Tag: Mabon

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

Some of the Witchcraft/Magickal Correspondence for Monday

(YOU CAN COPY AND PASTE ANY CORRESPONDENCES POSTED TO A DOCUMENT TO PRINT AND/OR SAVE ON YOUR COMPUTER FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY)

Monday is named after the moon. The Latin term for Monday is Dies Lunae (“moon’s day”); in the Old English language, this day was Monandaeg; in Greek, it was Hermera Selenes. All of these different names and languages translate to the same thing: the “day of the moon.”

Working with the different phases of the moon is an important skill that takes a bit of time for Witches to learn. So why not cut to the chase and experiment with the day of the week that is dedicated to the moon in all of its magickal energies and aspects?

Magickally, Monday encourages the lunar energies of inspiration, illusion, prophetic dreams, emotions, psychic abilities, travel, women’s mysteries, and fertility.

Source

Book of Witchery: Spells, Charms & Correspondences for Every Day of the Week
Ellen Dugan

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 here  

From Pennsylvania USA, Groundhog Day 2021: Punxsutawney Phil predicts 6 more weeks of winter

I don’t know about all of you but even as a child I thought they had the predictions backwards. I mean wouldn’t it make more sense if the groundhog didn’t see his shadow that there would be 6 more weeks of winter? Anyway, no matter whether Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not according to the Sabbat dates on our Northern Hemisphere Wheel of The Year from Imbolc we go approximately 6 weeks and 4 to 5 days to when we celebrate Ostara. I wonder if it means 6 more weeks until fall starts in the Southern Hemisphere? Today is Lammas in the Southern Hemisphere and the end of the 6 weeks and 4 to 5 days would be on Mabon. Well enough of my ramblings on the actual Groundhog Day not the movie.

Here is what CBS News has to say about Groundhog day 2021

Some 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:

Heart’s Spirit Coven Chatroom

 

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

Ying Yang Drawing for OSTARA

 

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

 

Mea’n Fo’mhair

Autumn Comments & Graphics
Mea’n Fo’mhair

 

“Mea’n Fo’mhair honors The Green Man, God of the Forest, by offerings of wines, ciders and herbs. The Goddess is commemorated as she passes from Mother to Crone. Mabon is an occasion of the Mysteries and to honor deities and the spirit world. Finery is worn in shades of red, maroon, violet, orange, gold, brown, yellow, russet and indigo. Jewelry is made with yellow topaz and agate, carnelian, sapphire, amethyst and sapphire, crystals. The feast includes breads, nuts, acorns, grains, corn, beans, squash, root vegetables, some seasoned with sage, dried fruits, pomegranates, grapes and apples spiced with cinnamon and cloves, ale, wine and cider. It’s a gathering of family as people ready for Samhain and a time to finish old business for a phase of reflection, rest and relaxation. Activities include scattering offerings in harvested fields, making wine, gathering dried herbs, plants, seeds and pods, walking in the woods and adorning graves with leaves, acorns, and pine cones to honor those who have gone on. Spellwork is for protection, harmony, prosperity, balance, security, and self-confidence. The animals of Mabon are dogs, wolves, stags, salmon, goats and raptors, especially eagles and owls, and black birds.”
– Mabon, Pagan Fire Festival by Jill Stefko

Mabon Balance Meditation


Mabon Comments & GraphicsMabon Balance Meditation

 

Celebrating the Dark and the Light
A Time of Positive and Negative Energy

Mabon is one of those times of year that affect people in different ways. For some, it’s a season to honor the darker aspects of the goddess, calling upon that which is devoid of light. For others, it’s a time of thankfulness, of gratitude for the abundance we have at the season of harvest. No matter how you see it, Mabon is traditionally a time of balance. After all, it’s one of the two times each year that has equal amounts of darkness and daytime.

Because this is, for many people, a time of high energy, there is sometimes a feeling of restlessness in the air, a sense that something is just a bit “off”. If you’re feeling a bit spiritually lopsided, with this simple meditation you can restore a little balance into your life.

Setting the Mood
Now that fall is here, why not do an autumn version of Spring Cleaning? Get rid of any emotional baggage you’re dragging around with you. Accept that there are darker aspects to life, and embrace them, but don’t let them rule you. Understand that a healthy life finds balance in all things.

You can perform this ritual anywhere, but the best place to do it is outside, in the evening as the sun goes down. Decorate your altar (or if you’re outside, use a flat stone or tree stump) with colorful autumn leaves, acorns, small pumpkins, and other symbols of the season. You’ll need a black candle and a white one of any size, although tealights probably work best. Make sure you have something safe to put them in, either a candle holder or a bowl of sand.

Light both candles, and say the following:

A balance of night and day, a balance of light and dark
Tonight I seek balance in my life
as it is found in the Universe.
A black candle for darkness and pain
and things I can eliminate from my life.
A white candle for the light, and for joy
and all the abundance I wish to bring forth.
At Mabon, the time of the equinox,
there is harmony and balance in the Universe,
and so there shall be in my life.

Meditate on the things you wish to change. Focus on eliminating the bad, and strengthening the good around you. Put toxic relationships into the past, where they belong, and welcome new positive relationships into your life. Let your baggage go, and take heart in knowing that for every dark night of the soul, there will be a sunrise the next morning.
 

By Patti Wigington,Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article found on & owned by About.com

 

General Preparations for Autumnal Equinox Celebration (Mabon, Late Summer Harvest Feast)


Mabon Comments & Graphics

General Preparations for Autumnal Equinox Celebration

(Mabon, Late Summer Harvest Feast)

The Green Man, and the Powers of Summer, must give way, must be offered up in sacrifice, must willingly die, must be released at Mabon.  Do some reading and research on The Green Man (Powers of Spring and Summer): Bibliography, Links, Quotes, Information, Lore, Myths, Role.  We must give something to get something.  Autumn brings up themes of aging, disease, dying, death, releasing, letting go, sunset, sinking into the depths of the watery realm of the Ancestors.

Thoroughly clean, dust, tidy up, refreshen, improve, and add appropriate seasonal decorations to your home altar.  This should normally be clean and tidy, however an extra cleaning before the autumn equinox celebration is a way to express your reverence, create a visible reminder of your thoughts and devotional practices, and to offer hospitality to the nature spirits, ancestors, and Shining Ones. If you don’t have a home altar, read some books and webpages about setting one up in your home or garden, and then establish one this holiday season.

Working and meditating in the garden is an important facet of my spiritual path.  I need to regularly reconnect with the earth and the autumn season outdoors. I live in Red Bluff, California, USDA Zone 9, Northern Hemisphere.  My late September gardening chores might be quite different from yours, depending upon where you live.  Tend your garden daily.  Water your garden each day.  Weed your vegetable garden.  Harvest squash, tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables from your garden each day.  Review your own lists of chores for August and September, and act accordingly.

Read about Mabon, Alban Elfed, the Autumnal Equinox Celebration, and late-summer harvest celebrations around the world.  Add notes and links to books, magazines, and webpages on the subject. Visit your local public library or college library to obtain access to books, media and magazines on the subject.  Study about ancient Indo-European religions.  I research and update my Months webpages on both September and October.

Read solitary or group rites for Mabon available in books and webpages.  Create your own ritual for Mabon.  Practice the ritual.  Conduct the ritual at a convenient time for you, or your family and/or friends, as close to the day of the autumnal equinox as possible.  Attend a public Mabon ritual of a local NeoPagan group.

Make a Apple Bell Wand, the Apple Branch, using a branch from an apple tree and bells and coins tied to the branchlets.  This apple branch wand is used to cheer up and praise the Fairies and other Nature Spirits.  Keep the branch in the dark wrapped in a cloth when not in use.  Bells, colored cloth, and meaningful trinkets are tied to the apple wand.  Words are carved into the apple branch using rare alphabets, e.g., ogham or runic. Bring the Apple Branch out at sunset or dawn on the autumnal equinox, or at other times, and shake the branch so as to honor, encourage, or request favors of the Fairies.  Read about this in: The Mysteries of Druidry: Celtic Mysticism, Theory and Practice, by Brendan Cathbad Myers, pp. 109-111.  Some cut willow wands.

Harvest and preserve some fruit, vegeatables, seeds, or herbs.  Preserve by drying, canning, or storing in jars.  Gather acorns, nuts, seeds, pinecones, and other autumn seeds.

Add some appropriate Mabon, Alban Elfed, Autumnal Equinox, or September songs, chants, prayers, reflections, invocations, or poems to your Neo-Pagan Craft Journal, Book of Shadows, blog, website, or Ritual Handbook.  Write in your personal journal.  Most spiritual seekers keep a notebook, journal or log as part of their experimental, creative, magical and experiential work.

Stay at home.  Improve your home, backyard, or garden.  Eliminate long driving trips.  Do you really need to “Go” anywhere?  Do you really need to fly by airplane to another country?  Explore your backyard, neighborhood, local community, nearby city, county wide area, regional area within 100 miles.  Visit a local “sacred site.”  For us, for example, this could be Mt. Shasta, the headwaters spring of the Sacramento River in Mt. Shasta City, the Sacramento River at Woodson Bridge Park, a long walk in the forest below nearby Mt. Lassen, sitting on the shore of Whiskeytown Lake, sitting in my backyard in the moonlight, or visiting a beautiful church or college or park that is nearby.  Watch a DVD on a spiritual subject, sacred place, or inspirational topic.  Learn more about your local environment.

Ask yourself these questions in the month of September:
What is your personal harvest from self-improvement resolutions planted last spring?
In what specific and creative ways can you honor the productivity of Mother Earth?
What is something new that you produced in the last six months?
How can you best celebrate your productive efforts during the year?
How have others helped you to be more creative?
How can you best celebrate the autumnal equinox holiday?

 

 

Source:

Egreenway.com

 

Ten Ways to Celebrate Mabon


Mabon Comments & Graphics
Ten Ways to Celebrate Mabon

 

Mabon is the time of the autumn equinox, and the harvest is winding down. The fields are nearly bare, because the crops have been stored for the coming winter. Mabon is a time when we take a few moments to honor the changing seasons, and celebrate the second harvest. On or around September 21, for many Pagan and Wiccan traditions it is a time of giving thanks for the things we have, whether it is abundant crops or other blessings. It is also a time of balance and reflection, following the theme of equal hours light and dark. Here are some ways you and your family can celebrate this day of bounty and abundance.

1. Find Some Balance
Mabon is a time of balance, when there are equal hours of darkness and light, and that can affect people in different ways. For some, it’s a season to honor the darker aspects of the goddess, calling upon that which is devoid of light. For others, it’s a time of thankfulness, of gratitude for the abundance we have at the season of harvest. Because this is, for many people, a time of high energy, there is sometimes a feeling of restlessness in the air, a sense that something is just a bit “off”. If you’re feeling a bit spiritually lopsided, with this simple meditation you can restore a little balance into your life. You can also try a ritual to bring balance and harmony to your home.

2. Hold a Food Drive
Many Pagans and Wiccans count Mabon as a time of thanks and blessings — and because of that, it seems like a good time to give to those less fortunate than ourselves. If you find yourself blessed with abundance at Mabon, why not give to those who aren’t? Invite friends over for a feast, but ask each of them to bring a canned food, dry goods, or other non-perishable items? Donate the collected bounty to a local food bank or homeless shelter.

3. Pick Some Apples
Apples are the perfect symbol of the Mabon season. Long connected to wisdom and magic, there are so many wonderful things you can do with an apple. Find an orchard near you, and spend a day with your family. As you pick the apples, give thanks to Pomona, goddess of fruit trees. Be sure to only pick what you’re going to use — if you can, gather plenty to take home and preserve for the coming winter months. Take your apples home and use them in rituals, for divination, and for delicious recipes that your family can enjoy all season long.

4. Count Your Blessings
Mabon is a time of giving thanks, but sometimes we take our fortune for granted. Sit down and make a gratitude list. Write down things that you are thankful for. An attitude of gratefulness helps bring more abundance our way — what are things you’re glad you have in your life? Maybe it’s the small things, like “I’m glad I have my cat Peaches” or “I’m glad my car is running.” Maybe it’s something bigger, like “I’m thankful I have a warm home and food to eat” or “I’m thankful people love me even when I’m cranky.” Keep your list some place you can see it, and add to it when the mood strikes you.

5. Honor the Darkness
Without darkness, there is no light. Without night, there can be no day. Despite a basic human need to overlook the dark, there are many positive aspects to embracing the dark side, if it’s just for a short time. After all, it was Demeter’s love for her daughter Persephone that led her to wander the world, mourning for six months at a time, bringing us the death of the soil each fall. In some paths, Mabon is the time of year that celebrates the Crone aspect of a triune goddess. Celebrate a ritual that honors that aspect of the Goddess which we may not always find comforting or appealing, but which we must always be willing to acknowledge. Call upon the gods and goddesses of the dark night, and ask for their blessings this time of year.

6. Get Back to Nature
Fall is here, and that means the weather is bearable once more. The nights are becoming crisp and cool, and there’s a chill in the air. Take your family on a nature walk, and enjoy the changing sights and sounds of the outdoors. Listen for geese honking in the sky above you, check the trees for changing in the colors of the leaves, and watch the ground for dropped items like acorns, nuts, and seed pods. If you live in an area that doesn’t have any restrictions on removing natural items from park property, take a small bag with you and fill it up with the things you discover along the way. Bring your goodies home for your family’s altar. If you are prohibited from removing natural items, fill your bag with trash and clean up the outdoors!

7. Tell Timeless Stories
In many cultures, fall was a time of celebration and gathering. It was the season in which friends and relatives would come from far and near to get together before the cold winter kept them apart for months at a time. Part of this custom was storytelling. Learn the harvest tales of your ancestors or of the people indigenous to the area in which you live. A common theme in these stories is the cycle of death and rebirth, as seen in the planting season. Learn about the stories of Osiris, Mithras, Dionysius, Odin and other deities who have died and then restored to life.

8. Raise Some Energy
It’s not uncommon for Pagans and Wiccans to make remarks regarding the “energy” of an experience or event. If you’re having friends or family over to celebrate Mabon with you, you can raise group energy by working together. A great way to do this is with a drum or music circle. Invite everyone to bring drums, rattles, bells, or other instruments. Those who don’t have an instrument can clap their hands. Begin in a slow, regular rhythm, gradually increasing the tempo until it reaches a rapid pace. End the drumming at a pre-arranged signal, and you’ll be able to feel that energy wash over the group in waves. Another way of raising group energy is chanting, or with dance. With enough people, you can hold a Spiral Dance.

9. Celebrate Hearth & Home
As autumn rolls in, we know we’ll be spending more time indoors in just a few months. Take some time to do a fall version of spring cleaning. Physically clean your home from top to bottom, and then do a ritual smudging. Use sage or sweetgrass, or asperge with consecrated water as you go through your home and bless each room. Decorate your home with symbols of the harvest season, and set up a family Mabon altar. Put sickles, scythes and bales of hay around the yard. Collect colorful autumn leaves, gourds and fallen twigs and place them in decorative baskets in your house. If you have any repairs that need to be done, do them now so you don’t have to worry about them over the winter. Throw out or give away anything that’s no longer of use.

10. Welcome the Gods of the Vine
Grapes are everywhere, so it’s no surprise that the Mabon season is a popular time to celebrate winemaking, and deities connected to the growth of the vine. Whether you see him as Bacchus, Dionysus, the Green Man, or some other vegetative god, the god of the vine is a key archetype in harvest celebrations. Take a tour of a local winery and see what it is they do this time of year. Better yet, try your hand at making your own wine! If you’re not into wine, that’s okay — you can still enjoy the bounty of grapes, and use their leaves and vines for recipes and craft projects. However you celebrate these deities of vine and vegetation, you may want to leave a small offering of thanks as you reap the benefits of the grape harvest.

Source:
Author:  Patti Wigington, Paganism/Wicca Expert
Article found on & owned by About.com

The Witches Correspondences for Mabon


Mabon Comments & GraphicsThe Witches Correspondences for Mabon

MAY-bon, MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon or MAH-bawn, – Lesser Sabbat/Autumn Equinox, September 21-23

Michaelmas (September 25th, Christian), Second Harvest Festival, Witches’ Thanksgiving, Harvest Home (Anglo-Celtic), Feast of Avalon, Wine Harvest, Festival of Dionysus, Cornucopia, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), Chung Chiu (China), Night of the Hunter, Alban Elfed “The Light of the Water”(Caledonii/ Druidic-celebrates Lord of the Mysteries), Winter Finding (Teutonic, from Equinox ’til Winter Night or Nordic New Year, Oct 15th.)

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!

Purpose: Second harvest festival, new wine pressing/making preparation for winter and Samhain, rest after labor, Pagan day of Thanksgiving, honoring the spirit world, celebration of wine.

Dynamics/Meaning: death of the God, assumption of the Crone, balance of light and dark; increase of darkness, grape harvest, completion of the harvest.

Essence: Beauty, joy; fullness of life, harvest of the year’s desires, strength; laughter; power; prosperity, equality, balance, appreciation, harvest, protection, wealth, security, self-confidence, reincarnation.

Symbolism of Mabon: Second Harvest, the Mysteries, Equality and Balance.

Symbols of Mabon: wine, gourds, pine cones, acorns, grains, corn, apples, pomegranates, vines such as ivy, dried seeds, and horns of plenty.

Tools, Symbols & Decorations: Indian corn, red fruits, autumn flowers, red poppies, hazelnuts, garlands, grains especially wheat stalks, and colorful, fallen leaves, acorns, pine & cypress cones, oak sprigs, pomegranate, statue/or figure to represent the Mother Goddess, mabon wreath, vine, grapes, gourd, cornucopia/horns of plenty, burial cairns, apples, marigolds, harvested crops, burial cairns, rattles, the Mysteries, sun wheel, all harvest symbols.

Herbs & Plants: Acorn, aster, benzoin, cedar, ferns, grains, hazel, honeysuckle, hops, ivy, marigold, milkweed, mums, myrrh, oak leaf, passionflower, pine, rose, sage, solomon’s seal, tobacco, thistle, and vegetables.

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

Incense & Oils of Mabon: Pine, sweetgrass, apple blossom, benzoin, myrrh, frankincense, jasmine, sage wood aloes, black pepper, patchouly, cinnamon, clove, oak moss, & sage.

Colors/Candles of Mabon: Red, orange, russet, maroon, brown, gold, deep gold, green, orange, scarlet, all autumn colors, purple, blue, violet, & indigo.

Stones of Mabon: Sapphire, lapis lazuli, yellow agates, carnelian, yellow topaz, & amethyst.

Customs: Offerings to land, preparing for cold weather, bringing in harvest, cutting willow wands (Druidic), eating seasonal fruit, leaving apples upon burial cairns & graves as a token of honor, walk wild places & forests, gather seed pods & dried plants, fermenting grapes to make wine,picking ripe produce, stalk bundling; fishing,. on the closest full moon (Harvest Moon) harvesting corps by moonlight.

Activities of Mabon: Making wine, gathering dried herbs, plants, seeds and seed pods, walking in the woods, scattering offerings in harvested fields, offering libations to trees, adorning burial sites with leaves, acorns, and pine cones to honor those who have passed over.

Spellworkings and Rituals of Mabon: Protection, security, and self-confidence. Also those of harmony and balance. Celtic Festival of the Vine, prosperity rituals, introspection, rituals which enact the elderly aspects of both Goddess & God, past life recall.

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

Goddesses: Modron (Welsh), Bona Dea, Land Mother, Aging & Harvest Dieties: the Triple Goddess-Mother aspect, Persephone, Demeter/Ceres, Morgan (Welsh- Cornish), Snake Woman (aboriginal), Epona (Celtic-Gaulish), Pamona (roman), the Muses (greek)

Gods: Mabon ap Modron (Welsh), Sky Father, The Green Man, Wine Gods, Aging Gods, John Barley Corn , the Wicker-Man, the Corn Man, Thoth (Egyptian), Hermes, Hotei (Japanese), Thor, Dionysus (Roman), Bacchus (Greek) & all wine Deities

Element: Water

Threshold: Evening
Source:
PaganPages.org

Mabon to Samhain

Mabon Comments & Graphics

Mabon to Samhain

Wiccans and Witches 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 a pace. 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 being in his quest to become Lord of Death.

—The Wicca Book of Days
Selena Eilidh Ash

Gods – OgmaCeltic God c.2015

 

Ogma

Celtic God

 

In Irish-Celtic myth, Ogma is the god of eloquence and learning. He is the son of the goddess Danu and the god Dagda, and one of the foremost members of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is the reputed inventor of the ancient Ogham alphabet which is used in the earliest Irish writings.

In the final battle at Mag Tuireadh he managed to take away the sword of the king of the Fomorians, but had to pay with his life for this feat. His Celtic equivalent is Ogmios.

Ogma or Oghma is a character from Irish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, he is often considered a deity and may be related to the Gaulish god Ogmios.

He fights in the first battle of Mag Tuired, when the Tuatha Dé take Ireland from the Fir Bolg. Under the reign of Bres, when the Tuatha Dé are reduced to servitude, Ogma is forced to carry firewood, but nonetheless is the only one of the Tuatha Dé who proves his athletic and martial prowess in contests before the king. When Bres is overthrown and Nuadu restored, Ogma is his champion. His position is threatened by the arrival of Lugh at the court, so Ogma challenges him by lifting and hurling a great flagstone, which normally required eighty oxen to move it, out of Tara, but Lugh answers the challenge by hurling it back. When Nuadu hands command of the Battle of Mag Tuired to Lugh, Ogma becomes Lugh’s champion, and promises to repel the Fomorian king, Indech, and his bodyguard, and to defeat a third of the enemy. During the battle he finds Orna, the sword of the Fomorian king Tethra, which recounts the deeds done with it when unsheathed. During the battle Ogma and Indech fall in single combat, although there is some confusion in the texts as in Cath Maige Tuired Ogma, Lugh and the Dagda pursue the Fomorians after the battle to recover the harp of Uaitne, the Dagda’s harper.

He often appears as a triad with Lugh and the Dagda, who are sometimes collectively known as the trí dée dána or three gods of skill, although that designation is elsewhere applied to other groups of characters. His father is Elatha and his mother is usually given as Ethliu, sometimes as Étaín. His sons include Delbaeth and Tuireann. He is said to have invented the Ogham alphabet, which is named after him.

Scholars of Celtic mythology have proposed that Ogma represents the vestiges of an ancient Celtic god. By virtue of his battle prowess and invention of Ogham, he is compared with Ogmios, a Gaulish deity associated with eloquence and equated with Herakles. J. A. MacCulloch compares Ogma’s epithet grianainech (sun-face) with Lucian’s description of the “smiling face” of Ogmios, and suggests Ogma’s position as champion of the Tuatha Dé Danann may derive “from the primitive custom of rousing the warriors’ emotions by eloquent speeches before a battle”, although this is hardly supported by the texts. Scholars such Rudolf Thurneysen and Anton van Hamel dispute any link between Ogma and Ogmios.

*
A Proto-Indo-European root *og-mo– ‘furrow, track, incised line’ may be the origin of the stem of the name. In addition, Proto-Celtic had a causative verbal suffix *-ej– ~ *-īj-. A hypothetical Proto-Celtic *Ogm-īj-o-sogm-. This agent noun would therefore mean ‘furrow-maker, incisor’ and may have had a metaphorical sense of ‘impresser.’ therefore looks very much like an agent noun derived from a verb formed by the addition of this causative suffix to the stem *

The Irish god of writing, eloquence and poetry. Ogma was credited of being inventor of the Celtic writing systems that the Druids used for their magic. These scripts were known as Ogham.

Ogma was the son of Dagda and the goddess Danu. Some other writers say that Ogma and Dagda were brothers; in this version they were the sons of Eithne. Ogma had also being called the son of Elatha, the king of the Fomorians.

Ogma was one the seven champions in the First Battle of Moytura (Mag Tuired), but when Bres became the king of Tuatha dé Danann, Ogma was degraded into working on humiliating manual job of gathering firewood.
When Lugh went to Nuada, asking for a place to serve the king, Ogma seemed to be Nuada’s foremost fighter. During the second battle of Moytura, Ogma had killed one of the Fomorian leaders, named Indech, the son of Domnu.

Ogma had married Etain, the daughter of Dian Cécht. Ogma had a son named Caipre. Some say that he was the father of MacCuill, MacCecht and MacGrené (MacGrene), the three Danann kings who ruled Ireland, during the Milesian invasion, though other say that Neit was their father.
To the Celtic Gauls he was called Ogmios. According to both Gallic and Irish myths Ogma was a warrior god, depicted as a wrinkled old man, wearing lion’s skin cloak, carrying a bow and club. The Romans considered Ogmios as the Celtic equivalent of Hercules (Greek Heracles). They also depicting Ogimos as holding people chained to his tongue by their ears, to indicate he was the god of eloquence and poetry.

Author: Agaliha
Website: Deity of the Week