Blog Article

Mabon - Nourishing Rituals

“Autumn is my time. I am most radiant and full of energy when the leaves are falling and there is a ghost of change in the air.”

The Autumn Equinox, Mabon, Fall… it’s definitely one of my favorite times of the year. Summer is beginning to wind down, in many parts of the country the leaves are changing, turning glorious hues of scarlet, gold, and rust. There is a crispness in the air, sweaters are coming out of storage and there is a cozy feeling that is beginning to wrap us up in its embrace. Even here in Southern California, where we are still feeling the heat, there is a chill in the mornings and the promise of change is in the air… the season of the witch is close at hand.

Mabon is the second of the harvest festivals and the fall equinox, where night and day are the same length. From Mabon forward, the days begin to grow shorter while the nights grow longer. It also marks the ending to the Wheel of the Year, it’s a time to mark the balance of things, and to greet the coming dark. One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about Mabon is that it is nature’s, and the witch’s, Thanksgiving. It is a time of preparation for the winter, a time of celebration and personal ritual, a time of turning inwards and a time of dreaming. A time out of time, when all things are equal, and a perfect time for us to pause, breathe deep, appreciate life, and be in the moment.

Taking this time to reconnect with ourselves, with our family and friends, with the phases and the rhythms of nature, and with our lives is more than important, it’s vital. We need celebration. We need ritual. We need the magical. We need to embrace moments where we can disengage from the demands, the responsibilities and the worries that occupy so much of our everyday lives, and be about something deeper, something richer, something untamed. Ritual nourishes our souls, and it creates a container for that which is mysterious and magical to take root in our lives.

There are many ways for you to begin allowing magick to take shape in your everyday life, and rather than spelling out a specific Mabon ritual for you to follow step-by-step, I’m offering some suggestions so that you can begin to create a ritual that makes sense for you and flows into your magickal practice.

• Clean and declutter your home. Switch out your summer wardrobe with your fall/winter one in your closets. Prepare for the colder months (for those of you in those climes). Sweep out the dust and remnants of the past season with a broom.
  
• Have a feast! Include as much seasonal and local produce as you can.
  
• Bake a loaf of bread from scratch.
  
• Bake an apple pie.
  
• Go to an orchard or farmers market and pick your own apples.
  
• Drink wine and make a toast to all that you are grateful for, AND, in acknowledgement of your successes this year. If you prefer a non-alcoholic version you can drink grape or pomegranate juice. I especially like the symbolism of the pomegranate in relation to the myth of Persephone and Hades
  
• Offer a libation of thanks to the land by pouring wine or juice onto the soil.
  
• Leave an offering of bread and honey outside for the fae.
  
• Write and send small notes of thanks to people who have supported you or enriched your life in the past year.
  
• Sit with a journal and take stock of all of the places where you feel your life is out of balance, and of the ways you feel you can realistically and joyfully make changes. Promise yourself to make at least one of those changes within the coming week.
  
• Take a walk or spend some time in nature where you can observe the changes in foliage, in the land, and allow yourself to sense and connect to the shifting rhythms of nature.