Tag: Autumn Equinox
Let’s Have Some Fun – Lammas
Let’s Have Some Fun – Imbolc
Flashback 2000 Imbolc
Daylight hours are gradually lengthening, and the Earth is beginning to stir. Although she is still in the middle of her winter’s rest, our planet subtly begins to plan. It’s appropriate that this period is represented by Aquarius, an air sign, since all change begins first in the mind. Every new thought or idea is full of raw potential as the Earth is now,nailing for the touch of fire to ignite her new growth period. Uranus is the ruler of Aquarius, and the planet best known for its jurisdiction over the future. This electric energy only looks forward, never back. It is during Imbolc, in fact, as the Sun is passing through Aquarius, that many ideas are born. As we prepare for the upcoming Equinox, then, it’s important to be sure that we’re looking ahead, as Uranus does, with all the electric enthusiasm and genius of Aquarius. Honor the potential of the coming spring by uncovering your gift of prophecy. Whether you use a crystal ball, a dream journal, or another type of predictive tool, prepare for the Equinox in your heart, by understanding how much is possible now.
©️ By Kim Rogers-Gallagher Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2000 Page 95
Flashback 2000 Lammas
At Lammas, the Sun is at the very peak of Leo, the sign this planet loves above all others. Our star’s warmth is at its most powerful now in the Northern Hemisphere, as it appears directly overhead. At this time, life too, ia at its peak—as are the crops. The ancients celebrated this festival by giving thanks for their first harvest, most especially the grain harvest, even as they accepted the beginning of the God’s descent into the underworld. The myth of the asteroid-Goddess Ceres (Demeter), giver of the grain, also relates to this season. It was now when she would bid her daughter Farwell, since Persephone was obligated to return to the Underworld to rejoin Hades (Pluto). So bereaved was Ceres to see her daughter leave her, she refused to all the Earth to produce grain until her return. At this time,nothing, modern practitioners should be remind of both astrological principles: the fullness of life the Sun brings, and the necessity for rest, as signified by the coming fall.
©️ By Kim Rogers-Gallagher Llewellyn’s Witches’ Datebook 2000 Page 95
Summer Solstice Printable Coloring Pages
For Your Viewing Pleasure – Winter Solstice
For Your Listening PLeasure
Happy and Blessed Mabon Dear Sisters, Brothers, and Guests
Ancient Celebrations for Today – MABON
For more about Mabon and the Wheel of The Year
Known as the pagan Thanksgiving, Mabon marks the Autumn Equinox, when day and night are equal, making it a time of balance, equality and harmony. In ancient times Mabon was a celebration of the second harvest (Lughnasadh was the first) when farmers gathered hearty foods like gourds, pumpkins, grapes and apples.
Modern Mabon celebrations are a time to give thanks for the abundance of Mother Earth – both literally and spiritually. It’s also a good time to reflect on the Wheel of the Year, recognizing your successes and letting go of the things that did not serve you during the past twelve months.
History Of Mabon
Modern Pagans began celebrating Mabon as the last of the eight Sabbats in the 1970s, but its roots as a harvest festival go back to ancient times.
Named after the ancient Welsh hero named Mabon ap Modron, which means Son of Mother, Mabon is the second of three harvest festivals that take place in the Wheel of the Year (Lughnasadh is the first and Samhain is the third). Similar to Apollo, the figure of Mabon was depicted as a handsome youth with a lyre. As a baby Mabon was said to have been held hostage as a baby in the underworld, similar to the story of Persephone and Demeter.
Indeed, the Greek goddess Demeter is much more closely associated with the Autumn harvest, as…
Mabon Sabbat Lore and Traditions
For more about Mabon
Date: September 20th – 23rd, depending on the year
Other Names: Atumn Equinox, 2nd Harvest
Pronunciations: MAY-bun, MAY-bon, MAH-boon, MAH-bawn
The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally, and we all take a moment to pay our respects to the impending dark. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year’s crops. The Druids call this celebration, Mea’n Fo’mhair, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and re-birth.
Various other names for this Lesser Wiccan Sabbat are The Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Feast of Avalon, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), Alben Elfed (Caledonii), or Cornucopia. The Teutonic name, Winter Finding, spans a period of time from the Sabbat to Oct. 15th, Winter’s Night, which is the Norse New Year.
At this festival it is appropriate to wear all of your finery and dine and celebrate in a lavish setting. It is the drawing to and of family as we prepare for the winding down of the year at Samhain. It is a time to finish old business as we ready for a period of rest, relaxation, and reflection.
Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries. It is a time to honor Aging Deities and the Spirit World. Considered a time of balance, it is when we stop and relax and enjoy the fruits of our personal harvests, whether they be from toiling in our gardens, working at our jobs, raising our families, or just coping with the hussle-bussle of everyday life. May your Mabon be memorable, and your hearts and spirits be filled to overflowing!
Deities: Goddesses – Modron, Morgan, Epona, Persephone, Pamona and the Muses. Gods – Mabon, Thoth, Thor, Hermes, and The Green Man
Symbolism: Second Harvest, the Mysteries, Equality and Balance
Symbols: wine, gourds, pine cones, acorns, grains, corn, apples, pomegranates, vines such as ivy, dried seeds, and horns of plenty
Colors: Red, orange, russet, maroon, brown, and gold
Herbs: Acorn, benzoin, ferns, grains, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, myrrh, passionflower, rose, sage, solomon’s seal, tobacco, thistle, and vegetables
Traditional Foods: Breads, nuts, apples, pomegranates, and vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and onions
Incense: Autumn Blend-benzoin, myrrh, and sage
Stones: Sapphire, lapis lazuli, and yellow agates
Ritual
Category Samhain/Deep Autumn
WE ARE THE ANCESTORS: MAY WE BE INTERESTING FOOD
May 9, 2020 · by Glenys D. Livingstone · in Samhain/Deep Autumn · Leave a comment Our present lives are formed by all who came before us. We are in-formed by them, whether conscious or not. In PaGaian Samhain ceremony as it has been done traditionally, participants are invited to remember the ancestors in this way: Let us remember our ancestors, those who have gone before, whose lives have been harvested, […]THREADS OF GOLD IN THE COMPOST
April 20, 2020 · by Glenys D. Livingstone · in Samhain/Deep Autumn · 2 Comments There are threads of gold in the compost, if one has the vision for it. And we may take the golden thread, exclaim the strongest natural fibre known – our creative selves, our imaginations – for the building of a new world made sacred, of our conceiving: yet beyond our knowings, across the vast Darkness between […] For more interesting article about Southern Hemisphere Samhain click hereSome Mabon Correspondences
Blessed Mabon and Happy Autumn Equinox 202
This year Mabon/Autumn Equinox is on September 22nd starting at 9:30 AM EDT in the northern hemisphere lasting 89 days, 20 hours, and 31 minutes.
This is the time to start preparing for the colder weather. The time to reap what you had sowed in the spring. The Fea Folk so active outside during the warm weather are stock piling what they need to get through the cold months. This is a time for them to start moving a little slower so if you are in your yard or hiking in the woods and hills in you see the grass or undergrowth move when there is no wind do not be startled or frighten it is only the Fea doing their gathering.
This is the time when the animal born in the spring starting eating more from the land-side or what they are fed to fatten up to survive the cold. They are no longer drink their mother’s milk and have grown quite a bit. This is the time the sheep are sheared, the grain is harvested, and we stock up on stables in our pantries. Here is a trivia question for you…Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable and why?
Some Ostara Correspondences
Five Simple Ostara Ritual Ideas
Blessed Ostara and Happy Spring Equinox 2020
This year Ostara falls on September 22 at 11:30 PM AEST. Spring in the southern hemisphere will last 89 days 20 hours and 30 minutes. As your weather warms up in the Southern Hemisphere let us hope there are no bushfires burning out of control and that number of people who contract COVID-19 stays to very low numbers.
May the Goddesses and Gods who help to bring in the spring smile on you as you sow new things to reap in the fall. here’s a trivia questions for you… Is a tomato a fruit or vegetable and why?
This is a time when the Fea Folk start venturing out of their homes to find tender new growth of plants and flowers to replenish their stock that was used up over the cold months. So be careful where you step when in a grassy place or hike up a hillside for you never know what might be forging in the same place.
This is also the time of rebirth and new birth for all wildlife and domestic animals big and small. Remember the babies of any mammal needs it’s mother’s milk especially in the first 24 hours so they get all the things that come in the first milk to help them live healthy lives.
A Very Happy and Blessed Ostara or Mabon
Well, I just learned something new about the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere and the fall equinox in the southern hemisphere. Ostara the spring equinox is on Thursday, March 19, 2020 at 10:49 PM PM CT while Mabon the fall equinox is on Friday, March 20, 2020 at 2:49 PM AEDT in the southern hemisphere. Which means we are experiencing the equinoxes at the exact same time just in different time zones and because of the international date line on a different date.
When I read this I felt it covered more than just a blessing for Ostara and Mabon. I felt it was a blessing to carry with us all through the year.
Northern Brothers and Sisters: May what you sow this spring come to a bountiful harvest in the fall.
Southern Brothers and Sisters: May what you sowed in the spring be bring you a bountiful harvest this fall.
Remember we can sow different things for our own reasons they do not have to be something we plant in the ground and watch grow, they can be something we change in our lifestyle or in our spiritual or magickal path. Then when we harvest them they become part of us and who we are.
Sabbat: NH Ostara Sunday, March 22nd, SH Mabon Monday, March 23rd
All Witches and Pagans are invited to join the Heart’s Spirit Coven as we celebrate Ostara in the Northern Hemisphere and Mabon in the Southern Hemisphere
WHEN:
Sunday, March 22nd, 2020 NH
Monday, March 23rd, 2020 SH
At 6:00 PM CDT NH/ 10.00 AM AEDT SH
Circle starts at 7:00 PM CDT NH/ 11.00 AM AEDT SH- SHARP.
45 minutes will be allocated for a chance to talk to our Brothers and Sisters. Please do not enter the chat room once the circle has started. Thank you!
WHERE:
Beginning the Sabbat with a Universal Prayer
Just before we begin our Sabbat, I would like to acknowledge all that has happened and is happening in 2020, before and beyond. It is a significant time of much change and challenges for both humanity and the Great Earth Mother and all within her. Let us take a minute to pray for the universal healing in this time of need.
“May the Great Mother and Great Father give us strength and refuge in our time of need. Help us to remain calm and strong in the face of uncertainty, help us find compassion without the overwhelming feeling of empathy. Great Mother and Father teach me humility, acceptance and to remember my kindness”
So mote it be……..
Ostara in the NH
You will need (aside from your altar usual set up)
See how to set up basic elemental altar below:
https://covenlife.co/2017/07/06/simple-basic-altar-set-up/
Green Candle
White candle
Yin/Yang Symbol- cut out the wholes specified once printed, or you can draw or paint the symbol.
2 eggs colored one darker one lighter
Mabon in the SH
You will need (aside from your altar usual set up)
See how to set up basic elemental altar below:
https://covenlife.co/2017/07/06/simple-basic-altar-set-up/
A wicker basket
Red Apple
Fallen Branch
Seasonal fruit and vegetables
Incense of your choice
Knife to cut apple
Picture of a large pentacle (I use a pentacle disk or you can draw or print one on a piece of paper)
A candle-(the larger the better, one to re-light, whenever you wish to contemplate during the winter months over your magickal and mystical path. If your candle runs low transfer the light to another large candle with love and intent of the energy of the first. Contemplations are done for short periods of time so candle needs to burn for only a couple of minutes at a time, longer if you wish it is purely up to you. Note; DO NOT BLOW OUT CANDLE, SNUFF THE CANDLE INSTEAD)
See how to snuffing candle
Set up for Ritual:
Mabon SH
Sweep your circle with a broom clockwise (use whatever you have on hand, it’s about physically cleaning your space)
Place the wicker basket with seasonal fruit and vegetables in the center of alter
Tree branch to the right of the wicker basket
Ostara NH
Sweep your circle with a broom clockwise (use whatever you have on hand, it’s about physically cleaning your space)
Have your Yin/Yang symbol prepared, holes cut out as indicated on diagram provided ready for ritual
Hard boil your eggs, colour one darker than the other ready to place on symbol
Purify the self and the Environment NH & SH:
Take a shower or bath with your favorite oils
Play your favorite music
Burn your favorite incense
Meditate and ground yourself
Ostara is the beginning of spring, the season for new beginnings and the renewal of life through planting. This is the time we can now plant seeds and nurture them throughout the coming months to bare their fruit. What is it that you would like to plant in your life? What are you willing to nurture throughout the growing season? For this ritual as this season is also a time for re-birth, new life and fertility we will be concentrating on the symbology of the egg. Think of the dark and light as the feminine and the masculine. The Goddess and the God resorting your outer and inner balance.
Mabon is the second of 3 harvest festivals celebrating the equinox and the harvest of apples. On the day of the equinox, day and night is of equal length. For the next 6 months the nights will be longer than the days. This is such a great time of abundance. All the hard work that it takes to collect the harvest, it is now a time to rest, reap what you have sown and take the time to look at you hopes and aspirations and reflect how they have manifested. Most importantly spend it with the people you love. This is a time of giving, sharing and loving.
Cast the Circle:
Hypatia Casting the circle-
To the Guardians of the North:
I call you into our Watchtowers to protect us.
To the Guardians of the East:
I call you into our Watchtowers to protect us.
To the Guardians of the South:
I call you into our Watchtowers to protect us.
To the Guardians of the West:
I call you into our Watchtowers to protect us.
I cast this circle three times three with the assistance of the Great Mother and the Great God.
I call Upon the Guardians of spirit to protect us from above and below. As is above so is below, as is below so is above. May the power of The Great God and The great Goddess join us within this circle now, to protect us and to work with us and allow us to see beyond the veil.
Protect us Great Mother and Great Father for all gathered here and those afar who are unable to be with us. Allow no negative energy to touch us, to harm us and that nothing we call upon will harm us and others. We come together in perfect love and perfect trust.
Greeting:
Hypatia – Merry meet brothers and sisters and honored guests.
Everyone – Respond Merry Greet. Please tell us your first name and state or country you are from.
Ceremony:
Please ALL light your main altar candles (not the Mabon or Ostara candles as yet)
Ritual begins:
Ostara
Place green candle to your left and the white candle to your right. Leaving enough room in the middle to place your Yin/Yang symbol.
Place the Yin/Yang symbol in between the lit candles. Place the darker egg into the hole in the lighter colored side of the Yin/Yang and the lighter colored egg into the hole in the darker side.
When done type in “Ready.”
We offer these eggs to Ostara as all new life grows from an eggs or a seed.
Ostara we ask you to bless these eggs to help us renew ourselves as Mother Earth wakens from her slumber. That we may find new life coursing through us as cleansing energy.
Oak King we ask that your fertilize the hopes and wishes we have written here so they may grow and come to fruition as the year progresses.
As the Spring Equinox is the balance of day and night as equals so is the relationship of all males and females. We ask Hecate and her Consort to bless our relationships with others be they men or women. That we feel equal to them and not above or below them.
Take the eggs and set them on the side. Tape the circle of opposite color into the now empty holes. (Before breaking the eggs to eat them write the same runes on to the circles now in the Yin/Yang symbol. The side you write them on should be the same color as the egg they are written on.
We will take a 2 minutes to complete the Yin/Yang symbol. When you are done type in “Blessed be”.
Mabon
Your wand in right hand, facing your alter, arms stretched out above head……….
“Autumn Queen and Harvest God I honor Thee. As the change of seasons begins the Wheel has turned once more. A time to reflect, a time to come together in the here and now in this sacred space where all time becomes one. The second harvest has been reaped, now take the time to rest and feel the change as the season passes from one to the next.
My Mother, go now and slumber
My Father go now and dream of re-birth”
Arms outstretched, lower your head and close your eyes, sit in contemplation for 30 seconds.
When ready open your eyes and lower your arms
Pick up the apple and place it on the pentacle
Cut the apple crosswise to reveal the pentagram bringing the elements into your life
Lift the half apple up as in offering and say….
“The year gives way to the next as the season passes and the Great Wheel turns. Ancestors, Guardians and Wise ones guide me. Every begging has an ending and every ending a new beginning”.
Light your Mabon candle now
Take a bite of the apple, put aside to share with nature later
Take the tree branch and shake in each direction, starting with the North, then West, South, East and say…….
“Allow me to remember the summer past as the days grow longer and the days shorter. Memories will warm my soul as the sunlight fades and hearth becomes inviting through this divine light of the candle dedicated to the Mother and Father.
Great Mother calls me forward to rest and lull myself to sleep with her songs as I cling myself to her bosom”.
Face the altar and branch held out in front of you and say……
“May I never forget the summer memories and continue to strive during the colder months. May I take this time to go within and reflect on the Mysteries that lead me to a better understanding of myself, of others and all that is in life and death”.
Put the tree branch back on the altar, take 30 seconds to contemplate about :
The symbols that you have mentally attached to this ritual,
The various projects that you will put in action over the winter months, no matter how small or insignificant they may feel.
After the ceremony please feel free to share the consecrated fruit and vegetables in a beautiful meal with family and friends. Make a beautiful dinner for all to enjoy and be thankful for what is.
CLOSING
Dismiss the circle:
- To the Guardians of the North:
I dismiss and thank you from our Watchtowers and give Gratitude for protect us.
- To the Guardians of the West:
I dismiss and thank you from our Watchtowers and give Gratitude for protect us.
- To the Guardians of the South:
I dismiss and thank you from our Watchtowers and give Gratitude for protect us.
- To the Guardians of the East:
I dismiss and thank you from our Watchtowers and give Gratitude for protect us.
As you leave here tonight may the Lady and Lord bless you with all that you need.
I bid you Blessings and great Joy Brothers and sisters of the Craft
Thank you and farewell
Mabon/Autumn Equinox Blessing
From all of us at WOTC we wish you and yours a blessed and pleasant Fall.
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