Preparing for Mabon, Autumnal Equinox, Second Harvest Celebration

Bibliography and Links
Autumnal Equinox Celebration (Mabon, Late Summer Harvest Feast)

Autumn Lore - Mythology My*thing Links Kathleen Jenks, PhD., had prepared a new webpage on autumn lore, myths, and associations each year since 1999. Be sure to visit this beautiful website.

Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Beltane to Mabon. Lore, Rituals, Activities, and Symbols. By Ashleen O'Gaea. Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, New Page Books, 2005. Bibliography, index, 219 pages. ISBN: 1564147320. A good study of the four spring and summer Celebrations in the Wiccan-NeoPagan year, and the four cross-quarter celebrations. Rich in details and ideas. Strong Wiccan roots. VSCL. Mabon: 135-176.

Dates for the Autumnal Equinox: 2007 SEP-23 @ 09:51, 2008 SEP-22 @ 15:44, 2009 SEP-22 @ 21:18, 2010 SEP-23 @ 03:09

Eleusinian Mysteries The Greater Eleusinian Mysteries were held in Greece for 10 days in late summer and early autumn, from 1,500 BCE until 400 CE.

Lore for September Blue Corn Maiden and the Coming of Winter. American Indian lore.

Sacred Circles Bibliography, Links, Quotes, Notes. Photos of the Valley Spirit Center sacred circle construction project.

The Spirit of Gardening 3,400 quotes, poems, sayings, and ideas about gardening, gardens, and the Green Way. Materials organized by 140 topics; and a fully indexed collection with a search engine. Online since 1999. Over 6MB of text. Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo.

Fall Equinox - Table of Associations

Time of Day	Evening, Sunset
Time of Life	60's
Decorations	Acorns, Grapes, Fall Leaves, Dried Flowers
Fruits	Apples, Grapes, Pumpkins, Gourds, Squash, Corn, Wheat Seeds and seed pods
Herbs	Pumkin, Frankincense, Cinnamon,
Tools	Baskets, Sickles, Scythes,
Goddesses	Demeter and Peresphone (Greek), Ceres (Roman) Kore, Aphrodite, Inanna, Undines
Gods	Mabon, Dionysos, Feyr, Poseidon, Neptune
Themes	Sacrifice, Abundance, Death, Withdrawal,
Farming Activities	Harvesting and preserving wheat, corn, vegetables Slaughtering farm animals, hunting season, preserving meat
Animals	Crow, Salmon
Colors	Brown, Golden, Red, Orange,
Sacred Circle (Valley Spirit)	West, Blue, Water, Well
Celebrations	Mabon - Wiccan, Druid, Neo-Pagan Winter Finding - Norse Winter Nights - Asatru Higan-e - Japan Mea’n Fo’mhair (Greenman) - Druid, Welsh Michaelmas - Roman Catholic, Christian Feast of Avalon (Avalon = Land of the Apples) - British Burning the Wicker Man - Druid Greater Eleusinian Mysteries - Greek

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

1. 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 list of chores for August and September, and act accordingly. Time for planting seeds for the winter garden. Fertilize to boost growth.

3. Read about Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox Celebration. First Harvest Celebration. Add notes and links to books, magazines, and webpages on the subject. See my bibliography and links below.

Add, revise, and check links to webpages and books about Mabon. See my bibliography and links below.

4. Donate to a charity that helps feed people. Donate to a charity or development agency that helps people improve their ability to grow and store food. Donate to or help with cause that emphasizes improving the agricultural environment.

5. Add some appropriate Mabon, Autumnal Equinox, and September songs, chants, invocations, or poems to your Neo-Pagan Craft Journal, Book of Shadows, Ritual Handbook, etc..

6. Visit your local public library or college library for books, media and magazines on the subject. In my area, these resources include:

7. Stay at home. 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 150 miles.

8. Write in your personal journal. Many keep a Neo-Pagan notebook, journal or log as part of their experimental work.

9. Practice discursive meditation while watering, weeding, and picking vegetables. Read about discursive meditation in J. M. Greer's "The Druidry Handbook, p. ?. Here are some themes to stimulate the active imagination during discursive meditation:

10. If you are a musician, learn to play one new song for the summer feast and holy day.

11. Save some of the harvested and preserved fruits and grains for the Mabon Feast.

12. Gather blue colored natural objects, works of art, fetishes. Think of objects and art that might exemplify the well, lake, river, and ocean.

Quotations, Information, Facts, Lore
Autumnal Equinox Celebration (Mabon, Late Summer Harvest Feast)

"The Druids call this celebration, Mea'n Fo'mhair, and honor 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.... Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries. It is a time to honor Aging Deities and the Spirit World...."
- Akasha, Mabon

"The definition of a Harvest Moon is: the full moon closest to the fall equinox. The Harvest Moon was thus named because it rises within a half-hour of when the sun sets. In early days, when farmers had no tractors, it was essential that they work by the light of the moon to bring in the harvest. This moon is the fullest moon of the year. When you gaze at it, it looks very large and gives a lot of light throughout the entire night. No other lunar spectacle is as awesome as the Harvest Moon."
- Harvest Moon Lore

"The tale of Mabon of Modron, the Welsh God, (the "great son of the great mother"), also known as the Son of Light, the Young Son, or Divine Youth, is celebrated. The Equinox is also the birth of Mabon, from his mother Modron, the Guardian of the Outerworld, the Healer, the Protector, the Earth. Mabon was taken after he is a mere three nights old (some variations of the legend say he is taken after three years). Through the wisdom of the living animals -- the Stag, Blackbird, Owl, Eagle and Salmon -- Mabon is freed from his mysterious captivity. All the while Mabon had rested within his mother's womb; a place of nurturing and challenge. With strength and lessons gained within the magickal Outerworld (Modron's womb), Mabon is soon reborn as his mother's Champion, the Son of Light,
wielding the strength and wisdom acquired during his captivity."
- Joyous Mabon

"To many ancient people, the waning of the light signaled death. For example, in Welsh mythology, this is the day of the year when the God of Darkness, Goronwy, defeats the God of Light, Llew, and takes his place as King of the world. To this day in Japan, the equinox is celebrated by visits to the graves of family members, at which time offerings of flowers and food are made and incense is burned. The three days preceding and following the equinox are called "higan," or the "Other side of the River of Death."
- September Folklore

"Drink a toast to Dionysus, the God of wine and ecstasy - The son of the Moon! Gather with friends to celebrate the vine with a bottle of good wine and good cheer. Catch the Moon's reflection in your cup and raise it up in salutation. Now drink in Her essence and feel the presence of the God and Goddess."
- September, The Harvest Moon, Moon Lore

"Mythically, this is the day of the year when the god of light is defeated by his twin and alter-ego, the god of darkness. It is the time of the year when night conquers day. And as I have recently shown in my seasonal reconstruction of the Welsh myth of Blodeuwedd, the Autumnal Equinox is the only day of the whole year when Llew (light) is vulnerable and it is possible to defeat him. Llew now stands on the balance (Libra/autumnal equinox), with one foot on the cauldron (Cancer/summer solstice) and his other foot on the goat (Capricorn/winter solstice). Thus he is betrayed by Blodeuwedd, the Virgin (Virgo) and transformed into an Eagle (Scorpio).

Two things are now likely to occur mythically, in rapid succession. Having defeated Llew, Goronwy (darkness) now takes over Llew's functions, both as lover to Blodeuwedd, the Goddess, and as King of our own world. Although Goronwy, the Horned King, now sits on Llew's throne and begins his rule immediately, his formal coronation will not be for another six weeks, occurring at Samhain (Halloween) or the beginning of Winter, when he becomes the Winter Lord, the Dark King, Lord of Misrule. Goronwy's other function has more immediate results, however. He mates with the virgin goddess, and Blodeuwedd conceives, and will give birth -- nine months later (at the Summer Solstice) -- to Goronwy's son, who is really another incarnation of himself, the Dark Child.

Llew's sacrificial death at Harvest Home also identifies him with John Barleycorn, spirit of the fields. Thus, Llew represents not only the sun's power, but also the sun's life trapped and crystallized in the corn. Often this corn spirit was believed to reside most especially in the last sheaf or shock harvested, which was dressed in fine clothes, or woven into a wicker-like man-shaped form. This effigy was then cut and carried from the field, and usually burned, amidst much rejoicing. So one may see Blodeuwedd and Goronwy in a new guise, not as conspirators who murder their king, but as kindly farmers who harvest the crop which they had planted and so lovingly cared for. And yet, anyone who knows the old ballad of John Barleycorn knows that we have not heard the last of him."
- Mike Nichols, Harvest Home

"The Fall Equinox, or Mabon, is celebrated as the final harvest of the season. This holiday was pivotal in ancient times, since a good final harvest was crucial to surviving the winter months ahead. This is the time of year where we truly reap what we have sown and we prepare for the long winter that lays before us. The day and night are again equal in time and the God has traveled at last to His place of rest. Now, He has sacrificed the last of Himself to provide us with a final harvest of food before the winter begins. Celebrants gather to mark the turning of the wheel and to give thanks for the ultimate sacrifice of The God, recognizing that He will be reborn at Yule. This holiday has been called "The Witches' Thanksgiving" and is a time for feasting together with family and friends.

This is also the time to welcome the season of the Crone. Kore' goes to the Underworld to learn the secrets of the Crone (or in some stories she is kidnapped by Hades), and the earth is bare as Her mother, Demeter, mourns Her loss. But although the winter is before us, we know that the wheel will turn again, life will be reborn, and our blessings are bountiful."
- Fall Equinox

    "In late September, the sun crosses the celestial equator and there is a day where the length of the day and night are approximately equal. These days are called equinoxes, from the Latin meaning “equal night.” The autumnal equinox marks one of the lesser Sabbats, called Mabon, occurring around September twenty-second or twenty-third. Astrologically, this is when the sun moves into Libra. This holiday is the second harvest festival, falling during or at the end of the European grain harvest. It also known as the wine harvest, and often marks the beginning of hunting season. In one old Craft tradition, the fall equinox was named “the Night of the Hunter” and farmers would slaughter livestock too weak to survive the winter on this night.
    Druids know this celebration as “Mea’n Fo’mhair” and honor the Green Man, God of the Forest, and his trees with poured offerings of ciders and wine. Norse pagans celebrate this time as Winter Finding, a time period that runs from the Sabbat until October 15th. This night is known as Winter’s Night and is the Norse New Year. The Wiccan New Year is also approaching at October’s end. It is known the ancient Mayans observed this date as well. At the pyramid at Cihickén Itzá, seven triangles of light fall on the pyramid’s staircase on this date only. In Japan, there is a six-day celebration around the equinox. This holiday is to honor Higan-e, the “other shore” and is based on six “perfections”: giving, observance of the precepts, perseverance, effort, meditation and wisdom.
    By this time of the year, the days are visibly waning, the temperatures begin to cool and it is time to start preparing for winter. Many people like to refresh their altar(s) for this time, adding elements in autumn colors (orange, brown, gold, dark reds, rust) like acorns, pine cones, leaves, dried plants and herbs, apples, pomegranates, ivy and horns of plenty."
-   Rae Schwarz, Fall Equinox

"At Harvest Home, the sun enters Libra, the astrological sign traditionally represented by balanced scales, and this is appropriate given the fragile balance in which the whole cosmos is poised on this day. Occurring at a point in the year when day and night are again equal in length, Harvest Home represents a time of balance and equilibrium in the natural cycle (as does the vernal equinox), but the thoughts which move us now are not the thoughts which captivated us in Spring. At the time of the vernal equinox, our thoughts turned from winter toward the lengthening hours of sunlight, the greening fields and gardens, and the new life bursting forth everywhere. Now with the harvest completed, the crops gathered in, and the nights becoming longer, we pause to enjoy the warm slanted sunlight of these golden autumn days, to give thanks for summer's bounty and to prepare ourselves mentally for the coming winter.
The gods associated with Harvest Home are harvest (particularly the grape harvest) or vegetation gods such as Dionysus and Bacchus, gods in their maturity like Thor, Mabon, Thoth and Hermes, and nature spirits like John Barleycorn. The goddesses of this time are also mature deities associated with abundance, harvest, home and hearth, and they include Demeter, Ceres, Hestia, Modron, Morgan, the Muses and Persephone."
- Mabon - Harvest Home, Catherine Kerr

Poems, Prayers, Rites, Liturgy, Invocations
Autumnal Equinox Celebration (Mabon, Late Summer Harvest Feast)

"Lord, it is time. The summer was very big. Lay thy shadow on the sundials, and on the meadows let the winds go loose. Command the last fruits that they shall be full; give them another two more southerly days, press them on to fulfillment and drive the last sweetness into the heavenly wine."
- Rainer Maria Rilke

"Smoke hangs like haze over harvested fields,
The gold of stubble, the brown of turned earth
And you walk under the red light of fall
The scent of fallen apples, the dust of threshed grain
The sharp, gentle chill of fall.
Here as we move into the shadows of autumn
The night that brings the morning of spring
Come to us, Lord of Harvest
Teach us to be thankful for the gifts you bring us ..."
- Autumn Equinox Ritual

"I have come to a still, but not a deep center,
A point outside the glittering current;
My eyes stare at the bottom of a river,
At the irregular stones, iridescent sandgrains,
My mind moves in more than one place,
In a country half-land, half-water.
I am renewed by death, thought of my death,
The dry scent of a dying garden in September,
The wind fanning the ash of a low fire.
What I love is near at hand,
Always, in earth and air."
- Theodore Roethke, The Far Field

“The Wheel rolls more, and Autumn returns.
Cooler the rain; the Sun lower burns.
The coloring leaves presage the Year:
All things move into harvest’s sphere.
I vow to savor fruits first picked;
nor into grief shall I be tricked.
I vow to offer what once I spurned,
and face the Turning reassured.
- Asleen O’Gaea, Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Beltane to Mabon, p. 116.

"Leaves fall,
the days grow cold.
The Goddess pulls her mantle of Earth around Her
as You, O Great Sun God, sail toward the West
to the land of eternal enchantment,
wrapped in the coolness of night.
Fruits ripen,
seeds drip,
the hours of day and night are balanced."
- Mabon Sabbat and Lore

"Smoke hangs like haze over harvested fields
The gold of stubble, the brown of turned earth
And you walk under the red light of fall
The scent of fallen apples, the dust of threshed grain
The sharp, gentle chill of fall.
Here as we move into the shadows of autumn
The night that brings the morning of spring
Come to us, Lord of Harvest
Teach us to be thankful for the gifts you bring us
The bounty of your sacrifice
The warmth and the light of friends gathered around the bounty of the earth.
Dionysus, Osiris, Cernunnos, Dumuzi, Frey,
Lord of the grain,
Welcome!"
- Autumn Equinox Celebration

"O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained
With the blood of the grape, pass not,
but sit
Beneath my shady roof, there thou may'st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe;
And all the daughters of the year shall dance,
Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers. "
- William Blake, To Autumn

"As autumn returns to earth's northern hemisphere,
and day and night are briefly,
but perfectly,
balanced at the equinox,
may we remember anew how fragile life is ----
human life, surely,
but also the lives of all other creatures,
trees and plants,
waters and winds.

May we make wise choices in how and what we harvest,
may earth's weather turn kinder,
may there be enough food for all creatures,
may the diminishing light in our daytime skies
be met by an increasing compassion and tolerance
in our hearts."
- Kathleen Jenks, Autumn Lore

"May there be peace in the North;
May there be peace in the South;
May there be peace in the West;
May there be peace in the East.
May there be peace throughout the whole world."
- Druid Blessing

"The Wheel turns on - 'tis Mabon-tide.
Dawn and dusk abreast now ride
darkness, brightness, calm and storms.
The hand that holds the scythe transforms.
I vow this wisdom shall be my own:
poise will let my power be known.
From balance the Wheel now turns toward the deep.
Through Winter, by vow and faith, I'll keep."
Ashleen O'Gaea, Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Beltane to Mabon, p. 160.

    "Hail Freyja, Golden One! Holder of the glorious Brisingamen, that brings fertility and abundance. As we love and honor you, may we find love and power within us. Join us and accept our thanks. Hail Freyja!
    Hail Freyr, HArvest God! Keeper of the rain and the sunshine! As we love and honor you, may we find creativity and inspiriation within us. Join us and accept our thanks Hail Freyer!
    Hail Sif, Great Lady! We come to this place grateful for your gifts. Golden-haired goddess of the ripening grain, as we love and honor you, may we find beauty and grace within us. Join us and accept our thanks. Hail Sif!
    Hail Thor, son of the Earth Mother! Strong and noble keeper of Thunder, Red-Bearded Guardian of us all, guide us through the seasons and the cycles of life. We thank you for the fertility of our lands and for the abundance we have received this year. As we love and honor you, let us find strength and wisdom with us. Join us and accept out thanks. Hail Thor!"
-   Kristen Madden, Autumn Celebration Ritual

My notes, observations, listing of local activities, and studies on the season:

At the Autumnal Equinox, the daylight hours are equal to the nighttime hours. Light and darkness are balanced. The end of summer has arrived, harvesting is nearing completion, and the cooler days and longer nights and rains of autumn are anticipated.

In Red Bluff, California, enjoying a Mediterranean climate, all our crops are irrigated. The reservoirs, the lakes, the rivers, the streams, the dams, the ponds, the aqueducts, the wells, the pipes, and the irrigation ditches all keep all the plants, crops, animals, and mankind alive. In our home sacred circle, Mabon is associated with due West, facing the great Pacific Ocean, symbolized by the blue pole/stile and the blue cauldron and well pot. Water is precious to us, to All. Without the wells we could not survive.

We now know that the end of the long period of summer sunshine and heat, with little or no rain, is coming to an end. The cooler days ahead will bring rain again soon. The old dry half of the year is nearly done, and the wet half will begin soon. We have two seasons: the cool wet season of November through April, and the hot dry season from May through October. The end of the Dry Year is celebrated on the Autumnal Equinox, Mabon (late September); and, the beginning of the Wet Year is Samhain (Halloween), on October 31st. Samhain is both the end and beginning, at the edge of the many worlds, past and present, a borderline time, a doorway into the Other Realms. In our home sacred circle, the opening to the inner grove is between the East pole (Mabon, Alban Elfed) and the North-East pole (Sahmain, Halloween).

The Salmon fishing season runs from early August through late October in our area. The salmon come in from the Pacific Ocean and return north via the Sacramento River to the northern creeks and streams of their birth, to lay eggs and sperm, and then die. Dying and rebirth - the theme of the high holiday. Creeks like Battle Creek in our area are filled with salmon running and leaping up river to their place of birth.

Grapes are harvested in the great valleys of Northern California during the period of August and September depending upon the varieties of grapes and purposes of use in winemaking. Wine drinking is part of the Mabon celebration. This is also the harvest season for peaches, figs and prune plums.

The Greenman is sacrificed at Mabon. The Horned God of Wicca is sacrificed at Mabon. The God goes into the underworld at Mabon. We begin to plow under what remains of the past harvest, return something to Mother Earth, composting the past, leaving the stalks and fruitless plants to rot and replenish the earth.

In Welsh legends, Mabon, Child of Light, son of the Mother Earth Goddess, Modron, is stolen as a infant and hidden behind the stone wall at Caer Loyw. Later Kilwich, and his band of companions, overcome many obstacles and complete many tasks, and free Mabon from his captivity at Caer Loyw. The Child of Light is freed from the darkness of Winter and released in the coming Spring. For his reward, Kilwich gains the hand in marriage of the beautiful Olwen.

In the Greek religion, Persephone (daughter of Demeter) now returns to the underworld to be with Hades for six months. Demeter, still angry about this choice of Persephone, and trickery by Hades, causes the world to grow cold, plants to die, and darkness (Winter) to descend on the earth.

Valley Spirit Center
Meditation Research and Education
Red Bluff, California

Red Bluff, Tehama County, North Sacramento Valley, Northern California, U.S.A.
Cities in the area: Oroville, Paradise, Durham, Chico, Hamilton City, Orland, Corning,
Rancho Tehama, Los Molinos, Tehama, Gerber, Manton, Cottonwood,
Anderson, Shasta Lake, Palo Cedro, and Redding, CA

Seasonal and Gardening Poems, Quotes, Sayings, Ideas, Chores Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo
Winter	Spring	Summer	Autumn
January	April	July	October
February	May	August	November
March	June	September	December

Valley Spirit Center, Red Bluff, North Sacramento Valley, California, USA, North America, Planet Earth

Research by
Michael P. Garofalo

Valley Spirit Center, Red Bluff, North Sacramento Valley, California, USA, North America, Planet Earth

Research by Michael P. Garofalo

Research by
Michael P. Garofalo