What is Mabon? Celtic rituals, wicca, autumnal equinox and more!

Mabon is a pagan festival celebrating the autumnal equinox, celebrated on approximately September 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and March 21 in the Southern Hemisphere.

Considered a minor Sabbat, Mabon is the second and penultimate harvest festival on the Wheel of the Year, the pagan calendar, and marks the arrival of a point of balance, where day and night are the same length.

From then on, darkness begins to defeat daylight, resulting in colder, shorter days. In this article, we will present the main meanings, customs and ritual practices of this autumn festival.

In addition to presenting its mythology, we will give tips on how to celebrate it, as well as spells and rituals to be practiced this Thanksgiving season. Keep reading to understand the magic present on this very powerful date and align with its energy.

Following the Wheel of the Year, Lughnasah is the first harvest festival. By celebrating the abundance resulting from the harvest, the wheel turns and arrives at Mabon, a period in which the second and penultimate great harvest takes place. Next, we introduce the concept of the Wheel of the Year and introduce Mabon customs. Check out.

The Wheel of the Year is a kind of calendar made up of 8 seasonal festivals that mark the sun’s journey throughout the year. In Wicca, a neo-pagan religion based on Gerald Gardner’s revival of Witchcraft, these festivals are called Sabbats.

Sabbat celebrations are related to the cycles of nature given from the relationship between the feminine principle, the Goddess, and the masculine principle, the God, whose sacred union generates all things and allows the cycles of the seasons to be perceived.

The Sabbats are divided into two groups: the Major Sabbats, which have fixed dates and are inspired by the great Celtic festivals, and the Minor Sabbats, without fixed dates and which occur at the astronomical beginnings of the seasons, called solstices and equinoxes.

Mabon is the Thanksgiving Festival of the Second Harvest, which coincides with the Autumnal Equinox. The name of this festival comes from the eponymous god of Welsh mythology, considered the child of light and son of the Mother Earth Goddess.

There is little evidence that this festival was practiced by the Celts, as the word Mabon was included around the 1970s and is part of pagan reconstructionism. According to Wiccan myths, Mabon is the period when the masculine principle of divinity, the God represented by the Sun, is wasting away.

It is a time of balance, where the Goddess is seen as the Queen of the Harvest and the God dies with the reaping of the harvest.

On Mabon, it is customary to pick berries to fill a cornucopia, a symbol of abundance associated with this Sabbat. In addition, it is important to reflect on what was conceived and planted in Imbolc and Ostara, respectively, and how it relates to the harvest.

Mabon is a time to give thanks for the things that have been harvested and to observe the visible changes in the surrounding nature. Therefore, it is common to go for a walk in parks or woods, in addition to looking for areas or projects that need to be completed.

The cornucopia is a traditional symbol of the festivity of the autumnal equinox. Originating from Greco-Roman mythology, its name means “horn of abundance” in Latin and represents attributes such as fertility, wealth and abundance.

In antiquity, she was represented by a vase in the shape of a horn, filled with many fruits and flowers that spread from it. In addition, the cornucopia is a symbol of balance, as it contains a phallic shape, representing masculine energy, and a cavity that symbolizes the feminine.

In European countries, autumn is a period for harvesting fruits such as grapes and blackberries. Therefore, both the vine and the mulberry tree are symbols of this Sabbat. The vine is a plant that contains within itself another symbology of the Sabbat, balance, since it has masculine and feminine energies at the same time.

In Ogham, a medieval alphabet used to write the Irish language, both the vine and the mulberry tree are represented by the letter Muin. In addition, both represent cycles that repeat themselves.

Angus, god of love, summer, youth and poetic inspiration, is one of the deities associated with the Equinox. According to Irish mythology, Angus is a member of a supernatural race called the Tuatha Dé Danann.

In the Scottish version of his myth, Angus has a golden harp with silver strings which, when played, causes young men to follow the music through the woods.

In Celtic Reiki, a form of Reiki that incorporates the wisdom contained in British plants and trees, the Mabon period can be used to achieve energetic balance. Like any Reiki technique, hands are used to transmit, but the differential of this technique is the use of Ogham, the Celtic-Irish alphabet.

In Mabon, the energy worked on in Celtic Reiki is present in Ogham Muin, the eleventh letter of this alphabet. Considered one of the most mysterious letters in the alphabet, it represents the vine or thorny bushes like the mulberry tree.

The meaning of this letter is uncertain, but on this Sabbat, it is used to represent the harvesting and balancing of energies.

In Wicca, Sabbat Mabon takes on a special meaning, as it is part of the 8 solar festivals that integrate the practice of this religion. In this section, we will introduce Wiccan concepts of the Autumnal Equinox, as well as its foods and rituals. Check out.

In Wicca, Mabon is linked to the concept of thanksgiving. It is a period of rest after the work resulting from the second harvest and to give thanks for all the gifts collected throughout the year.

By heralding winter, Mabon is a period to prepare for darker days. It’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labors throughout the year and renew the hopes you had during Ostara and Imbolc.

The God is suffering, but he left his seed inside the Goddess. Soon she will give birth to the sun again.

As it is an autumn celebration, Mabon rituals are related to the colors orange, red, yellow, brown and green. An altar of Mabon is usually erected, including flowers and fruits typical of the season and its symbols such as the cornucopia, symbolizing the making of the harvest.

Depending on your spirituality, there are many ways to practice your rituals, from lighting a candle in thanksgiving and taking a walk to notice the changes of the seasons, to more complex rituals practiced in a specific ritual space such as a circle.

The important thing is to connect with the balance energy of this period and enjoy the abundance typical of this season.

To celebrate a simple Mabon ritual, place an apple in the center of your altar. In it, to the south, leave a red, orange or yellow candle. In the West, a cup of wine or juice. In the North, leaves picked by you or a crystal.

Finally, leave clove or frankincense incense in the East. Sit facing the altar, light the candle and incense. Give thanks for all the things you’ve harvested throughout the year and meditate on the fruits of your labor. Then, write down on paper what you want out of your life. Burn it in the candle flame.

Drink part of the contents of the chalice, eat half of the apple and let the candle and incense burn to the end. Finally, pour the drink and half of the apple into nature as a libation to the gods.

Mabon’s sacred foods are seasonal fruits. Examples include grapes, blackberries and apples, known for their powers related to life, immortality, healing and regeneration.

In addition, dishes such as apple crumble, sweet potato puree, roasted pumpkin seeds, blackberry jam, apple pie and roasted corn are typical of this festival. To drink, bet on herbal teas, juices like apple and grape and, if you can consume it, red wines.

Mabon is a period when you can practice spells to take advantage of the egregore of the festival. Next, you will have access to personal spells that are easy to do and indicated for this time. Check out.

The spell for self protection should be practiced whenever you want to feel safer and want to remove physical and spiritual dangers from your life. To make it, take an amber-colored glass jar with a lid (it could be a bottle) and fill it halfway with salt.

Then add inside it a paper with your name, date of birth and symbol of your astrological sign, two cinnamon sticks, a handful of dry rosemary and 13 cloves. Complete the glass with salt and cover it, leaving it in a place that nobody sees or touches.

If you are experiencing problems at home, do this spell to attract help. Draw, on paper, the letter of the ogham alphabet called Muin, which is associated with this Sabbat, using a pencil or black ink pen.

Leave this paper in a deep plate made of glass, wood or porcelain. Then cover the paper by filling your plate with cereal grains or pumpkin seeds.

Leave the plate in the highest part of your house (on top of a bookcase, shelf, etc.), keeping it away from prying eyes until help arrives. When you get help, release the seeds or grains into the wild.

To achieve harmony at home, place a white candle in the center of your home. Before lighting it, leave the house with two sticks of lotus, sandalwood, rosemary, cedar, myrrh, or frankincense incense.

Light the incense sticks and enter your home with the right foot, following each corner of it in a clockwise direction, clockwise. As you walk through the house, imagine white light filling your home with positive energy and harmony. When you have finished your tour of the house, light the white candle and repeat:

“From winter to summer,
Night and day,
I say my prayer
And I bring harmony to this home!”

Recite this spell 13 times and then let the white candle and incense burn completely.

To thank the gods, universe and nature, you can do this quick spell. On a day when you have time, prepare delicious food. Give preference to something you really like. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, as long as it makes you happy. If possible, use some typical ingredient of the time as a symbol…