The Autumn Equinox, my favorite time of year! A time of beautiful Fall foliage, pumpkin spice, mulled cider, crisp air, bonfires, and cozy cuddles. It is also a time of balance and a period that marks the descent into shadow season and longer nights. This year the Autumn Equinox falls on September 22nd. It marks a time of equal day and equal night. After this day, the sun will begin to rise later and nightfall will come earlier. It also marks the harvest festival, Mabon. Mabon is named after the Welsh God Mabon. He is the Child of Light and the son of the Earth Mother Goddess, Modron. Mabon translates to "Son of the Mother" and Madron translates to the Great Mother."
Mabon is a day to celebrate our bountiful harvest of the year. A time to rest after harvesting the fruits of our labor. It is an opportunity for us to give thanks for all we have received. The Autumn Equinox is rich with lore from Ancient cultures around the world. In Greece, it marks the day Persephone must return to the Underworld with her husband Hades. Persephone's mother is Demeter, the Goddess of fertility and bountiful harvests. The story goes that one day Persephone wandered away to pick a narcissus flower while her mother was harvesting her bounty. As soon as she did, the ground opened up and Hades came through and captured her. When Demeter realized her daughter was gone, she fell into a deep sorrow and searched every where for Persephone. While in the Underworld, Persephone married Hades. There is controversy as to whether she enjoyed her marriage or not. Traditionally, she is seen as kidnapped, forced to marry Hades, and that she desperately longed to return to her mother. Recently, some portray Persephone as smothered by her over protective mother and that she enjoyed her time with Hades. Either way, while in the Underworld, Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds. According to Greek mythos, when someone accepts food from their captor, they become bound and must return to them. So a deal was struck. Persephone would stay with her mother for half the year, starting on the Spring Equinox. Demeter, who is overjoyed by her daughters return, tends to the Earth. Pants begin to bloom and blossom. On the Autumn Equinox, Persephone must return to the Underworld and Demeter falls into depression and neglects the soil.
The Welsh story of Mabon is very similar. Mabon is the God of Light and represented youth, vitality, and fertility. As a baby, at just three days old, Mabon was kidnapped and taken to the Underworld. His mother, Madron, mourned and wept, full of sorrow. Years passed and she still continued to grieve her son who could not be found. One day a king, King Arthur, showed up to her home. King Arthur and his knights had been set an impossible task: to hunt the huge and terrible boar called Twrch Trwyth. They hoped they could find Mabon, the son who shown so bright from the day he was born, surely he would be strong enough to hunt the boar. Alas, Madron had never found her son and was full of grief and hopelessness. "You may as well ask the blackbird where the boy is hidden!" she told King Arthur. So, King Arthur did just that. The blackbird was old but not quite old enough to now where Mabon was hidden. However, he did know someone even older than he, the stag. So the blackbird took King Arthur and his men to see the stag. The stag told King Arthur he was also not old enough to know where Mabon was hidden but he knew someone even older, the owl. So the stag took King Arthur to the owl. Again, even the owl wasn't old enough to know of Mabon. But, maybe the noble eagle is old enough to know where Mabon is. The owl took King Arthur to the eagle yet even the eagle was not old enough to know of Mabon! Just as King Arthur seems to lose hope of finding the boy, the eagle says he knows of a story that may help. The story told the tale of a great Goddess that the king eagle could not catch, the Salmon of Wisdom. So off King Arthur went to find the Salmon of Wisdom. The Salmon of Wisdom told King Arthur "Modron's sorrow over the loss of her son is as great as an ocean, and as obscure," said the Salmon, "but the ocean is my home, and I know the secrets of its depths as I know my own. Every year I return to this pool and follow the stream far into the hills of this country, all the way to spring in the courtyard of the Castle of Light. And I tell you, Arthur, that for many years now I have heard the weeping and sorrow of one lost and alone when I have come there." She had no doubt the weeping was coming from the lost son Mabon. So King Arthur left his knights and climbed onto the slippery back of the Salmon of Wisdom. She took him to the sound of the weeping and there was Mabon trapped in a dungeon. King Arthur then rescued Mabon and told him of the boar. It turns out Mabon was the greatest hunter in all the land and killed the boar. He then was finally returned to his mother.
In other parts of the world, Christian Saxons celebrated Michaelmas, or the Feast of Saint Michael. The day was first declared a holiday by Pope Gelasius in 487 CE. Michaelmas was celebrated by feasting on goose on September 29th. Native Americans around the US celebrate the autumnal equinox differently, depending on their tribe’s traditions. Hopi and Navajo Indians, celebrate the equinox with autumn vision quests. Full moon ceremonies are held to honor the switch from lightness to darkness. At the end of the ceremony, which can last days, people who participate feast on blue corn pancakes.
Some symbols for celebrating Mabon are the Cornucopia, apples, pumpkins, candles, and acorns. The Cornucopia, or Horn of Plenty, is a traditional symbol for Mabon. It is a symbol for the wealth of harvest and is a balanced symbol which is both male (phallic) and female (hollow and receptive). Apples, pumpkins, acorns, grains, and corn are traditional symbols of the harvest. Crystals that are good to work with at this time are tigers eye, garnet, amber, green aventurine, and lapis lazuli.
A great way to celebrate the Autumn Equinox is having a bonfire get together with friends and family. Being mindful of all that you have to be grateful for and reaping what you have sown. Apple picking is another great Autumn Equinox activity. You can also celebrate with a feast, brewing up some mulled cider or wine and baking pumpkin pie or apple cake. A walk in nature is always healing and a wonderful way to appreciate balance in your life and honor Mother Earth, who is about to enter her dormant phase.
How ever you choose to celebrate this years Autumn Equinox, I wish you all many Blessings! May you all enjoy the fruits of your labor this year!