Mabon or the Fall Equinox
Happy Fall Equinox to everyone!
The Fall Equinox is the point at which the day and night time is equal. Equinox in Latin means equal night.
This is one of the four main festivals of the Druids, though most Pagans have relegated it to a minor festival status. This is our Thanksgiving.
Traditionally, Druids celebrated this festival by creating a huge wicker structure, usually man shaped, and burning it. This mock sacrifice represents the dying of the Vegetation Spirit (the Green Man) and may have been the impetus for the myth that Druids sacrificed humans. No where in Caesar's works does he actually site a case of human sacrifice.
The last stalk of corn (wheat or whatever grain) was saved from harvest field where the "wicker" man was built and as the figure burned, the spirit of Lugh (specifically a corn spirit) was thought to take refuge and reside in it until spring. This was the one day of the year this spirit was vulnerable to the spirits of darkness, so we lit up the sky with a huge fire to dispel the darkness and gave him a home until spring.
In my family, a corn doll was made of the last stalk of dried corn, then the field was burned to the ground and we had a good old party with some corn libations, dancing and fiddling. It was the one night I was allowed to stay up late. One year I actually got to keep the corn doll safe all year. It was buried in the field the following Spring Equinox. Well, so much for all those children of corn Hollywood movies. My most evil thing was keeping it in a shoe box under the bed all year.
So you might ask when the Spring Equinox is. The exact time is when the Sun enters the sign of Libra, not coincidentally portrayed by the scales. That will occur at 5:51 AM EDT.
It is also the one day that at the pyramid at Cihickén Itzá, seven triangles of light fall on the pyramid’s staircase in Mexico! It's a really impressive pyramid if you have ever seen it. It is a place where the games were held by the ancient Mayas who developed basketball! Their hoops were side ways and the losing athlete was sacrificed.
So, make a little wicker man out of vines, with our wet weather, it's alright to use a little lighter fluid, and burn him, but don't forget to create a place for the nature spirit to reside until Spring.
Most Pagans aren’t ready to create a wicker man so how can you decorate your altar to honor this season? Corn is the preferred decoration but wine, gourds, pine cones, acorns, grains, apples, pomegranates, vines, dried seeds, and horns of plenty are also used.
There are two incenses sued. One contains benzoin, myrrh, and sage. The other is a much sweeter blend containing benzoin, honeysuckle, myrrh, passionflower, rose, and garden sage. Benzoin is a preservative.
The traditional food is breads made with nuts and raisins and root crops.
All spells worked at this time are for harmony and balance.