Mabon - Autumn Equinox

Mabon: Autumn Equinox - September 21st-23rd

Gwyl canol Hydref or Mabon: (Also known as Harvest Home, Harvest Tide, Fall Equinox, Autumn Equinox etc.), September 21-24.

Actual Date and Time of Autumnal Equinox: 20.44 22nd Sept 2013

Technically, an equinox is an astronomical point and, due to the fact that the earth wobbles on its axis slightly , the date may vary by a few days depending on the year. The autumnal equinox occurs when the sun crosses the equator on its apparent journey southward, and we experience a day and a night that are of equal duration. Up until Mabon, the hours of daylight have been greater than the hours from dusk to dawn. But from now on, the reverse holds true.

Mabon marks the middle of harvest, it is a time of equal day and equal night, and for the moment nature is in balance. It is a time to reap what you have sown, of giving thanks for the harvest and the bounty the Earth provides. For finishing up old projects and plans and planting the seeds for new enterprises or a change in lifestyle. Mabon is a time of celebration and balance.

This is the time to look back not just on the past year, but also your life, and to plan for the future. In the rhythm of the year, Mabon is a time of rest and celebration, after the hard work of gathering the crops. Warm autumn days are followed by chill nights, as the Old Sun God returns to the embrace of the Goddess.

The passing of Mabon is inevitable and The Sun God should be mourned. We too, must remember that all things must come to an end. So the Sun God journeys into the lands of winter and into the Goddess' loving arms, but endings are a good time to celebrate our successes, thank our selves and those who helped us, and take part in the balance of life!

Table of Autumnal Equinoxes

Year Date Time (GMT)
2003 23 September 10:46
2004 22 September 16:29
2005 22 September 22:22
2006 23 September 04:02
2007 23 September 09:50
2008 22 September 15:43
2009 22 September 21:18
2010 23 September 03:08
2011 23 September 10:04
2012 22 September 15:49
2013 22 September 21:44
2014 23 September 03:29

Mabon Ritual.

Set-up altar and cast the Sacred Circle.

Decorate the altar with acorns, oak sprigs, pine and cypress cones, ears of corn, wheat stalks and other fruits and nuts. Also place there a small rustic basket filled with dried leaves of various colours and kinds.

Stand before the altar, holding aloft the basket of leaves, and slowly scatter them so that they cascade to the ground within the circle. Say such words as these:

Leaves fall,
The days grow cold.
The Goddess pulls her mantle of Earth around Her
As You, O Great Sun God, sail toward the West
To the land of eternal enchantment,
Wrapped in the coolness of night.
Fruits ripen,
Seeds drip,
The hours of day and night are balanced.
Chill winds blow in from the North wailing laments.
In this seeming extinction of nature's power, O Blessed
Goddess, I know that life continues.
For spring is impossible without the second harvest,
As surely as life is impossible without death.
Blessings upon you, O Fallen God, as you journey into
The lands f winter and into the Goddess' loving arms.

Place the basket down and say:

O Gracious Goddess of all fertility, I have sown and
Reaped the fruits of my actions, good and bane.
Grant me the courage to plant seeds of joy and love in
The coming year, banishing misery and hate. Teach me the secrets
Of wise existence upon the planet.
O luminous one of the night!

~Close the circle the way you usually do.