MABON (circa September 21)

MABON (circa September 21)

 

Decorate the altar with acorns, oak sprigs, pine and cypress cones, ears of

corn, wheat stalks and other fruits and nuts. Also place there a small rustic

basket filled with dried leaves of various colors and kinds.

Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast the Circle of Stones.

Recite the Blessing Chant.

Invoke the Goddess and God.

Stand before the altar, holding aloft the basket of leaves, and slowly scatter

them so that they cascade to the ground within the circle. Say such words as

these:

 

Leaves fall,

the days grow cold.

The Goddess pulls Her mantle of the Earth around Her as You,

O Great Sun God,

sail toward the West to the lands of

Eternal Enchantment.,

wrapped in the coolness of night.

Fruits ripen,

seeds drop,

the hours of day and night are balanced.

Chill winds blow in from the North wailing laments.

In this seeming extinction of nature’s power,

O Blessed Goddess,

I know that life continues.

For spring is impossible without the second harvest,

as surely as life is impossible without death.

Blessings upon You,

O Fallen God,

as You journey into the lands of winter

and into the Goddess’ loving arms.

Place the basket down and say:

 

O Gracious Goddess of all fertility,

I have sown and reaped the fruits of my actions, good and bane.

Grant me the courage to plant seeds of joy and love in the coming year,

banishing misery and hate.

Teach me the secrets of wise existence upon this planet,

O Luminous One of the Night!

 

Works of magick, if necessary, may follow.

Celebrate the Simple Feast.

The circle is released.

Mabon To Samhain

Mabon to Samhain

Wiccans observe the autumnal equinox with a lesser sabbat that many call Mabon. The day and night may briefly be of equal length, but from now on the hours of darkness will grow steadily longer, with the signs of natural life fading apace. With harvest over, the Goddess of the waning moon, now descends to the Otherworld, where she will reign alongside the Horned God, who has battled hideous beings in his quest to become Lord of Death.

About Mabon

About Mabon

a guide to the Sabbat’s symbolism

by Arwynn MacFeylynnd

Date: September 20-23 (usually, the date of the calendar autumn equinox).

Alternative names: The Autumn Equinox, the Second Harvest Festival, the Feast of Avalon, Equizio di Autunoo and Alban Elfed.

Primary meanings: The Fall Equinox falls exactly opposite the Spring Equinox of March 20 to 23. Both are times of equal night and equal day. The Equinox is the time of equality between the God and Goddess–the God represented by the Sun, the Goddess by the Moon; fruitfulness of the land results from their connection, and now the harvest’s bounty is brought in and stored against winter and dark times. The key action at Mabon is giving thanks. At the Autumn Equinox, the Sun’s strength also begins markedly to diminish, even disappear, until Winter Solstice in December.

Symbols: Garlands, corn, apples, pinecones, gourds, acorns, wheat, dried leaves and horns of plenty (cornucopias). Foods include corn, beans, squash, nuts, apples and root vegetables; drink includes cider, wine and beer.

Colors: Red, orange, yellow, deep gold, brown, russet, maroon, indigo and violet.

Gemstones: Amethyst, carnelian, lapis lazuli, sapphire, yellow agate and yellow topaz.

Herbs: Acorns, aloe’s wood, asters, benzoin, cedar, chrysanthemums, cinnamon, cloves, ferns, frankincense, hazel, honeysuckle, hops, ivy, jasmine, marigold, milkweed, musk, myrrh, oak leaves, passionflower, pine, pomegranate, roses, sage, Solomon’s seal, thistles, tobacco and vines.

Goddesses and gods: Goddesses include Morgon, Snake Woman, Epona, the Muses and Demeter; gods include Thoth, Hermes, Thor, Dionysus, Bacchus and Herne. The Sabbat is named for a god, the Mabon ap Modron, who symbolizes the male fertilizing principle in Welsh myths. His full name (depending on the translation) means Great Son of the Great Mother, Young Son, Divine Youth or Son of Light. Modron, his mother, is the Great Goddess, Guardian of the Otherworld, Protector and Healer. She is Earth itself.

Customs and myths: In the myth of Mabon, the god disappears, taken from his mother, Modron, when only three nights old. Mabon is freed with the help of the wisdom and memory of the most ancient living animals — the blackbird, stag, owl, eagle and salmon. All along, Mabon has been quite happy, dwelling in Modron’s magickal Otherworld — Modron’s womb — to be reborn as his mother’s champion, the Son of Light. Mabon’s light has been drawn into the Earth, gathering strength and wisdom to become a new seed. In a Greek myth associated with the season, autumn begins when Persephone leaves her mother, the earth goddess Demeter, to return to the Underworld to live with her husband, Hades, lord of the dead.

Mabon is rather like Thanksgiving for pagans. The foods of Mabon consist of the second harvest’s gleanings, so grains, fruit and vegetables predominate. Pagan activities for the Sabbat include the making of wine and the adorning of graves. It is considered taboo to pass burial sites and not honor the dead. Another traditional practice is to walk wild places and forests, gathering seedpods and dried plants to decorate home or altar or to save for future herbal magick. The sounds of baying hounds passing through the sky, the “Hounds of Annwn” in the Welsh mythos, are associated with fall and winter.

Spell-work for protection, wealth and prosperity, security and self-confidence are appropriate for Mabon, as are spells that bring into balance and harmony the energies in a room, home or situation. Ritual actions might include the praising or honoring of fruit as proof of the love of the Goddess and God. River and stream stones gathered over the summer can be empowered now for various purposes.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for Sept. 16th

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2011 September 16

September’s Harvest Moon
Image Credit & Copyright: Stefano De Rosa

 

 Explanation: A Full Moon rising can be a dramatic celestial sight, and Full Moons can have many names. For example, Monday’s Full Moon was the one nearest this year’s autumnal equinox for the northern hemisphere, traditionally called the Harvest Moon. According to lore the name is a fitting one because farmers could work late into the night at the end of the growing season harvesting crops by moonlight. This serene telephoto image captures this September’s harvest moonrise from Turin, Italy. In silhouette against an orange lunar disk is Turin’s hilltop Basilica of Superga.

About Mabon

About Mabon

a guide to the Sabbat’s symbolism

by Arwynn MacFeylynnd

Date: September 20-23 (usually, the date of the calendar autumn equinox).

Alternative names: The Autumn Equinox, the Second Harvest Festival, the Feast of Avalon, Equizio di Autunoo and Alban Elfed.

Primary meanings: The Fall Equinox falls exactly opposite the Spring Equinox of March 20 to 23. Both are times of equal night and equal day. The Equinox is the time of equality between the God and Goddess–the God represented by the Sun, the Goddess by the Moon; fruitfulness of the land results from their connection, and now the harvest’s bounty is brought in and stored against winter and dark times. The key action at Mabon is giving thanks. At the Autumn Equinox, the Sun’s strength also begins markedly to diminish, even disappear, until Winter Solstice in December.

Symbols: Garlands, corn, apples, pinecones, gourds, acorns, wheat, dried leaves and horns of plenty (cornucopias). Foods include corn, beans, squash, nuts, apples and root vegetables; drink includes cider, wine and beer.

Colors: Red, orange, yellow, deep gold, brown, russet, maroon, indigo and violet.

Gemstones: Amethyst, carnelian, lapis lazuli, sapphire, yellow agate and yellow topaz.

Herbs: Acorns, aloe’s wood, asters, benzoin, cedar, chrysanthemums, cinnamon, cloves, ferns, frankincense, hazel, honeysuckle, hops, ivy, jasmine, marigold, milkweed, musk, myrrh, oak leaves, passionflower, pine, pomegranate, roses, sage, Solomon’s seal, thistles, tobacco and vines.

Goddesses and gods: Goddesses include Morgon, Snake Woman, Epona, the Muses and Demeter; gods include Thoth, Hermes, Thor, Dionysus, Bacchus and Herne. The Sabbat is named for a god, the Mabon ap Modron, who symbolizes the male fertilizing principle in Welsh myths. His full name (depending on the translation) means Great Son of the Great Mother, Young Son, Divine Youth or Son of Light. Modron, his mother, is the Great Goddess, Guardian of the Otherworld, Protector and Healer. She is Earth itself.

Customs and myths: In the myth of Mabon, the god disappears, taken from his mother, Modron, when only three nights old. Mabon is freed with the help of the wisdom and memory of the most ancient living animals — the blackbird, stag, owl, eagle and salmon. All along, Mabon has been quite happy, dwelling in Modron’s magickal Otherworld — Modron’s womb — to be reborn as his mother’s champion, the Son of Light. Mabon’s light has been drawn into the Earth, gathering strength and wisdom to become a new seed. In a Greek myth associated with the season, autumn begins when Persephone leaves her mother, the earth goddess Demeter, to return to the Underworld to live with her husband, Hades, lord of the dead.

Mabon is rather like Thanksgiving for pagans. The foods of Mabon consist of the second harvest’s gleanings, so grains, fruit and vegetables predominate. Pagan activities for the Sabbat include the making of wine and the adorning of graves. It is considered taboo to pass burial sites and not honor the dead. Another traditional practice is to walk wild places and forests, gathering seedpods and dried plants to decorate home or altar or to save for future herbal magick. The sounds of baying hounds passing through the sky, the “Hounds of Annwn” in the Welsh mythos, are associated with fall and winter.

Spell-work for protection, wealth and prosperity, security and self-confidence are appropriate for Mabon, as are spells that bring into balance and harmony the energies in a room, home or situation. Ritual actions might include the praising or honoring of fruit as proof of the love of the Goddess and God. River and stream stones gathered over the summer can be empowered now for various purposes.

A Mabon rite outline

A Mabon rite outline

(soon to be a major Mabon Ritual, at a terminal near you.)

General Mabon info to start with, set the mood &c…

What is Mabon?

Mabon, sometimes known as the Harvest/Thanksgiving ritual of the Autumn Equinox, is one of the Spokes of the Wheel of the Year. In the many Earth or Pagan Religions, a special kinship with the passing of the seasons is felt… this is usually due to the history of said traditions, most of which stem from agrarian cultures where the seasons marked the way of life. From planting to reaping to winter to summer… the seasons were of great importance to our ancestors, for their very existence depended upon good harvests, mild winters, enough rainfall, and the like.

So… having shown the importance of the seasons, we shall turn to Mabon itself. Autumn… harvest time… the reaping of what was sown and cared thru during the year. A time of thankfulness and rejoicing. So, of course, someone at some point in time must have said… “Now that the work is over… LET’S PARTY!!!”

This is the essence of Mabon. Rejoicing in a bountiful harvest, thanking the Gods for being so kind during the year, and, hopefully, helping in winning over the Gods’ favor for the coming year.

About the Mabon rite itself:

Now, this will be a very Discordian ritual in that each participant will be (more or less) writing his/her own part. This outline is provided to sorta nudge (nudge, wink, wink, say no more, sir, say no more!) people into making their individual pieces able to fit into the whole thing… (I feel like the Green Ball outta “Heavy Metal”, the movie, something which ties things together).
Back to the rite itself.

Basically, 6 personages will be represented: Callers or Watchers of the East, South, West and North, High Priest (HP) and High Priestess (HPS).

Of course, since this is a generic rite, the terms “Lord” and “Lady” will be used when referring to the Male and Female aspects of divinity/godhood/whatever… individuals may use which ever names they wish, for a Rose, by any other name, would still smell as sweet.

Outline:

  1. Invocation… once everybody has arrived, a Circle shall be cast, more or less, and the 4 Watchers/Callers each get to do their thing invoking that which that direction symbolizes to come and attend the festivities. After which, either the HPS, HP or both would consecrate the circle… in our case… the circle will be around each person at their ‘puter… with a sense of being connected to each other via the others’ ‘puters. So… what we’ll do is… after the circle is cast, and the four Corners have done their things, then the HP will call upon the Lord to attend, and the HPS shall call upon the Lady, (or, if we want to be different, we can have the HP call the Lady, and the HPS call the Lord… it’s not as traditional, but I know of some Ladies who are more likely to pay attention to a young, handsome HP than any HPS, if you get my meaning [wink]). 
  2. Once invoked… it’s time for the thanksgiving part… we all got things we’re thankful for… now’s the chance.
  3. After the thanks are over, a customary requesting of blessing for the coming year is asked.
  4. That done with, it’s time to dismiss the summoned ones… first, around the circle… each corner doing it’s thing… the dismissal consists of a Hail to the being summoned, a flattery (as I call it), and then a structured dismissal (eg. “Air of the East… blah, blah, blah,… Go if thou must, but stay if thou wilt”). The HP and HPS dismiss the Lord and Lady last with similar words.
  5. PARTY TIME!!!! Get out the Beer, munchies, what have you… celebrate… you’ve earned it. 

THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR

THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR

NE – It is the time of the Spring Equinox. Day and night are of equal length.
Our energy begins to build as we begin to come out of the contemplative time of
winter.

EAST – As spring swings into full bloom you feel full of energy and promise. It
is easy to create wonderful plans for the future at this time of year.

SE – It is the time of the Summer Solstice. The days are long and nights are
short. We enjoy the outdoors feeling alive, active and whole. Nature blesses us
with her radiance.

SOUTH – In mid summer we are more active because of the wonderful outdoor
activities available to us. Our gardens are bursting with the earth’s bounty.

SW – It is the time of the Autumn Equinox. Night and day are of equal length
creating a balance point between our active life of summer and our quieter more
inward time of winter.

WEST – As days get shorter and nights longer, we begin to retreat more into the
darkness for introspection. We think about what is and is not working in our
lives.

NW – The Winter Solstice comes. Nights are very long and we find ourselves to be
more receptive to dreams and intuition. We spend more time indoors, our winter
cave of the dreamtime.

NORTH – We find that we sleep longer at night. The quiet evenings offer rest as
well. We may even feel a bit depressed, our body’s way of telling us to take
inward time for ourselves.

*Information taken from the old WOTC.
Author currently unknown to me*
 

 

It’s August Already? Really? Oh, by the way, Happy Monday, dear Readers!

Oh man, can you believe it is August already? Where on earth has this summer went? I was just remembering the start of Spring. Easy for me to remember, I use to be a Spring Equinox baby till they moved the date in March. I know I ain’t crazy either. I remember the weatherman giving two dates as the start of Spring. I thought “good for you, Mr. Weatherman!” People tend to forget the older things in life. Excuse me, I am not saying I am old now. That’s the one of the lovely problems with being a Hereditary, you hear everything at least four to five times from all sorts of different witches. The funny thing, when they tell you it is like they know you have never heard this before. I believe when I was about ten, they finally decided one person telling me something was enough, lol! Some of them I actually knew, others knew me as a baby and passed their knowledge on to me when I was very young. I can imagine them whispering in my ear. But I seriously doubt if it was a magick spell or anything, more like an old lullaby or a similar soothing chant. When I came along I was the first baby in years and years. Yes, I had a sister but she was 23 years older than me, yeah. I grew up like an only child. I was spoiled rotten and daddy’s girl. This made my sister mad and my father told me, she was even mad when she found out my mother was pregnant with me. My sister and my mother were both pregnant at the same time. My sister had her baby first, then I was borne the next year. My nephew, myself and then my niece were all the same age. There was only a year apart in our ages.  So you can imagine what life was like around our house. No wonder, poor daddy stayed on the river so much (he was a river boat captain, gone 30 days, home 30 days). I believe if I had been grown and had good sense, I might have left too, lol! But I remember my sister bringing her kids over to the house on the weekends for momma to babysit. Everywhere we went it seems like those kids was with us. The party stopped when my mother developed cancer and we found out she only had perhaps a few years to live. That was the hardest thing a 11-year-old child can hear. Your mother, who had been your whole life, is getting ready to die.  I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t want to believe it. I remember the surgery, momma had. The grown-ups kept trying to push me back. Well I stayed back, right behind daddy’s back.  I heard everything. This doctor only gave her a few months to live. I went to the bathroom and slid down the wall. I cried and cried. I even cry now when I think about it. My father never told my mother the truth about what the doctor said and now I don’t think that was right at all.  My mother lived for two years, most in severe pain and in and out of hospitals. I think now if she could have lived a little longer perhaps they could have cured her. It is horrible to loss someone who you love that much. I can still feel the empty hole in my heart ache and hurt. It is a hollow place that no matter what, it can never be filled. Every now and then, I relive this horrible experience like I am doing today. I can’t forget it. I loved my mother more than life and her death has made me who I am. I remember when I got married, I prayed that I would live long enough to see my children grown. I wanted to live long enough to see them grown, able to take care of theirselves and never have to ask no one for anything.  Both of them are now grown and I have been granted a beautiful life thanks to my Goddess.  I got in one of these blue moods as I called them because I didn’t have a mother like everyone else. Then it hit me, STUPID! You are the luckiest person in the world. You have 3 mothers. The Goddess, My Deity and My Mother, three of the greatest women I have ever knew.  I don’t know if you have heard the old saying, “out of every dark cloud is a ray of sunshine.” When I was little, I could comprehend this. But now as I am older, I understand it completely. I still miss and love my mother but I realize I have picked up two wonderful Ladies to dry my tears and comfort me. I never had that before till I asked my Goddess and My Deity to be my mothers. My head clears and there is a sudden warmth that fills my body, it’s the Goddess telling me it will be all right. There is no way you can make anything good out of death but you can eventually come to terms with it. You can find great peace and comfort in our Mother, the Goddess and perhaps even your Deity. Whenever you need Her, she is there and will never desert you. Those of us who know the Goddess and Her teachings are some of the luckiest people on the face of this planets.

Go gives those you love a hug and a kiss one for you and one for me. Don’t let another day pass without you telling them how much you love and care for them.  Life is short, too short.

Luv & Hugs,
Lady A