Mabon Celebration - Celebrating the Harvest

 

I attended a Mabon celebration the other night at the UU church with my witchy sister and her very witchy friends. It's always a pleasure to be with this warm and friendly earth-centered group and Mabon was no exception.

First, let me explain that in the pagan Wheel of the Year, Mabon is the autumnal equinox. It's a time to give thanks for the harvest and fruits of the summer and an acknowledgment that winter will soon be upon us … a change in the seasons that is required to let the earth rest in preparation for springtime.

The Mabon altar was highlighted in candles and colorful fallen leaves. Pumpkins, squash, apples and grapes … fruits of September's harvest … filled the cornucopia. Lin led us in a simple ceremony of thankful words and contemplation of the season and its significance. Though I'm neither Wiccan nor Pagan, I can appreciate their contemplative nature and embrace their earthly philosophies.

We were each asked to bring a fallen leaf. On it we wrote the things we wished to cast away with the change of the seasons. I had a lot of “baggage” from this past year and I was happy to write it all down on a rather large oak leaf. We each folded our leaf and put it away in our pockets.

Pam had brought a sky lantern which I'd never seen before. Before the traditional potluck feast, we trundled outside the church into the crisp evening to light it. Its wick lit, it quickly filled with hot air, expanded and flew off into the night sky. We cast away our leaves at the same time. Luckily, mine was quite brittle and when the opportunity arose, I crumbled it and let it all go. Hopefully all the bad juju from this year went with it … and for that I will be thankful.