The Meaning of Mabon / The Fall Equinox
You’re in the right place if you want to…
learn more about the wheel of the year or the solar cycle
discover the ancient stories and traditions that influence modern practice
know some of the ways I celebrate the fall equinox
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The Wheel of the Year
The Wheel of the year is a way to recognize the important turning points in nature’s annual journey through the seasons. I love the wheel of the year, because it reminds me to reconnect with the natural world and the fluctuating energy of the sun.
Much of this cyclical calendar is based on the agricultural timing of planting crops in spring, watching them grow in summer, harvesting in the fall, and resting and preparing in the winter. Many of us modern people who are not farmers, don’t necessarily need to be preoccupied with the agricultural calendar. However, there is something to be said for aligning with these themes throughout the year.
Solar Holidays
There are four solar holidays. This just means they are related to the position of the sun and he dates of these holidays differ slightly from year to year. The solar festivals are the Spring Equinox (Ostara), Summer Solstice (Litha), Fall Equinox (Mabon) and Winter Solstice (Yule).
We’ll be focusing on the Fall Equinox today because this date is approaching in the Northern Hemisphere. For any southern hemisphere listeners, this would be the spring equinox. Click here to learn about Ostara.
Fire Festivals
The other four sabbats are known as fire festivals. They are Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain.
Throughout the year, I’d like to do a post about each of these holidays or sabbats, but for today, let’s just focus on the Fall Equinox.
The Fall Equinox
As I mentioned, the dates of the solar festivals shift slightly from year to year based on the way the Earth and the Sun line up. The Fall Equinox is almost always either September 22nd or 23rd. It can also fall on the 21st or 24th but this is rare. You can celebrate the Fall Equinox on any or all of the days during the 2-week period between September 15th and 30th.
Since this is an equinox, and at the equinox the sun shines equally on both hemispheres, resulting in night and day lasting an equal amount of time, the themes of balance, equality and equilibrium are important to any celebration.
The Fall Equinox is a celebration of balancing the light and the dark within one’s self and in the physical world. This day marks a turning point as the nights gradually become longer than the days as winter approaches.
In the natural world, depending on where you are, the leaves fall and trees and other plants begin to go into their dormant phase. Some plants die. Animals prepare for winter by migrating, storing food, or building mass for hibernation.
The Effects of Latitude
Depending on where you are on the planet, these changes may not be noticeable. The closer one is to the equator, the less of a difference you can see in the seasonal changing length of days and nights, animal behavior, and the plant growth cycle.
For example, in Florida where I live, I‘m quite close to the equator so the length of the day does not change much throughout the year.
I grew up at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, which is at a middle latitude. There are four distinct seasons, though summer and winter seemed longer than fall and spring. And the length of days was pretty noticeable.
I also remember living in Portland, OR which is pretty far north, on the longest days of summer, the sun might not set until 10pm but in the winter it was setting as early as 4pm. Some of this also has to do with daylight savings time, though. The seasonal changes were also noticeable and were more balanced in length of time than what I remember from Colorado.
Then, if you think of the polar regions, there are days in the summer the sun never sets, and days in the winter when the sun never rises. And plant life is pretty minimal.
But wherever you are on the planet, at the fall equinox the day and the night are equal in length.
Guide to Mabon Correspondences
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Fall Equinox Stories
The word Mabon (pronounced MA-bun with the “a” like in cat) is a modern word to describe the Fall Equinox. Aidan Kelly named it thus in 1974. The word Mabon comes from the Welsh tale of Mabon ap Modron, which means “the son of the mother”. The story parallels many pan-European stories where an infant or child is stolen or exiled and later returns as a hero. When the infant Mabon is taken from his mother, this desolates the land, and it is only restored when they reunite.
This is a common theme in the celebrations and festivals of the ancient world.
In Ancient Greece there was a sacred harvest festival which is called the Eleusinian Mysteries. The foundation of this festival was the story of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Hades fell in love with Persephone and lured her to his kingdom. When Demeter learned this, she refused to allow anything to grow on earth until Persephone was returned. A negotiation between Hades and his brother Zeus allows Persephone to return each spring.
Many of the stories surrounding this time of the year have the dying god theme. The Babylonian god Tammuz dies in his fields and later resurrects. The ancient Egyptian god Osiris is actually killed by Set and resurrects with the help of Isis.
You may notice this dying god theme in the story of Jesus Christ who resurrects in the spring, though his death is not in the Fall.
Adapt as Needed
Many of the traditions our ancestors followed were based on their environment, circumstances and beliefs. Therefore, the traditions you follow should also be based on your environment, circumstances, and beliefs.
Since living in Florida, I’ve developed new traditions for the changing seasons based on the subtropical ecosystem of my area. In a place where the seasons are rain or dry and plants are constantly blooming and growing, the wheel of the year requires some adaptations.
This is something I really love about witchcraft. There is a freedom to do things your own way. Some of the things that may be traditional for this time of year might not make sense for where you live, the resources like time, money, and energy you have available to you, or what you believe in.
I want you to feel free to look at these traditional ideas and reflect on whether they are authentic to how you practice witchcraft.
What’s in a Name?
Aidan Kelly chose the name Mabon to create consistency with the other holidays of the Pagan-Craft calendar he was developing, which are all of Celtic-Saxon origin.
The word Mabon is most often used by Wiccans to indicate the fall equinox. Neopagans, those who are modern polytheists but not affiliated with a religion and eclectic witches, who draw from multiple traditions and backgrounds to create a practice, may also use the word.
Some people, like traditional witches who follow the witchcraft practices from before Gerald Gardner brought Wicca into the world, prefer to say fall or autumnal equinox.
Heathens, or those who follow Norse traditions, call this time of year Winter Finding and Celtic Pagans sometimes say Feast of Avalon where Avalon means the “land of apples”.
The Core of the Festival
Whatever you call it, and these are not the only names, the fall equinox reminds us of the origin of our food. This festival represents the slowing of harvests in the agricultural year as crop production decreases and farmers begin preparing for the rest period and making plans for the next year.
Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about harvesting crops or worrying about if we'll have enough food to make it through the winter, but modern people have different worries and concerns.
And the core meaning of the Fall Equinox remains the same: our time on earth is precious and we are lucky to be alive.
In some ways, this is the witches’ Thanksgiving because a common theme of celebration is to recognize and rejoice in our accomplishments and successes, and sharing our love and gratitude with our community of family and friends.
It is a time to be thankful and celebrate the abundance in your life. Take this time to embrace who you are and who you want to become in the new year, finish up old projects and relish in the high energy that surrounds this time of year.
It’s also a reminder that success comes from trial and error and from failure. This is a good opportunity to reflect on the lessons learned from the year and to start thinking about what you can improve upon.
And since there is a common thread of death and dying in both the stories from ancient people and the reality of the natural world, this is also a reminder that sometimes those that we love leave us or pass away. It can be an opportunity to honor those who came before us and sometimes a time of grief.
How I Celebrate Mabon
I’m going to share some of the ways I like to celebrate the fall equinox now.
Blessings Jar
The first is to count my blessings. I already mentioned that this holiday is considered the witches’ thanksgiving, which means acknowledging and celebrating the things you are grateful for.
A long time ago I created a habit of writing on a slip of paper every time I felt gratitude and sticking the paper in a jar. Each year at the fall equinox I read them as part of a ritual.
I light a candle, pink or red to represent love, yellow for joy, green for abundance, or white. I watch the flame and breathe deeply to calm my body and my mind. Then I empty my blessings jar and choose slips of paper at random. I read them and allow myself to be transported back to the time or place when I wrote it.
As I read the blessings, I keep some to return them to the jar later. And I burn others to release the memory. This is sort of an in the moment decision.
After reading every slip of paper, I reset the jar. I clean it physically and energetically, and I return it to its place on my altar. I make new paper strips so I can easily write my moments of gratitude over the course of the year.
Now if you don’t have a blessing jar already and you want to start this practice, use this fall equinox to charge your blessing jar. Light the candle and calm yourself with breath. Spend time reflecting on the previous year and acknowledging your blessings as you hold a jar or bowl or some other vessel. Visualize the jar glowing bright, or imagine it feels warm, or imagine the smell of apple pie, or a humming sound, or whatever blessings feel, look, sound or smell like to you. Then place your blessing jar in a place of honor with slips of paper and a writing utensil nearby.
Observe Nature
Another thing I like to do at each of the sabbats is to go outside and visit the same place to observe the changes of nature. I bring a journal so that I can draw and write about the scene. I also like to collect one thing from nature to bring home and represent the season.
Shadow Work
A final practice I do at the fall equinox that I’ll mention today is to engage in shadow work. As I mentioned earlier, the fall equinox is about the balance of shadow and light. Shadow work is an important practice in which you acknowledge, accept, and integrate the shadow half into the light. If you would like some guidance for this process, join us in Mumbles Academy to access the Shadow Work for Witches eCourse.
Additional Activities
Several years ago I wrote a blog post about how to celebrate the Fall Equinox. Click here for more Fall Equinox activities.
Summary
Thank you for reading!
In this post, I shared some information about the Wheel of the Year and how the changing natural world indicates the magical energy of every season throughout the year. I also shared some of the ancient stories surrounding the fall equinox and the common themes for celebrating this holiday as well as how I celebrate.
Join us in the Talk Witchcraft Facebook group to chat about this episode with other witchy folks.
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Now it’s your turn!
What do you call the Fall Equinox and how do you celebrate?
