Category: The Sabbats

WOTC’s Lady Carla Beltane’s Grimoire is NOW LIVE on Patreon

Link for WOTC’s Lady Carla Beltane’s Grimoire on Patreon

Looking for more advanced spells and rituals than are posted on WOTC? Want to get the next copy of Life in The Craft magazine? Well look no further you can get all of this and somedays more by choosing one of four different tiers on Patreon.

Tier 1 “Luxury Witch” subscribes you to just the Life in The Craft magazine. Which is published 12 times a year and includes information on both hemisphere’s Sabbats when applicable, a recipe or two, looking deeper into Rider-Waite tarot card deck, and more The issues will come out around the 15th of every month. For $3.00 USD per month.

Tier 2 “Buy a Witch a Cup of Tea” has a seven-day trial period.  You will have access to a new spell every week going live every Wednesday or Thursday that will never appear on WOTC website. For $5.00 USD per month

Tier 3 “Friend of WOTC” you will have access to the spell posted every week plus either a Esbat (Full or New Moon) or a Sabbat for the northern and southern hemisphere once a month. The rituals will post a minimum of a week before the Esbat or Sabbat Date. For $10.00 USD per month

Tier 4 “The Reigning Supreme” (This name was used as a nod to American Horror Stories – Coven season) Combines the 3 tiers above so you will get the spell of the week, the ritual of the month and the current issue of Life in The Craft magazine. For $17.00 per month

A word of caution about the spells and rituals that will be posted on Pateron as a witch you should have a working knowledge on how to do spell work and rituals safely.

Any questions please write to Lady Carla Beltane at ladybeltane@witchesofthecraft.com.

Beltane – Spring is Here! Time to Get Your Gardens Ready

Welcome to springtime in the southern hemisphere. As the warmer weather comes a witches thoughts turns to sowing a garden. A garden can mean a different thing to each of us. For me it is getting my physical seeds ready for my veggie garden, to check to see if my herbs survived the winter or if I need to start new ones. Spiritually it means starting new seeds/paths for me to be able to grow to be closer to Mother Earth, the Universal energies, my students, and my teachers. To be able in the fall to reap full benefits of all that I have learned and put them into practice whether it is in my own personal life or helping my students with something. This year I need to plant new seeds and seedlings for all my flower gardens because early heavy rains in this part of the country washed away two inches of top soil in all my flower beds.

What does planting a garden mean to you? Do you plant flowers, vegetables, herbs, goals or a little of all of these or any combination? Remember whatever you plant will come to fruition with the right amount of love, watering (spiritually this can be communicating with each other in the pagan community or even be emailing me to say hi), sunshine (remember to thank the Sun God) and nurturing from within yourself (positive thoughts and affirmations) and from others in our community.

I would really LOVE to SEE COMMENTS on this post, please. Share with us your seeds and lets us help you grow them to their fullest potential!

Copyright 2017 Lady Beltane

Beltane Activities and Correspondences c. 2016

Beltane Activities and Correspondences

Guest Author – Leslie Ravenwing

Herbs – hawthorn, honeysuckle, St John’s wort, wood ruff, all flowers.

Colors- Green, Yellow, Pink, Blue

Foods – Strawberries, Cherries, Fruits, Salads, Wine

Goddesses – Aphrodite, Asherah, Belili, Brigid, Danu, Freya, Flora, Gwenhwyvar, Hina, Ishtar, Maia, Mary, Oiwyn, Oshun, Ostara, Sappha, Tonantzin, Vesta

Gods – Beltene, Cernunnous, Cupid/Eros, Manawyddan and Pan

Activities and Rituals

Fertilize, nurture and boost existing goals, games, activities of pleasure, leaping bonfires, making garlands, May Pole dance, planting seeds, walking one’s property, feasting
Stones/Gems – Emerald, malachite, amber, orange carnelian, sapphire, rose quartz
Other Names – Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain),May Day, Fairy Day,Sacred Thorn Day, Rood Day, Roodmas (the Christian term for Rood Day, Old Beltane, Beltaine, Beltain, Baltane, Walpurgis Night, Floriala (Roman feast of flowers from April 29 to May 1), Walpurgisnacht (Germanic-feast of St. Walpurga), Thrimilce (Anglo-saxon), Bloumaand (Old Dutch)

-Make paper baskets (use yarn as a handle) and place real or silk flowers in each basket. Hang them on door knobs of neighbors and family members but don’t let them know you did it!

-If you have children, make necklaces out of diasies and place them around their necks for the day to bring protection to them.

-Begin planting for the season.

-Create a MayPole and dance around it with your family or friends.

-Make a dish of fruits, berries, nuts and leave in the wood for the animals and fae folk to enjoy

– This is a night for bonfires, torch-lit processions and the high revelry of witches, preferably in high places. It is prime time for the Great Rite, a night (like Samhain) when the Goddess descends into women. Cailleach Beara (Cally Berry, Brighid’s crone aspect) turns to stone this night and does not to return until Samhain. Beltane Eve also marks the setting of the Pleiades

Sanhian

Samhain is the harvest of the soul. In some traditions it is when the souls of those who died since the last Samhain move on, leaving our plane behind. In other traditions this is the time when the dearly departed return to pass on messages to us. Whatever the path, this is the time to honor the dead. Renew your home protection spells and start closing up in preparation for winter. Any garden or outdoor tools or furniture that are no longer needed should be cleaned up and put away with thanks for their service. Prep your garden and yard for winter, even if your garden, even if your garden is only a couple of planters of herbs. Pull out your heavier bedding and give it an airing out. Using needle and thread, add a few stiches of blue thread to a corner or inside seam to protect your sleep during the long, dark nights. Divination plays a role in Samhain. Ask your oracles what you need to lay to rest or end for the year.

By Rachel Henderson Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2023 page 139

Some of the Witchcraft/Magickal Correspondences for Samhain

The Witches Correspondence for Samhain

Date: October 31st

Colours: Black, orange

Stones: Bloodstone, jet, obsidian, ruby, beryl, carnelian

Herbs: Bay leaf, mugwort, nutmeg, sage, wormwood

Foods: Apples, nuts, beef, turnips, pears, pomegranates, pumpkin, corn

Drinks: Mead, mulled wine, apple juice, absinthe

Flowers/Decorations: Chrysanthemum, hazel, thistle, pumpkin, autumn leaves

Type Of Magick/Activity: Banishing, breaking bad habits, divination, drying herbs, past life recall(see meditation page), clearing out everything you don’t want in the new year (habits and personal items).

Some Appropriate Goddesses: All crone and underworld Goddesses, Cerridwen (Welsh), Freya (Norse), Hecate (Greek), Morrigan (Celtic), Persephone (Greek), Rhiannon (Welsh)

Some Appropriate Gods: All old and underworld Gods, Cernunnos (Celtic), Anubis (Egyptian), Hades (Greek), Odin (Norse), Osiris (Egyptian)

Special Edition of Witchcraft/Magickal Correspondences, Rituals and Other Things for Beltane

THREE RITUALS FOR BELTANE

Beltane is a cross-quarter holiday on the Wheel of the Year that honors the return of summer, the return of the fertility of the Earth, and the element of fire. It’s a nature-based holiday that many of our ancestors celebrated for a long time, and now we get to carry that tradition forward.

Like Samhain, Beltane is a time when the veil is thin. This holiday is a particularly beautiful time to connect with nature spirits, as well as any other beings you’re wanting to create a connection with.

At Beltane, we honor the goddess as part of us. We honor the body, pleasure, sensuality, and sexuality. We bask in the fiery energy of the sun and the fertile energy that’s present.

In this blog, I’m sharing three rituals and suggested tools for Beltane that you can work with to honor this sacred holiday. Keep scrolling to watch a video and read more!

OPTIONAL RITUAL TOOLS FOR BELTANE

Feel free to add any of the symbols and tools outlined below to your Beltane rituals or altar. They each correspond with the energy of Beltane. They are not necessary and should be viewed as optional layered energy in your rituals.

Crystals: Rose quartz, garnet, pink tourmaline, rhodochrosite, emerald, malachite, and moonstone

Scents and plants: Sandalwood, ylang-ylang, lilac, angelica, jasmine, and rose

Candle colors: Pink, orange, and red

Element: Fire

Tarot: Empress

Rune: Berakno

Goddess: Venus/Freya

Tools and Symbols: Cowry shell, flowers, and anything that represents pleasure and creativity to you

PLEASURE RITUAL FOR BELTANE…

Click here to read the rest of the rituals from cassieuhl.com

Beltane Correspondences

From paganpages.org

Also known as: Bealtaine, Beltane, Bhealtainn, Bealtinne, Festival of Tana (Strega), Giamonios, Rudemass, and Walburga (Teutonic), Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain),Fairy Day,Sacred Thorn Day, Rood Day, Roodmas (the Christian term for Rood Day, Old Beltane, Beltain, Baltane, Walpurgis Night, Floriala (Roman feast of flowers from April 29 to May 1), Walpurgisnacht (Germanic-feast of St. Walpurga), Thrimilce (Anglo-saxon), Bloumaand (Old Dutch)

Date: May 1

Animals: Swallow, dove, swan, Cats, lynx, leopard

Deities: Flower Goddesses, Divine Couples, Deities of the Hunt, Aphrodite, artemis, Bast, Diana, Faunus, Flora, Maia, Pan, the Horned God, Venus, and all Gods and Goddesses who preside over fertility.

Tools: broom, May Pole, cauldron

Stones/Gems: emerald, malachite, amber, orange carnelian, sapphire, rose quartz

Colors: green, soft pink, blue, yellow, red, brown

Flowers & herbs: almond tree/shrub, ash, broom, cinquefoil, clover, Dittany of Crete, elder, foxglove, frankincense, honeysuckle, rowan, sorrel, hawthorn, ivy, lily of the valley, marigold, meadowsweet, mint, mugwort, thyme, woodruff may be burned; angelica, bluebells, daisy, hawthorn, ivy, lilac, primrose, and rose may be decorations, st. john’s wort, yarrow, basically all flowers.

Incense: frankincense, lilac, rose

Symbols & decorations: maypole, strings of beads or flowers, ribbons, spring flowers, fires, fertility, growing things, ploughs, cauldrons of flowers, butterchurn, baskets, eggs

Food: dairy, bread, cereals, oatmeal cakes, cherries, strawberries, wine, green salads

Activities & rituals: fertilize, nurture and boost existing goals, games, activities of pleasure, leaping bonfires, making garlands, May Pole dance, planting seeds, walking one’s property, feasting

Wiccan mythology: sexual union and/or marriage of the Goddess and God

It’s association with fire also makes Beltaine a holiday of purification.

Wiccan weddings are frequently held on or around Beltaine.

Beltane Foods to Bring to your Fire Festival

From PlentifulEarth.com

A beautiful, spring sun shines overhead on a beautiful Beltane morning, bringing blessings of warmth, love, and passion to every Witch present at the festival of Beltane. A bright fire burns in the distance, marking the celebration between Ostara and the Summer Solstice. The Green Man and Mother Earth each bless handfastings while dozens of Witches happily maypole dance to celebrate the fertility of this beautiful Sabbat.

45 minutes into the Beltane celebration, you think to yourself, “Is it time for the cakes and ale? I’m so ready for the feast! Oh! Hail and welcome!” We’ve literally all been there. Good news; food is a huge part of Wiccan and Pagan celebrations!

In this article, we’ll share the fruits, vegetables, meats, and foods that are best for a Beltane fire festival.

Beltane Recipes and Food Correspondences

Fruits

Vegetables

Nuts

Herbs & Spices

Breads

  • Banana Bread
  • Bannock Bread
  • Oatcakes

Cheeses

  • Goat’s Cheese

Meats

  • Beef
  • Goat
  • Rabbit
  • Oysters

Drinks

Toppings

  • Chocolate Sauce
  • Curry Sauces
  • Honey
  • Hot Sauce
  • Olive Oil

The Veil Is Thinning! Samhain Is Almost Upon Us! May The Goddess Bless You & Your During This Magickal Time of the Year!

( A flashback from Lady Abyss)

Autumn Window Scene

“Hail Freyja, Golden One!
Holder of the glorious Brisingamen, that brings fertility and abundance.
As we love and honor you, may we find love and power within us.
Join us and accept our thanks.
Hail Freyja!

 

Hail Freyr, Harvest God!
Keeper of the rain and the sunshine!
As we love and honor you, may we find creativity and inspiration within us.
Join us and accept our thanks.
Hail Freyr!

 

Hail Sif, Great Lady!
We come to this place grateful for your gifts.
Golden-haired goddess of the ripening grain, as we love and honor you,
may we find beauty and grace within us.
Join us and accept our thanks.
Hail Sif!

 

Hail Thor, son of the Earth Mother!
Strong and noble keeper of Thunder, Red-Bearded Guardian of us all, guide us through the seasons and the cycles of life.
We thank you for the fertility of our lands and for the abundance we have received this year.
As we love and honor you, let us find strength and wisdom with us.
Join us and accept out thanks.
Hail Thor!”

 

–   Kristen Madden, Autumn Celebration Ritual

Flashback 2004 Samhain

Expect the unexpected if you celebrate Samhain – the Celtic New Year – on All Hallows Eve: the planets bring a lot of energetic talk and chaos, and the resultant noise will add exuberance to the ritual. Look for psychic dreams on astrological Samhain, November 6; your intuition will be in top form if you do readings at ritual. The power is the strongest it has been in several years.

This is the sabbat for wearing your witchy black. Clean the house, including the hearth, from top to bottom; the garden also needs to be prepared for the winter by this date. Lay new fires. Fest with your family and set places for your ancestors. Cleanse divination tools (cards, crystals, runes) and rededicate them to the Goddess. For the last harvest festival, put apples, nuts, acorns, and squashes on the altar, and add pictures of the family members you are missing.

Using fresh harvested hazel nuts, make a wreath with nine nuts (three times three) to protect your house from fire and lightening. Offer thanks to the river gods or the gods of the sea, and remember to honor the goddess Hecate.

By K. D. Spitzer in Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2004 Page 63

Samhain Correspondences – Printable

Special Edition of Witchcraft/Magickal Correspondences, Rituals and Other Things for Samhain

From Flying The Hedge – SAMHAIN CORRESPONDENCES

Symbolism: death and regeneration, transformation, end of old projects, new beginnings, return, change, rest, success, plenty, knowledge

Symbols: skulls, bats, cats, leaves, nuts, seeds, barren trees and branches, pumpkins, cauldron, pentacle, crystal ball, besom or broom, witch’s hat, moon, crows/ravens, ghosts, goblins, banshees, candy/caramel apples, chocolate, Jack-o-Lanterns, costumes, Trick-or-Treats, Death, acorns, bones, gourds, scarecrowsColors: black, orange, red, silver, gold, brown, purple, yellow

Food and Drink: apples, cider, pork, hazelnuts, pomegranates, pumpkins, potatoes, squash, cranberries, turnips, beets, mugwort tea, ale, mulled wine, pies/cakes for the dead

Herbs: apple leaf, almonds, bay leaf, nettle, hemlock, cloves, cinnamon, mandrake root, marigold, mums, mugwort, pine, rosemary, sage, wormwood, tarragon, rue, garlic, ginger, hazelnut, allspice

Deities: Hekate, The Crone, Cerridwen, Bast, Persephone, Horned Hunter, Cernunnos, Osiris, Hades, Anubis, Loki, Arawn, Dis, and any other death/underworld god or goddess

Crystals and Gemstones: black obsidian, jasper, onyx, bloodstone, smoky quartz, carnelian,

Animals: cats, especially black cats, bats, spiders, rats, wolves, snakes, ravens and crows, owls, stags, jackals, scorpions

Magic: This is the time to honor the dead. Set up an altar, serve them cakes, and let them know they are not forgotten. If you wish to communicate with deceased friends and family, this is the best time of year. The veil thins the night of Samhain, making communication easy. Do NOT, however, entice spirits, disrespect them, or perform any other magic that is anything less than respectful. I repeat, don’t do it. Samhain is also a great time to practice divination in the form of runes, scrying, tarot, tea readings, etc. Reflect over the previous year and perform blessing spells to ring in the new year. Astral projection, lucid dreaming, and hedge riding are also much easier to perform on this night but remember to be safe. Banishing magic, especially those for bad habits, are especially strong on this night.

Please note this is not a complete list but a brief overview of symbols, colors, herbs, deities, and the like. If I have missed something that you feel should make the list, please feel free to contact me via the comments or through email.

Click her for more ideas from Zenned Out for Samhain Rituals and Correspondences

The ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain (pronounced sow-in), celebrated on October 31st and November 1st, marks the end of our seasonal cycle on the Wheel of the Year. This is why it’s often referred to as the witch’s New Year. Seasonally speaking, Samhain is the third and final harvest of the season or the last rally to store and prepare for the coming Winter season.

This sacred celebration reaches much farther than harvests and is also a time when the veil between the physical and spirit world is at its thinnest. The Celtic people believed that spirits walked among them during this time, so Samhain is accepted as an ideal time to communicate and connect with the spirit realm. Here’s a fun drawing I created with ritual suggestions for Samhain. Keep scrolling to learn more about each one.

See the source image

From PaganPages.org Samhain Correspondences By Jennifer Wright

Free Pagan Magazine

Other Names:
celtic ~ Summer’s End, pronounced “sow” (rhymes with now) “en” (Ireland), sow-een (Wales) – “mh” in the middle is a “w” sound – Greater Sabbat(High Holiday) – Fire Festival Oct 31-Nov 1(North Hemisphere) – Apr 30-May 1 – The Great Sabbat, Samhiunn, Samana, Samhuin, Sam-fuin, Samonios, Halloween, Hallomas, All Hallows Eve, All Saints/All Souls Day(Catholic), Day of the Dead (Mexican), Witches New Year, Trinoux Samonia, Celtic/ Druid New Year, Shadowfest (Strega), Martinmas or Old Hallowmas (Scotttish/Celtic) Lá Samhna (Modern Irish), Festival of the Dead, Feile Moingfinne (Snow Goddess), Hallowtide (Scottish Gaelis Dictionary), Feast of All Souls, Nos Galen-gae-of Night of the Winter Calends (Welsh), La Houney or Hollantide Day, Sauin or Souney ( Manx), oidhche na h-aimiléise-the night of mischief or confusion(Ireland), Oidhche Shamna (Scotland)

Rituals:
End of summer, honoring of the dead,scrying, divination, last harvest, meat harvest

Incense:
Copal, sandalwood, mastic resin, benzoin, sweetgrass, wormwood, mugwort, sage, myrrh or patchouli

Tools:
Besom, cauldron, tarot, obsidian ball, pendulum, runes, oghams, Ouija boards, black cauldron or bowl filled with black ink or water, or magick mirror

Stones/Gems:
Black obsidian, jasper, carnelian, onyx, smoky quartz, jet, bloodstone

Colors:
Black, orange, red

Symbols & Decorations:
Apples, autumn flowers, acorns, bat, black cat, bones, corn stalks, colored leaves, crows, death/dying, divination and the tools associated with it, ghosts, gourds, Indian corn, jack-o-lantern, nuts , oak leaves, pomegranates, pumpkins, scarecrows, scythes, waning moon

Foods:
Apples, apple dishes, cider, meat (traditionally this is the meat harvest) especially pork, mulled cider with spices, nuts-representing resurrection and rebirth, nuts, pomegranates, potatoes, pumpkins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, squash.

Goddesses:
The Crone, Hecate(Greek), Cerridwen(Welsh-Scottish), Arianrhod(Welsh), Caillech (Irish-Scottish), Baba Yaga (Russian), Al-Ilat(persian), Bast (Egyptian), Persephone (Greek), Hel(Norse), Kali(Hindu), all Death & Otherworld Goddesses

Gods:
Horned Hunter(European), Cernnunos(Greco-Celtic), Osiris(Egyptian), Hades (Greek), Gwynn ap Nudd (British), Anubis(Egyptian), Coyote Brother (Native American), Loki (Norse), Dis (Roman), Arawn (Welsh), acrificial/Dying/Aging
Gods, Death and Otherworld Gods

Herbs and Flowers:
Almond, apple leaf , autumn joy sedum, bay leaf, calendula, Cinnamon, Cloves cosmos, garlic, ginger , hazelnut, hemlock cones, mandrake root, marigold, mums, mugwort (to aid in divination), mullein seeds, nettle, passionflower, pine needles, pumpkin seeds, rosemary (for remembrance of our ancestors), rue, sage, sunflower petals and seeds, tarragon, wild ginseng, wormwood

Animals:
Stag, cat, bat, owl, jackal, elephant, ram, scorpion, heron, crow, robin

Mythical Beings:
Pooka, goblin,medusa, beansidhe, harpies

Essence:
Magick, plenty; knowledge, the night, death & rebirth, success, protection; rest, new beginning; ancestors; lifting of the veil, mundane laws in abeyance, return, change

Dynamics/Meaning:
Death & transformation, Wiccan new year,wisdom of the Crone, end of summer, honoring, thinning of the veil between worlds, death of the year, time outside of time, night of the Wild Hunt, begin new projects, end old projects

Work:
Sex magick, release of bad habits, banishing, fairy magick, divination of any kind, candle magick, astral projection, past life work, dark moon mysteries, mirror spells (reflection), casting protection , inner work, propitiation, clearing obstacles, uncrossing, inspiration, workings of transition or culmination, manifesting transformation,creative visualization, contacting those who have departed this plane

Purpose:
Honoring the dead, especially departed ancestors, knowing we will not be forgotten; clear knowledge of our path; guidance, protection, celebrating reincarnation

Rituals/Magicks:
Foreseeing future, honoring/consulting ancestors, releasing the old, power, understanding death and rebirth, entering the underworld, divination, dance of the dead, fire calling, past life recall

Customs:
Ancestor altar, costumes, divination, carving jack-o-lanterns, spirit plate, the Feast of the Dead, feasting, paying debts, fairs, drying winter herbs, masks, bonfires, apple games, tricks, washing clothes

Element:
Water

Gender:
Male

Threshold:
Midnight

From Plentiful Earth – How to pronounce Samhain

Popularized by Wicca, Samhain is a celebration that occurs around the same time as Halloween, All Hallow’s Eve, and Day of the Dead — on or around October 31. This wonderful day is often celebrated as a time to commune with our ancestors and the passing spirits, as the veil between the worlds has become its thinnest. The festival of Samhain is easily most Witches’ favorite Sabbat of the year, a fact we can all agree on. However, it’s easy to strike up a war of the Witches when it comes to saying the word out loud!

We know first hand, as American Witches in the United States, how embarrassing it can be to read the ancient Gaelic word as “Sam-hayne” on paper when we’re learning and then try to say it in front of seasoned coven-mates! We’re here to save you some red cheeks and give you the confidence to talk about your favorite holiday out loud! The good news? There are 3 ways to pronounce this ancient Celtic, each from a different region of its birthplace!

3 Correct Samhain Pronunciations

How to pronounce Samhain – Video

How to pronounce Samhain in Irish Gaelic

  • Sow-in

How to pronounce Samhain in Welsh

  • Sow-een

How to pronounce Samhain in Scottish Gaelic

  • Sav-en

Now, pick your favorite way and say it with pride, Witch!

 Remember what is not harvested by Samhain needs to be left in the fields, tress, bushes, ectara for the wild animals to forge over the cold months.

Wish you all a safe, blessed, and happy Samhain.

Flashback 2004 Beltane

Beltane is he holiday that draws all witches outside to celebrate the returning power of the Sun and the fertility of the land.

Wear red robes for ritual and dress your altar with reds for passion. If you have identified a nearby rowan tree, you can make a wreath for your hair using rowan twigs. Decorate your house with freshly cut greens, herbs, and flowers. Arrange for music or drumming to lighten your steps of the dancers of the maypole or spiral dance. Lose yourself in the dance.

Fire is the honored element at this ritual, so have circle members jump a cauldron for purification and protection. Watr is another honored element: be certain to visit your local sacred spring or riverbank. Sprinkle perfume into the water for the undines. Again, leave a drop or two of milk and other food offerings for the nature spirits.

Wake before dawn on this day and watch the Sun rise over a river or beach. Gather a pitcherful where the Sun has gilded the water. When you return home, walk the bounds of your land, sprinkling water in your garden beds to ensure plenty of rainfall during the growing season.

By K. D. Spitzer in Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2004 Page 63

 

Beltane Correspondences – Printable

Blessed Mabon

Mabon Ritual Just For You – Solitary

Altar Arrangement:

My altar almost always contains the following tools at minimum:
Athame
God and Goddess candle or representation
Pentacle
Incense – I usually use Cinnamon for Mabon
Chalice
Small Cauldron containing Salt
Gemstones as needed
Candles as needed

Circle Casting:

(Note:  I light incense and altar candles before this part of the ritual)

Hail to you Spirits of the North and the power of Air,
I do summon, stir and call you up to witness these rites and to guard this sacred space.

Hail to you Spirits of the East and the power of Earth,
I do summon, stir and call you up to witness these rites and to guard this sacred space.

Hail to you Spirits of the South and the power of Fire,
I do summon, stir and call you up to witness these rites and to guard this sacred space.

Hail to you Spirits of the West and the power of Water,
I do summon, stir and call you up to witness these rites and to guard this sacred space.

This sacred circle is cast
between future and past.

As above, so below,
The circle is made whole.

So mote it be!

At this time I will be invite my personal guides – both known and unknown

Invocation:

They who are called by many names, I honor you!

Father God, come join with me!
Tonight, I offer thanks for the blessings you have given me.
and for the sacrifice You have made for my benefit.
I mourn for You and rejoice in Your rebirth to come.
Autumn’s grain is Spring’s seed.

Mother Goddess, come join with me!
Tonight I offer thanks for the blessings to come.
As sunlight wanes and shadow grows,
I celebrate your mysteries.
With death comes new life.

Now I will offer a prayer of personal thanks to the Deities.

Meditation:

As this is the time of the autumnal equinox, I will focus on achieving balance.

Raising and directing power:
I will be releasing negative self image by writing our my self hatred and burning the paper.  Afterwards, I will be raising power for healing myself and others I know who are in need.  When I have directed the power to it’s purpose, I will earth the power.

Thanking the Deities:
Mother Goddess, Father God,
Who created All and are All
I thank you for your presence here
and for the blessings you have bestowed on me!
May Your love stay with me now and evermore.

I will now thank my personal guides.

Opening the circle:

Spirits of Air, Earth, Fire and Water,
Go if you must or stay if you will.
I humbly thank thee for your presence tonight!
Though the circle is open, it remains unbroken.
As Above, So Below.
So I have said.
So mote it be.

The Spiritual Meaning of Mabon

Spell for Today – Prayer for Mabon/Fall Equinox

Spell for Today – 5 Simple Mabon Rituals – Printable

Mabon Activities and Correspondences

Mabon Activities and Correspondences

Symbolism of Mabon: The completion of the Harvest begun. Day and night are equal and the God prepares to leave His physical body and begin the great adventure into the unseen.

Symbols of Mabon: all harvest symbols, corn, autumn flowers, red poppies,nuts, grains, leaves, acorns, pine and cypress cones, oak sprigs, wreaths, vine, grapes, cornucopia, horns of plenty, burial cairns, apples, marigolds, harvested crops. wine, gourds

Colors : Orange, Dark Red, Yellow, Indigo, Maroon and Brown.

Goddesses: Modron(Welsh), Bona Dea, Harvest Dieties, Persephone, Demeter/Ceres, Morgan(Welsh- Cornish), Snake Woman(Aboriginal), Epona (Celtic-Gaulish), Pamona(Roman), the Muses(Greek).

Gods: Mabon, Modron(Welsh), Sky Father, John Barleycorn , the Wicker-Man, the Corn Man, Thoth(Egyptian), Hermes, Hotei(Japanese), Thor, Dionysus(Roman), Bacchus(Greek) and all wine Deities.

Tarot Cards: Judgment and The World

Altar Decorations: acorns, pinecones, autumn leaves, pomegranate, statue of the Triple Goddess in her Mother phase.

Mabon Herbs: Rue, yarrow, rosemary, marigold, sage, walnut leaves and husks, mistletoe, saffron, chamomile, almond leaves, passionflower, frankincense, rose hips, bittersweet, sunflower, wheat, oak leaves, dried apple or apple seeds.

Foods of Mabon: cornbread, wheat products, bread, grains, berries, nuts, grapes, acorns, seeds, dried fruits, corn, beans, squash, roots (ie onions, carrots, potatoes, etc), hops, apples, pomegranates, carrots, onions, potatoes, roast goose or mutton, wine, ale and ciders, breads, apples, pomegranates

Animals: dogs, wolves, stag, blackbird, owl, eagle, birds of prey, salmon & goat, Gnomes, Sphinx, Minotaur, Cyclops, Andamans and Gulons.

Element: water.

Incense : pine, sweetgrass, apple blossom, benzoin, myrrh, frankincense, jasmine, sage wood aloes, black pepper, patchouly, cinnamon, clove, oak moss

Mabon Stones : During Mabon, stones ruled by the Sun will help bring the Sun’s energy to you.clear quartz, amber, peridot, diamond, gold, citrine, yellow topaz, cat’s-eye, adventurine.

Customs: offerings to land, preparing for cold weather by bringing in harvest, cutting willow wands( Druidic), leaving apples upon burial cairns & graves as a token of honor, walks in forests, gather seed pods & dried plants, fermenting grapes to make wine,picking ripe produce, stalk bundling

Spellworkings of Mabon: Protection, prosperity, security, and self- confidence. Also those of harmony and balance. Taboos:It was considered unlucky to cut down the very last of the Harvest, and so was also left to stand in the field by some traditions.

Activities of Mabon: Select the best of each vegetable, herb, fruit, nut, and other food you have harvested or purchased and give it back to Mother Earth with prayers of thanksgiving. Hang dried ears of corn around your home in appreciation of the harvest season. Do meditations and chanting as you store away food for the Winter. Do a thanksgiving circle, offering thanks as you face each direction – – for home, finances, and physical health (North); for gifts of knowledge (East); for accomplishments in career and hobbies (South); for relationships (West); and for spiritual insights and messages (Center). Decorate the table with colorful autumn leaves in a basket. Display the fruits of the harvest – corn, gourds, nuts, grapes, apples – preferably in a cornucopia. Or decorate with wildflowers, acorns, nuts, berries, cocoons, anything that represents the harvest to you. Like its sister equinox, halfway across the Wheel of the Year, the Autumn Equinox is a good occasion for a ritual feast. Plan a meal that uses seasonal and symbolic fruits and vegetables. You can serve bread, squash, corn, apples, cider and wine. Make some homemade wine or cordial gather and dry herbs, plants, seeds and seed pods. Make grapevine wreaths using dried bitter-sweet herb for protection. Use ribbons of gold and yellow to bring in the energy of the Sun, and decorate with sprigs of dried yarrowor cinnamon sticks. Make a protection charm of hazelnuts (filberts) strung on red thread. Make a witch’s broom. Tie dried corn husks or herbs (broom, cedar, fennel, lavender, peppermint, rosemary) around a strong, relatively straight branch of your choice. Make magic Apple Dolls Gifts of the Harvest can be used to make tools and emblems that will remind us of their bounty all year round. Look for colored leaves. Collect fallen leaves and make a centerpiece or bouquet for your home. Save the leaves to burn in your Yule fire. Vist an apple orchard and, if possible, pick your own apples. Hang apples on a tree near your home. Watch the birds and other small animals who will enjoy your gift. This is also the time for replacing your old broom with a new one. As the broom corn is ripe now, besom making is traditional and magickal this time of year. Begin the festival with a vineyard or orchard harvest. You might check the farm lands in your area to see if there’s an orchard or pumpkin patch that allows customers to harvest produce for themselves. Traditionally Sabbat festivals begin at sun set on the eve of the Holiday. You can use the daytime hours of this holiday eve to prepare baskets for harvesting the next day. Baking a pumpkin pie (from scratch if possible) is a wonderful way to bring in the fragrance of the holiday season

Mabon History: The Second Harvest c. 2018

Mabon History: The Second Harvest

By Patti Wigington, ThoughtCo.com

The Science of the Equinox:

Two days a year, the Northern and Southern hemispheres receive the same amount of sunlight. Not only that, each receives the same amount of light as they do dark — this is because the earth is tilted at a right angle to the sun, and the sun is directly over the equator. In Latin, the word equinox translates to “equal night.” The autumn equinox takes place on or near September 21, and its spring counterpart falls around March 21. If you’re in the Northern hemisphere, the days will begin getting shorter after the autumn equinox and the nights will grow longer — in the Southern hemisphere, the reverse is true.

Global Traditions:

The idea of a harvest festival is nothing new. In fact, people have celebrated it for millennia, all around the world. In ancient Greece, Oschophoria was a festival held in the fall to celebrate the harvesting of grapes for wine. In the 1700’s, the Bavarians came up with Oktoberfest, which actually begins in the last week of September, and it was a time of great feasting and merriment, still in existence today. China’s Mid-Autumn festival is celebrated on the night of the Harvest Moon, and is a festival of honoring family unity.

Giving Thanks:

Although the traditional American holiday of Thanksgiving falls in November, many cultures see the second harvest time of the fall equinox as a time of giving thanks. After all, it’s when you figure out how well your crops did, how fat your animals have gotten, and whether or not your family will be able to eat during the coming winter. However, by the end of November, there’s not a whole lot left to harvest. Originally, the American Thanksgiving holiday was celebrated on October 3, which makes a lot more sense agriculturally.

Thanksgiving was originally celebrated on October 3. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued his “Thanksgiving Proclamation”, which changed the date to the last Thursday in November. In 1939, Franklin Delano Roosevelt adjusted it yet again, making it the second-to-last Thursday, in the hopes of boosting post-Depression holiday sales. Unfortunately, all this did was confuse people. Two years later, Congress finalized it, saying that the fourth Thursday of November would be Thanksgiving, each year.

Symbols of the Season:

The harvest is a time of thanks, and also a time of balance — after all, there are equal hours of daylight and darkness. While we celebrate the gifts of the earth, we also accept that the soil is dying. We have food to eat, but the crops are brown and going dormant. Warmth is behind us, cold lies ahead.

Some symbols of Mabon include:

Mid-autumn vegetables, like squashes and gourds
Apples and anything made from them, such as cider or pies
Seeds, nuts and seed pods
Baskets, symbolizing the gathering of crops
Sickles and scythes
Grapes, vines, wine

You can use any of these to decorate your home or your altar at Mabon.

Feasting and Friends:

Early agricultural societies understood the importance of hospitality — it was crucial to develop a relationship with your neighbors, because they might be the ones to help you when your family ran out of food. Many people, particularly in rural villages, celebrated the harvest with great deals of feasting, drinking, and eating. After all, the grain had been made into bread, beer and wine had been made, and the cattle were brought down from the summer pastures for the coming winter. Celebrate Mabon yourself with a feast — and the bigger, the better!

Magic and Mythology:

Nearly all of the myths and legends popular at this time of the year focus on the themes of life, death, and rebirth. Not much of a surprise, when you consider that this is the time at which the earth begins to die before winter sets in!

Demeter and Her Daughter

Perhaps the best known of all the harvest mythologies is the story of Demeter and Persephone. Demeter was a goddess of grain and of the harvest in ancient Greece. Her daughter, Persephone, caught the eye of Hades, god of the underworld. When Hades abducted Persephone and took her back to the underworld, Demeter’s grief caused the crops on earth to die and go dormant. By the time she finally recovered her daughter, Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds, and so was doomed to spend six months of the year in the underworld. These six months are the time when the earth dies, beginning at the time of the autumn equinox.

Inanna Takes on the Underworld

The Sumerian goddess Inanna is the incarnation of fertility and abundance. Inanna descended into the underworld where her sister, Ereshkigal, ruled. Erishkigal decreed that Inanna could only enter her world in the traditional ways — stripping herself of her clothing and earthly posessions. By the time Inanna got there, Erishkigal had unleashed a series of plagues upon her sister, killing Inanna. While Inanna was visiting the underworld, the earth ceased to grow and produce. A vizier restored Inanna to life, and sent her back to earth. As she journeyed home, the earth was restored to its former glory.

Modern Celebrations

For contemporary Druids, this is the celebration of Alban Elfed, which is a time of balance between the light and the dark. Many Asatru groups honor the fall equinox as Winter Nights, a festival sacred to Freyr.

For most Wiccans and NeoPagans, this is a time of community and kinship. It’s not uncommon to find a Pagan Pride Day celebration tied in with Mabon. Often, PPD organizers include a food drive as part of the festivities, to celebrate the bounty of the harvest and to share with the less fortunate.

If you choose to celebrate Mabon, give thanks for the things you have, and take time to reflect on the balance within your own life, honoring both the darkness and the light. Invite your friends and family over for a feast, and count the blessings that you have among kin and community.