The Wheel of the Year has turned around to September, bringing us to the second harvest festival of the year known as Mabon or Fall Equinox.
This sabbat is celebrated around September 21 in the Northern Hemisphere (and about March 20 in the Southern Hemisphere).
Mabon/Fall Equinox
The fall season is full of gifts for the green witch. The leaves are beginning to change colors, setting the trees ablaze with orange, red and gold. Our daylight hours are noticeably shorter now as we move further into the harvest season.
Mabon/Fall Equinox celebrates several themes, including:
- The balance of light and dark
- Nature’s bounty and blessings of the season
- Gratitude for Mother Earth
Our ancestors celebrated Mabon/Fall Equinox since they depended on the harvest of grains, fruits, and vegetables for their survival through the winter months to come. They honored Mother Earth with gratitude for her abundance. We can do the same.
Embracing the balance of light and dark, this has become a time to reflect on the balance in our own lives and to consider the changes that lie ahead.
As the days continue to shorten and the darkness of winter approaches, we can use this time to focus on inner reflection and personal transformation.
Celebrating Mabon/Fall Equinox
There are many ways you can celebrate Mabon/Fall Equinox. I encourage everyone to make their celebrations, rituals, and practice of witchery your own. Decide what is most important to you at this time, and use that as your guide to creating your celebration or ritual.
Here’s some ideas to get you started:
- Bring in tradition by honoring Mother Earth for the abundance of the land at this time with a ritual centered around her.
- Connect with the rhythms of nature by getting outside to observe the transformations taking place right now in the natural world. Record what you find in your journal.
- Reflect on your own inner balance of dark and light to create personal transformation. Cultivate gratitude, purpose, and deeper understanding of ourselves through this season.
- Rituals, candle magick and divination
Need a little inspiration for journaling this fall? Pick up the Fall Journal here. It’s packed with 90 journal prompts.
Bringing the Magick of the Season into Your Everyday Life
One of the best parts of being a witch who is in tune with the rhythms and cycles of nature is living in those rhythms every day.
Witchery is really a place where magick and the mundane intersect for many of us. It’s certainly true for me.
Here are a few simple ways to embrace the season in your day-to-day life.
- Get outside for a walk and tune in with all your senses.
Listen to the sounds of leaves crunching as you walk. Notice how the air smells and feels on your skin. Make a point of really taking in the changing colors in the trees. Look at the changes in the plants around you. What is still blooming? What’s gone to seed?
- Fall Decorations – Bring that fall season vibe indoors using natural items that you found on your walk.**
You might find colored leaves, feathers, acorns, seed pods, flowers that are still blooming or even some weeds that have dried out, but you find them beautiful. These can be placed around your home, on your ritual altar or even in a glass jar for display.
I also take this opportunity to begin switching out all of my summer linens, throws and candle scents to those that reflect the fall season.
**Note: Always be sure that you have permission to collect these natural items. Check local rules, regulations, laws, or guidelines before gathering items if you’re on land that doesn’t belong to you.
- Seasonal Foods – Bring the seasonal delights into your meals for the fall harvest season.
This time of year, offers a lot of choices; squashes, tomatoes, bell peppers, melons, sweet corn, and many others are plentiful right now. Visiting your local farmer’s market can give you many choices, including some crops that prefer cooler weather like cabbage, broccoli, and lettuce.
Create a harvest feast for your friends and family. Serve it outdoors if the weather permits, allowing you another way to celebrate the season.
Some of my personal favorites are acorn and butternut squashes, apple crisp and roasted root vegetables. When I get a pumpkin, I always save the seeds too, since I love eating roasted pumpkin seeds.
Here’s one of my favorite recipes. Stuffed Bell Peppers
Summary
This second harvest festival of Mabon/Fall Equinox is a magickal time for witches. We can celebrate the changing seasons, connect with the rhythms and cycles of Mother Earth, and use this time to embrace our own journey toward growth and transformation.
We are students of the natural world every day, learning from the themes of each season, integrating that wisdom into our everyday life, and creating harmony as we walk the path through the Wheel of the Year.
Blessed Be.
Ready for a year long journey through the Wheel of the Year? Ravynwylde is for you. Click here to explore this course.
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Get your free one page Mabon/Fall Equinox Guide here.
