The evening temperatures are cooling down, good sleeping weather is upon us.
Although we experience equal day and night, the day light is notably shorter now, as Mabon falls at the midpoint between the Summer(Litha) and Winter(Yule) Solstices.
Find out what's happening in Ryewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
September 22nd is the Autumnal Equinox and we are about to reap what we have sown during the Spring and Summer.
Find out what's happening in Ryewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The harvest season has been under way since August 1, Lughnasadh. Here in our backyard in Rye, Mother Earth has bestowed tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, cucumbers and cabbage. Our salads have been fresh and flavorful; the husband and I give thanks for Her bounty.
Some local Pagans and Wiccans will honor the Greek deity, Demeter, not only for the harvest, but for what was accomplished in personal/professional lives, as well. Mabon is a time for gratitude, not yet the final culling of vegetation; but a time of balance and reflection of what has occurred earlier during the year. What was the intent? Was there cause and effect? Was there balance is what we did? Was reason applied? What, if anything, could we have done differently?
Demeter is the mother of Persephone. Each Spring Persephone emerges from her realm of the underworld and Demeter celebrates by restoring vegetation to the world. But, in Autumn, Persephone returns to the underworld, as she is bound to her husband, Hades. Demeter then ends the growing season. Later, to the Romans, Demeter became Ceres, Goddess of grain and agriculture.
We feel the shift of the seasons, regardless of how subtle they may seem. We observe, consciously or unconsciously, the turning leaves, the smell in the air, acorns on the ground. We prepare for the onset of Winter, and the temporary removal of light from the Northern Hemisphere after Samhain.
Mabon brings us the celebration of breads, wines, cheeses and the drive to make merry. The Harvest Moon falls on September 18-19, just days before the Equinox, providing enough romantic light for snuggling with your sweetie.
We honor the light and the dark, for we cannot appreciate one without the other. We honor the changes of the seasons, and we flow in harmony with them. Nature’s cycles are part of our being, rooted deep within our DNA, and we respond accordingly.
Celebrate your harvest this season. Give thanks for your accomplishments, opportunities, connections and networking. Hug your loved ones, wave to your neighbors. And remember: We reap what we sow.
Here’s a little Mabon ditty (one of my own) for your enjoyment:
Hearth and home
Blood and bone
The seeds of spring have all been sown
Give thanks for all that has grown
Together on into the night
Seamless in the Mabon Rite
A kiss beneath the Full Moon light
And turn the page, a spell to write
Blessed Be!
Doreen
A sample lesson from the Return of the Goddess Workshop facilitated by Doreen Lavista, HPs, RM/T, ICRT Member, Clergy, Church of Spiritual Humanism
