Autumnal Equinox

Alternate Names

Celtic 'Festival of the Vine'

Druidic Name

Alban Elfed or Alban Elued (Light of the Water)

Christian Equivalent

Saint Matthew's Day

Place in the Natural Cycle

     Mabon is the solar festival that marks the transition from the light to the dark half of the year: day and night are of equal length. On this day, the sun rises due east and sets due west. The autumn quarter of the year runs from Lughnassadh to Samhain, so Mabon marks the mid-point of autumn. By Mabon, the land is showing clear signs of the journey towards winter - leaves are beginning to turn and birds are gathering for migration.

Further Details

     Mabon is the time of the second harvest, when fruits are ready for collection. In Celtic mythology, Mabon was the Young God, abducted and imprisoned, only to return at a later date. This is thus an appropriate title for the day on which darkness gains the upper hand over light until the following equinox, Ostara. Mabon is the point at which, conceptually at least, the Sun enters the sign of Libra, the Scales or Balance - the most appropriate sign for this day of perfect balance between darkness and light.

     Mabon is a time to consider which aspects of your life you wish to preserve and which you would prefer to discard. It marks a time of thankfulness, equality and balance when you should try to appreciate and enjoy the fruits of your labors. The dark half of the year brings a greater emphasis on reflection, rest and planning, and Mabon is the point at which these influences begin to be felt.

     The enchanting time of the year that Mabon celebrates is perhaps most beautifully evoked by To Autumn, by the English poet, John Keats. Appropriately for this time of benevolence, the poem first appeared in a lively letter to a friend, and even more appositely, this letter was written on the autumnal equinox of 1819. It was published in 1820 in the volume that would make Keats' reputation after his death: Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes and other poems.

Further poems by Keats are available in our Book of Shadows.

To Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimmed their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,---
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir, the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

---

Ritual Preparations

     Gather one colorful leaf each from rowan, birch, hazel, sassafras, hawthorn, willow, ash, and oak trees (or as many of those trees as you can find) and wax them prior tot he ritual. Store the collection in a white cloth until you're ready to use them.

     You will also need a yellow colored candle to represent the sun and a cup of grape juice or wine. If holding this ritual inside, have a bowl into which you can pour the juice or wine during the rite.

The Altar

     Cover the altar with a red or orange (or any color you associate with the harvest) cloth. Decorate the altar with fall fruits and grains, gourds, and bunches of grapes. Add a horn of plenty with coins inside, to the collection.

     Place the sun candle at the corner of your altar and light it. Keep the goblet of wine just in front of the candle, and put the waxed leaves wrapped to the right or left of center.

Invocation

     Since Mabon marks a change in power from the sun to the moon, begin this invocation in the West. This is the seat of water, traditionally associated with the lunar sphere. It is also the region of the setting sun.

     The quarter markers for his invocation could be gourds hand-painted in traditional colors, or those decorated with elemental emblems. For example, use the image of a purple water droplet for he west, a red tongue of flame for the south, a yellow feather for the east, and a brown seed for he north.

     In the Greek and Roman traditions, this festival honor Bacchus or Dionysus because of the grape harvest. Consequently I have chosen to call on this deity for the center point of the circle. Feel free to substitute any other god of the harvest with whom you're more familiar.

West

Water Maiden, come and celebrate!

Taste the wine and the fruit filled with your drops.

Wash gently on the shores of my soul

with the sustaining waters of creation,

for I am your servant.

North

Earth Mother, come and celebrate!

Taste the wine and the fruit of your womb.

Grow gently in the soils of my soul

the seed's of Nature's lessons,

for I am your servant.

East

Wind Brother, come and celebrate!

Taste the wine and fruit of your breath.

Blow gently into my soul

with the wind of insight and motivation,

for I am your servant.

South

Fire Father, come and celebrate!

Taste the wine and the fruit you warmed to maturity.

Burn gently in my heart and soul

with the empowering embers of magick,

for I am your servant.

Center

Bacchus, Dionysus, come and celebrate!

Taste the wine and fruit of the Earth's bounty.

Fill gently my heart and soul

with the wines of wisdom and wonderment,

for I am your servant.

Meditation and Visualization

At your altar, take the leaf divination kit in hand. Raise it toward the sky, saying,

"Powers of Light, grant me sight beyond sight. As day gives way to dark, grant me foresight's inner spark."

     Sit down and hold the tool in hand. Close your eyes and center your attention on the energy each leaf brings to the bundle. Feel its inherent symbolism in color and form. If any of the leaves seem to have a different meaning to you than those given below, make note of it. Your instincts are important to the divination process, heed their council above anything found in a book.

     Now think  about the next three months. Ask Nature's tool what the future holds for you. Keeping your eyes closed, randomly draw out two leaves for each month, placing the first one to your left and the second to your right. The left-hand leaf's symbolism is determined by the one on the right. For example, if you drew maple followed by birch for the month of October, this indicates that your path to inner peace during that time frame lies in activating your feminine attributes. A willow leaf followed by a hawthorn for November indicates that you can achieve your goals then, if you learn to be flexible.

Here are the basic correspondences for the leaves:

Rowan

Safety; the need for protection

Hazel

Wisdom; the use of discernment

Birch

Highlights or augments feminine attributes (nurturing, intuition, gentility, and so on)

Maple

Peace; truce; reconciliation

Sassafras

Physical, spiritual, or emotional well-being

Hawthorn

Wishes; goals; desires; achievements

Willow

The capacity to bend and change with circumstances

Ash

Vitality; energy; power

Oak

Highlights or augments masculine attributes (leadership, strength, courage, and so on)

 

The Ritual

Stand before the center of the altar. Hold your ritual goblet toward the sky with both hands, saying,

"Lord of the Harvest, Lady of Crops, I thank you for the gifts freely given, and now I return wine from this bounty to the soil with a grateful heart."

Pour out the wine to the soil or secondary container. If you're using the latter, you must take this outside after the ritual and pour it into the earth.

"Accept my offering as a gift to you and Earth. Let this libation nourish and sustain the land as the Wheel moves on."

Put down the cup, and take up the cornucopia with both hands while reciting.

"Providence, while my table is rich with the harvest, soon the crops fall tot he snows. Let each silver piece be used kindly to help others, then return thrice-fold in times of need. Bless these coins that I, and all within my home, might not want for food, nor comfort, while the land lies fallow. By your power, let it be so."

Return the coins to the altar. After the ritual keep them in an accessible place and use them for random acts of kindness, such as putting a quarter into an expired parking meter. Your gifts to others, as the prayer says, will return to you three times over to meet your needs.

"The Wheel has turned. he sun no longer reigns."

Blow out the sun candle.

"It is a time of increasing darkness...a time to look within at shadows of my soul and face them bravely. May the Powers be with me into this Underworld journey, that like the sun I will return from my meditations with the brightness of enlightenment as a guide."

Linger before the altar an consider any negatives in your life. Be honest with yourself here. Choose one on which to work for the remainder of the winter so that by Candlemas, it will be banished with growing light.

Other Activities

     European tradition says that being hospitable to a stranger on this day brings good luck. Besides this, it is a perfect day for brewing grapes wine in honor of Dionysus/Bacchus. To make a gallon, begin with three quarts of water, three pounds of sugar, one 12-ounce can each of white and purple frozen grape juice concentrate (thawed), a sliver of orange peel, a tea bag, and a tablespoon of wine yeast. Put everything except the yeast into a non aluminum pan and warm it over a medium flame.

     When the sugar is totally dissolved, let the mix cool to lukewarm. Meanwhile, mix the yeast with a quarter cup of warm water, which you will stir into the juice after it reaches lukewarm. Cover the pot with a heavy dish towel and leave it for three days to begin the fermentation process. Strain into a glass jug on the third day, but leave the cork very loose for another four weeks. After this time tighten down the cork and store the wine in a cool, dark area. It will be ready to consume within three months ~ six months if you prefer a drier wine.

Closing the Circle

South

Fire Father, may your cooling embers heal heated emotions. I bid you farewell, with thanks.

East

Air Brother, may your winter winds grant me freshness of mind I bid you farewell, with thanks.

North

Earth Mother, may your providence continue though barrenness. I bid you farewell, with thanks.

West

Water Sister, may your rains fall freely on parched spirits. I bid you farewell, with thanks.

Center

Spirit f the Vine, of corn and grain, from you I am born, and shall return again. I bid you farewell, with thanks.

Post Ritual Foods

     In keeping with the theme of prudence and conservation, serve long-lasting foods such as apples, potatoes, squash, nuts, oats and onions, or leftovers. Cider and goose are also traditional Mabon foods.