nuts. I will say though the tomatoes from my garden are still going strong!
Right between the summer and winter solstice, Mabon is a time of balance and equilibrium, A transition as we move from light to dark, growth to harvest, maturation to seed, wilting to dying. A perfect time to honor the cycles of life and nature. Inviting us to pay attention to how the life force moves in the world, in nature, and in our own lives. Manifesting as impermanence, both a great gift and challenge. A wonderful time to ask ourselves, what is being harvested in our own lives? What is ebbing and wilting away? For this is at time of letting go. We see it in nature’s beautiful relinquishment.
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
Blessings to all of you in the Southern Hemisphere! The Vernal equinox as spring has arrived! Your days are getting longer and warmer. It’s the time of Ostara. The gestation that has been building in potential and hidden away is now birthing and manifesting. A celebration of seeds sprouting and growing. Trees budding with fresh new vibrant green leaves. Eggs that were laid, are hatching new chicks. Newness and excitement are in the air!
THE MOON
The autumnal equinox occurs on September 22nd, at 5:44 am PDT. The moon at this time is a waning gibbous, in the sign of Gemini. The last quarter arriving on September 24th, at 7:50 am PDT, in the sign of Cancer. The astrological influences here are about letting curiosity and the wonder of life find a deeper grounding by looking at the bigger picture. Balance is important here, especially as this is brought to our homes as we move into Cancer.
PERSEPHONE AND DEMETER
This Sabbat was named in the 1970’s after the Welsh hero Mabon ap Modron, meaning Son of Mother. A myth about him being taken hostage as a baby into the underworld. Reminding me of the Greek classic accounts of Persephone, Demeter and Hades.
This story is more than a myth of how the seasons came to be. It is a significant tale of the importance of life and death, light and dark. At this time of year, it’s about traveling to the underworld. Similarly like the story of Inanna, where Inanna descends into the dark mother. Passing through each gateway, removing the vestiges of the over world. Naked she enters the cave of the heart, where deeper mysteries are revealed.
In the story of Persephone, she is abducted by Hades and taken into the womb of the underworld. In this way Persephone also removes her vestiges. That of maidenhood, innocence and dependence on others. In this land of the dead, she gains knowledge and self-awareness. Eating the seeds of the pomegranate she embodies the cycles of life and death. Maturing into a passionate matriarch, a queen with all the strength and wisdom that position requires.
Of course, above ground Persephone’s mother Demeter is deeply grieving. All she knows is that her daughter has been kidnapped, her grief an unending darkness. As the goddess of agriculture and nature, the resulting effect on the earth is devastating. A barren land where the plants withered and faded away, eventually dying or hibernating as seeds under the soil. Thus, symbolizing the autumn and winter season.
As the story goes a compromise is made so that Persephone spends half of the year in the underworld with Hades and half the year above with her mother, Demeter. The latter being the time of spring and summer. And that is the story for another time. But is it? For ironically, the southern hemisphere is entering spring! Reminding me of the quantum physics principle of entanglement. Meaning these archetypes are interconnected across distance, place and time.
As for Mabon, it is a reminder that transformation is not always about growth and light, but also about letting go, yielding and sacrifice. An underworld initiation that transpires through intention, relinquishment and challenge. A longing for deeper understanding about life and ourselves that requires a deep dive within. A sacred grace that can only transpire through an apprenticeship with darkness.
Celebrating Mabon
There are many ways to honor Mabon, here are a few:
Create an altar.
Spend time in nature. Slow down, connect with Her cycles as a felt experience.
Delegate some time for reflection. An introspection over this past year.
Give gratitude for what you have reaped through natures cycles. Thankfulness for this current harvest.
Prepare a feast and celebrate with others.
Bake or cook with apples. Make a pie, a crisp, muffins, tart, bread and/or pancakes.
Honor the Darkness and the Dark Mother.
Visit a winery, drink some wine.
Contemplate balance. That of light and dark, life and death, activity and rest, giving and receiving.
Declutter, a removal of vestiges.
Work with divination using Tarot, Oracle cards or Runes. (see suggested questions below)
POEM - MABON
Standing before the portal
we reside in shrinking light.
Once the threshold is crossed
we enter the dark of night.
For a moment it’s an equal balance.
Where liminality blurs and blends.
A sacred union of opposites
that has no beginning or end
The underworld’s doorway is open.
An increasing darkness calls.
Summoning us with familiar echo’s
reverberating through the walls.
An invocation not of fear.
But a soft and recognizable whisper.
To this sacred womb of being,
we ultimately surrender.
BLESSING:
May this time of Mabon be a reflection on equipoise. A rest into a natural balance that embraces both dark and light. Recognizing the abundance of this current harvest alongside the withering and wilting away. An invitation to see life and death in their ongoing dance. Cycles that begin and end, only to come around again and again. Mirroring our own inner rhythms. May we listen deeply to our soul and heart. Aligning with what is needed right now. Honoring our bodies, nervous systems and what is transpiring in our lives. Taking time to breathe, rest and be still. A natural listening to what is calling.
Blessed Be!
Questions for you…
What is being harvested in my life right now?
What is currently changing or transitioning?
What aspects require a greater balance?
What do I need to let go of?
How can I prepare for this underworld journey?
Would love to know your thoughts and feelings. Let’s have a conversation…
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Julie,
This post is beautiful, firstly. I listened on my afternoon walk, then read it on my computer afterward, replete with the images that welcome me. I was struck when I heard equipoise in the context of equinox. And I experienced the narrative of Persephone anew. I had not grokked the symbolism with the seasonal polarities in quite the way I do today.
Then I ate an apple! Listening first has its blessings!
I did my own mabon tarot spread yesterday and pulled a card, and my tarot reversals book directly cited the Persephone cycle-that she guides the souls to the underground in the autumn and out in the spring. This was one of the three gifts of Mabon my guide directed me to acknowledge.
I was going to keep this reading in my journal but since it seems to be lining up, with both this and other synchronicities, I think I will post it this morning.