The wheel of the year continues to turn and it’s time for another feast day. The Autumn Equinox is here, to some practices, called Mabon (Mah-bon), after Welsh God Mabon, son of Earth Mother Goddess, Modron (who actually has nothing to do with the equinox…)
When is the Autumn Equinox / Mabon?
The Autumn Equinox almost always falls on either the 22nd or 23rd September (although in rare cases the window is from 21st September – 24th September at 02:03am BST.
In 2022, the Autumn Equinox is Friday 23rd September.
What is the Autumn Equinox?
The Autumn Equinox marks the end of summer and the beginning of Autumn, on this date, day and night are of equal length before the longer nights and shorter days start creeping in. Everything is at that perfect balance but also on the cusp of change.
What is Mabon?
Mabon is a feast in reconstructed paganism and the Wiccan faith, it only really started becoming labelled as Mabon around the 1970s but for many, the name kind of stuck.
Mabon is not only become the feast of the Autumm Equinox but also the Second Harvest, the Harvest of fruit and around the ‘harvest festival’ which some of you may remember from school. The Harvest Festival is traditionally celebrated on the Sunday nearest the harvest moon, the full moon nearest the Autumn Equinox.
It’s a time to reflect and celebrate on the year so far with the ‘reaping what you have sown’ mentality and seeing all of the benefits of your hard work so far.
For me, the most important part is the resting side. As the days grow darker and the nights grow longer, we are supposed to rest. After the feast and celebrating is done, we are supposed to retreat, use less energy and get through the winter. Like we used to before *capitalism*.
How can I celebrate the Equinox / Mabon?
Whether it’s making blackberry jam with your own little fruit harvest or just embracing the autumn aesthetic and adding some colour magic to your wardrobe, here are a bunch of things you can do to celebrate the equinox and Mabon, some low energy and some more intense:
- Dress in Mabon colours: just as the leaves have changed, embrace earthy colours to match. Browns, deep reds, golds and dark greens
- Eat Seasonal Food: I love to make a stew using squashes (like pumpkin) from the local organic green grocer. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to grow my own! if that’s a little too much, an apple pie from McDonald’s is also valid.
- Go Blackberry picking: Get your own little harvest, you can use these to make blackberry jam, pies and syrups or even just eat them with sugar and be thankful for the bounty. This is generally the last time the berries are still good.
- Hold a thanksgiving ritual: Write a letter to the universe of everything you’re thankful for this year so far. You can make it proper witchy by burning the list on the day of the Equinox and releasing that thankful energy into the universe
- Light a candle: With the nights growing longer we’ll need to bring more light in, I use yellow / gold candles to symbolise that the sun will return.
- Wind down and get comfy: This is the time when we’re supposed to rest and hibernate so do not feel guilty about grabbing a blanket and settling in with a cup of tea and a good book. It’s what we’re supposed to be doing and it’s a ritual in itself.
How will you celebrate the equinox this year?
As someone who grew up Catholic, that doesn’t look very pious to me, which goes to show that Walpurga today is associated way more with witches than she would have liked. Sorry, gal!
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