Mabon/Autumn Equinox

This is a holiday marking the beginning of Fall in the Witches calendar year, commonly celebrated around September 21st.

In many areas, this is when the seasons begin to noticeably change. Suddenly the leaves begin to alter in color, the sky becomes more and more orange and night and day are in perfect balance yet again much as it was during the Spring Equinox. Where the Spring Equinox is more youthful, the Autumnal Equinox has a more matured edge to it. At this time, the harvest has been completed, and now it is time to rest and to prepare oneself again for the coming winter.

This is commonly known as the Witches Thanksgiving because our crops, both physically and metaphorically are ready to be enjoyed and therefore there is a sense of happy gluttony and the adding of some extra pounds for which much gratitude is expressed. Metaphorically this is the time of year to be grateful for what you have been able to accomplish during the Summer months.

Recognizing what did not grow, and what no longer requires energy. In myth, this is when the dark lords descend into the underworld fighting about who gets to survive. Of course the Holly King always wins and winter always comes, but the battle must continue every year so that we may learn and grow.

The History of Mabon

Mabon is the Equinox falls, which was is celebrated and named after the Celtic god who holds was called by the same name. Though it is a lesser Sabbat, it goes by different names. Due to the fact that most European peasants weren’t accomplished when it came to calculating the exact date when the equinox could be celebrated, they made sure that they did the celebration on a fixed calendar date, September 25th. It was then Christianized under the name of Michaelmas and believed to be a feast of the archangel Micheal; the rents due and contracts were settled on this particular day and also on Easter.

The day and the night are divided equally and everyone during this particular time takes a moment to reflect on the impending dark. The waning sunlight is also thanked as the harvested crops are stored. For the Druids, they honor the green man who is normally referred to as the forest god and they celebrate by offering potions to trees. The other gifts which are considered to be the best to be offered during this time include herbs, ciders, wines, and fertilizers. For Wiccans, the aging goddess is also celebrated on Mabon as she passes to Crone from Mother while the god prepares for death and rebirth.

Mabon is the time when people just relax while enjoying the gains of their personal harvest, when they are from straining in their lands, raising their families, occupied at their jobs, or just coping with the day’s activities. The full moon, which appears during equinox is normally referred to as the Harvest Moon due to the fact that, farmers have harvested their crops throughout then night with the lights of the light from the moon which is full aids them.

The Wine Moon is also marked in September, which is the cycle of the lunar when the grapes are normally gathered from the nooks, pressed and stored away to later on becoming the wine. Grapevines and wines were considered to be holy by the pagans of old. The pagans of this age honored grapes and wines as the symbol of the rebirth and transformation. The god and goddess are generally associated with wines with bread created from the crop.

According to olden myth, Mabon is the day of the year the god of darkness, who is the twin of the god of light, defeats him, altering his ego. The autumnal equinox throughout the year is the only day when Llew light looks vulnerable and there is a possibility that it could be defeated. If astrology is used as a guide and metaphor, it is easy to explain that, on this particular day, Llew stands on the balance of the autumnal equinox and Libra, one foot on the cauldron of summer solstice/cancer and the other one on the goat of winter solstice/Capricorn. The virgin Virgo betrays him and then he is transformed into a Scorpion.

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