Yes, it is still August, and we just celebrated the Lughnasadh harvest festival. But it is a great time to start thinking about autumn and the equinox which this year will be on September 23 at 2:50 EDT. The moon at that time will be just past the first quarter full, a waxing gibbous. The day and night are in balance with the nights swiftly becoming longer than the days after the equinox. The autumnal equinox also known as Mabon is the second harvest celebration, and Samhain is the third one. Traditionally people knew what the harvest was like and whether they would have enough food for the winter by Mabon. Before electricity the Harvest Moon, which was the full moon closest to the equinox provided light with which to work and bring in the harvest. On the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year and in the Southern Hemisphere is Ostara, the other time of the year in which there is a balance of dark and light. After the vernal equinox the days are quickly becoming longer than the nights. Mabon is about the harvest, gratitude, the change in weather and balance.
This is a good time to think about balance in your life. Mabon is one of the two days of the year in which the length of the day and night are of equal lengths and are in balance. So how is your work life, personal life, spiritual life and life with family and friends? Do you get enough rest? What is out of whack and not in balance? Write down on a piece of paper what needs to change, light a candle and burn the piece of paper. Remember that along with doing the magick, you need to work mundanely to bring about that change.
Create a harvest altar. The colors to choose from for Mabon are gold, red, orange, brown and green. Those are great colors for the altar cloth, candles and other items such as robes and crafts. Think about incorporating a cornucopia into your altar design. Fill it with apples, nuts, grapes, colorful Native American corn and decorative gourds. Think about getting decorative gourds to later create as rattles. Put the corn, produce or flowers in a cauldron. Decorate your altar with gold, orange or red flowers.
Mabon is about abundance and is considered to be the Wiccan Thanksgiving. Think about expressing gratitude for a bountiful summer and indeed year. The bounty may include the areas of your life such as health, work, family, friends and financial stability. Make a list of things in your life for which you are thankful and express that gratitude.
Go on a nature walk and observe the change in the natural world around you as the weather cools. Take time to appreciate autumn. Take some pictures of the natural world and consider displaying some of them. Collect fallen leaves and acorns. Wax these fall leaves to use as decorations. All you need is a mini crock pot or your candle making double boiler, fresh autumn leaves, waxed paper and paraffin. Use a pot that has no candle coloring in it. Simply melt the paraffin in the pot. Taking care not to get the hot melted wax on your fingers, dip the leaves in the paraffin. Lay them on waxed paper, allow to cool and dip them again. Dip the stems as well. Or iron fresh leaves between sheets of waxed paper. These leaves can be used for lots of decorations such as garlands or sun catchers. You can incorporate fall leaves into a wreath for your home. Think about using fall leaves as stamps to decorate many kinds of things such as an altar cloth. Acorns make excellent touches in a wreath or you can create a wreath entirely out of acorns. Save those acorn caps, fill them with wax, include wicks, and you have tiny floating candles. Remember to save an acorn to tip a wand to represent the God at Imbolc. Acorns are easy to find at this time of year, so this is a great time to find what you will need for the year. Do this before squirrels and other wildlife munch on them and bury them.
There are other autumnal crafts you may enjoy. If spice scented candles are your thing, make some candles using orange candle coloring and pumpkin spice scent. Decorate a broom with fall inspired items such as leaves, gold, orange or red flowers, acorns and/or cinnamon sticks, and hang it up. Use colorful Native American corn kernels to string on a necklace. It is helpful to soak the kernels in water before stringing them with a needle and thread. It is traditional to make a corn dolly from wheat straw. You can also make one out of corn husks. Autumn Zenith has some terrific ideas about making a corn dolly with corn husks, a fall leaf globe (like a snow globe only with leaves) and using twine and light bulbs to create pear decorations.
On the equinox the sun will rise due east and set due west. You may decide to mark where the sun rises and sets on the landscape with a cairn, a very large rock or a bonfire. There are many structures that are oriented towards sun of the fall equinox. One of these structures is in Chaco Canyon where thin shafts of sunlight shine on a spiral and a petroglyph of a snake. The Great Sphinx and Pyramid of Khafre in Egypt align with the sun on the equinoxes.
Make an offering to the Goddess and the God. Remember to gift the best of what you have. An apple with worm holes will not do. Instead offer the shiniest apple you have. This is a great time for libations!
Foods and drinks that are appropriate for Mabon are seasonal and about the harvest. Grains like corn, squash, beans and other autumn vegetables are wonderful. Consider roasting corn on the cob and baking cornbread with blue cornmeal and honey. Blue corn is very nutritious. How about fixing some succotash? Fresh apple cider is a terrific drink for this time of year. Look for unfiltered apple cider at the farmer’s market or in the produce section of a grocery store. Yum!
On the day of this post the moon is dark. Think about the things that you want to kick out of your life.
I am very thankful for you, dear readers! I am stepping back from posting for a while to move and take care of some of my health concerns. As many of us Wiccans can do, I accumulated many items over the years and have to go through them! I plan to continue posting sometime next year. Meanwhile, if you have not done so already, please read my previous posts!
Auburn Greene
Suggested Investigation:
Boeckmann, Catherine. “6 Ancient Sites Aligned With the Solstice and Equinox.” The Old Farmer’s Almanac, March 10, 2023, almanac.com/content/ancient-sites-aligned-solstice-and-equinox.
Cabot, Laurie with Jean Mills. Celebrate the Earth: A Year of Holidays in the Pagan Tradition, Delta, 1994.
Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen, Llewellyn, 1990.
Forest, Danu. The Magical Year: Seasonal Celebrations to Honour Nature’s Ever-Turning Wheel, Watkins, 2016.
Fox, Selena. “Celebrating Fall Equinox.” Circle Sanctuary Network Podcasts, September 22, 2019, Encore from 2012. Check out not only the Circle Sanctuary Network Podcast archive, but listen live and see Selena Fox’s Facebook page.
Johnson, Cait and Maura D. Shaw. Celebrating the Great Mother: A Handbook of Earth-Honoring Activities for Parents and Children, Destiny Books, 1995.
Nock, Judy Ann. The Provenance Press Guide to the Wiccan Year: Spells, Rituals, Holiday Celebrations, Provenance Press, 2007.
Telesco, Patricia. A Kitchen Witch’s Cookbook, Llewellyn, 1994.
Wigington, Patti. “Mabon: The Autumn Equinox.” Learn Religions, April 5, 2023, learnreligions.com/all-about-mabon-the-autumn-equinox-2562286. Patti Wigington writes good articles not to be missed.
Zenith, Autumn. “50 Awesome Mabon Crafts, DYI Projects, and Décor Ideas for the Fall Equinox.” Witchcrafted Life, witchcraftedlife.com/50-awesome-mabon-crafts-dyi-projects-and-decor-ideas-for-the-fall-equinox/.
My Inner Wiccan 