Like spring, Mabon is a great time to clean up at home. You could also choose an intention with some other connection to the changing seasons and deceasing light, like getting to bed earlier! Declutter Some people like to use this holiday as an occasion to set intentions, especially those around decreasing something, like giving up a bad habit. Eat all the applesĪpples are a common symbol of Mabon, so bring them into your home as fresh fruit, juice or cider, delicious warm pies or pastries, or even scented candles. It also brings a recognition of a mental and physical adjustment needed for the darker, longer nights and harder conditions ahead. 9 Things You Never Knew About IRL WitchesĪt its core, Mabon is all about gratitude for what has been reaped this year, with an eye to the hardships of winter.If you want to celebrate Mabon in some way, whether it's inviting friends over for dinner or just treating yourself to a pumpkin spice latte, go for it. Not at all! While Wiccans and other neo-pagans may choose to honor specific gods and goddesses or incorporate certain rituals, cultures worldwide celebrate harvest festivals. Do You Have to Be Wiccan to Celebrate Mabon? There’s Oktoberfest in Germany, Mid-Autumn Festival in China, Mehregan in Iran, and even American Thanksgiving was originally on October 3 (much closer to the actual harvest season). Many cultures celebrate some kind of harvest festival near the fall equinox. In different cultures, this goddess has different names: the Crone, Persephone, Chumunda, Hecate, and Kali are some of them. This is a goddess archetype that speaks to our shadow side-the parts of ourselves we don't always like to recognize, but are still there. Today, some modern-day celebrants honor " the Dark Mother" during Mabon. In British folklore, Mabon is associated with Herne the Hunter and the start of deer-hunting season. In Celtic folklore, the name Mabon (although some historians dispute this) is thought to come from the Welsh god Mabon, who was the son of the Earth Mother Goddess and a god of light himself. How to Celebrate Samhain, the Witches’ New Year.Use the Wheel of the Year to mark the passage of time in your world mindfully. Marking these festivals can be a simple reminder of all you have to be grateful for, a reason to gather with others, and a nudge to plan things to look forward to and work towards in the season ahead. The other seven fall on the spring equinox (Ostara), the summer solstice (Litha), the winter solstice (Yule), and the four midpoints, or “cross-quarters,” that are halfway between a solstice and an equinox (these are called Imbolc, Beltain, Lammas, and Samhain). Mabon is one of eight festivals of the Wheel of the Year. It's a balancing and nature-aligning way to live life in tune with the rhythm of the earth’s life cycles.Īlthough these turning points have varied from culture to culture, Wiccans and other neo-pagans follow the schedule set out in the something called " the Wheel of the Year." The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of eight festivals, which divide the year into eight "sections." The start of each is marked by a festival that is celebrated individually and collectively as a community. 75 Witch Books That Belong on Your Bookshelfįrom ancient times, people around the world have marked seasonal turning points, using them as opportunities to give thanks, reflect on what they've reaped, and prepare for what they will sow next.Today, the fall equinox is a time to get cozy (say hello to pumpkin spice lattes, s’mores, giant cardigans, and not going ~ out-out~), focus on the home, give thanks for security, and share with others. There’d be feasting, fires, offerings, and sacrifices. Ancient Celts and pagans used this day to give thanks to nature for a good harvest and to pray to their gods and goddesses that the crop would last throughout the winter. This group of druidic, tree-lovin’ people celebrated the Earth’s cycles and seasons by dividing the year into eight segments at key seasonal turning points, creating eight festivals that are still celebrated today by Wiccans and neo-pagans. It’s a pagan celebration originating from the ancient Celts, who populated Britain and much of Northwest Europe before the march of the Romans (so we’re going back nearly 2,000 years here). Ma-what? Mabon takes place on the fall equinox. Mark your calendar for September 23 and start making plans to celebrate Mabon.
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