Mabon

Mabon or Autum Equinox is the second harvest festival.  Like Spring Equinox, Autun Equinox is a balance of night and day and light and dark, but now we are moving from light into darkness, from warmth into cold.

We gather in the harvest of summer, and prepare for winter. Everything in nature is constantly giving to and recieving from everthing else.  When we recieve gifts we give thanks, and try to give something back. It is a part of keeping the balance. As we are gathering in all the gifts of the Goddess, fruits, nuts, grains, and blessings, we also try to give something back, to make an offering, to express our thanks by doing a good deed, leaving fruit and honey out for the fae folk, or cleaning our yard.

This is also a time to look back at all the things and people we have to be thankful for. It is also a time to take stock of ourselves, and see how much we have grown and changed throughout the year.

At Mabon the Mother of the Harvest becomes the Old One, the wise grandmother who teaches us to rest after our labors. We also honor the Goddess Demeter, who is Goddess of all growing things, and Her daughter Persephone, who becomes Queen of the Under World at Mabon. As Persephone decends into the Under World, Demeter covers her face, and all living and growing things die until Persephone returns at Ostara.

At this time the God is Mabon, son of Modron, which means Son of the Mother. He is hidden from the world of light. He is the spirit of the grain being taken to the store house. Like Persephone, he is a bridge between this world and the Otherworld. He is a link between the living and dead. He is freedom. He protects all that is wild and free.

Correspondences