Autumn Equinox Mabon Rite

You will need a dish on the altar containing a single sheaf of wheat or an ear of corn or some wheat covered with a cloth.

Decorate altar and circle with ping cones, grains, acorns, red poppies, autumnal flower fruits and leaves.

Say:

Now is the time of balance, when night and day face each other as equals.
Yet at this season the night is waxing and the light is waning;
for nothing ever remains without change, in the tides of earth and sky.
Whatever rises must also set, and whatsoever sets must also rise.
In token of which, I will dance the dance of going and returning!

Dance going slowly widdershins in an inward spiral until you are in the center of the circle.

Sit in front of the dish and remove the cloth, and say:

Behold the mystery:
in silence is the seed of wisdom gained.

Meditate silently.

When ready, rise and go to the east candle, facing the west and say:

Farewell, O sun, ever-returning light,
The hidden god who ever yet remains
He now departs to the land of youth
Through the gates of death
To dwell enthroned, the judge of gods and men,
The horned leader of the hosts of air.
Yet, as He stands unseen without the circle
So dwelleth He within the secret seed
The seed of new-reaped grain, the seed of flesh;
Hidden in the earth, the marvelous seed of the stars.
In Him is life, and life is the light of man,
That which was never born, and never dies.
Therefore the wise ones weep not, but rejoice.

Raise hands high in blessing.

Return to the center of the circle and dance slowy doesil in an outward spiral.

Replace dish on the altar.