Celebrating Sabbats: Mabon

Any ideas…. What is this?

A few last flowers hang on in there in the garden, a few roses, some stray lilies, a single head of chive, and some flowers which have bloomed out from a succulent which has always been in the garden, but I have never seen flower yet.  yes, the flowers have generally withered away, and given their seeds back to the land. 

Yes, as the days get shorter we start to feel a little lethargic.  And yet, we should be feeling balanced. Yes, the very term “equi nox”, or “equal nights” shouts balance. Sure, during the summer we have been filled with energy and bounce, and keeping busy doing things. But let’s just compare the seasons to a mania. We have highs and we have lows.  The highs are joyous, and we love them dearly.  But the lows tend to get us down. And often the highs don’t compensate for the lows, so we try to aim for something in the middle.  Yes, exactly, a sort of balance.

So we start to give our bodies a little rest. In line with the seasons, we start to draw balance back into our own lives. This last week, I keep hearing friends say things like “I’m so weary” and “I don’t have any energy left”.

Well, it’s not really a surprise; as we approach the Autumn Equinox, the days grow shorter and the nights start drawing in. It’s time to start battening down the hatches as the winds and the rains take it in turns to batter us. The doors are closed and the curtains get drawn almost as soon as we arrive home from work, to keep the heat in and the cold out. Candles get lit to bring a feeling of warmth into our rooms and hearts, as does the fire if we’re lucky enough to afford one. We put the TV on.  We hunker down and do the homework we’ve been set simply because the distractions are waning!

This, the second harvest is a time to gather in the last fruits as well. The apples. which are juicy and succulent now, will be gathered and fermented by some… but we will simply squeeze them and make a hot mead using spices.  I love that mulled juice feeling. And apple cake is my weekly treat now… and apple waffles.  Yes, we even bought a waffle iron – one of those hob top ones which we can use in the campervan since they don’t need electricity to use! And as I contemplate celebrating the harvest I have gathered, I am reminded of the Harvest Festival we had every year at this time, thanking the Gods fir the gifts of food by donating food to charities via schools and churches.

And in my own way I continue that tradition, inviting people to dinner, to share in what we prepare, often over a BBQ.  “Bar-Be-Que?” I hear you say!! “But that’s a summer pastime!” Well, no it’s not.  Think about it – Halloween, Guy Fawkes, we ALL like to cook outside in the Fall.  Who doesn’t love corn on the cob roasted in tin foil on the grill?  And use small to medium potatoes, not the big ones.  Small ones cook much quicker.  Oh, and wrap some mushrooms in tin foil – they cook in about ten minutes, and make a great starter, especially if you smeared them with garlic butter first!  Not to forget the nuts… who doesn’t love roasting sweet chestnuts gathered from the park? And then, of course, when the food is finished, we pile the BBQ up with wood cuttings and celebrate the darkness… with a bit of gentle drumming (gentle so as not to bother the neighbours).

Talking of nuts, I keep seeing the squirrels run away with them. With their mouths bulging and enormous, they seem to place themselves directly in the path of the dogs, without a care in the world except for hoarding their nuts.  They truly have a single track mind at the moment.  So for my Mabon Spread this year, I asked the cards one single thing. “What should I hoard and nurture through this coming season?” Using the Visconte Sforza deck, the original tarot as we know it, I drew a single card. And it was the Page of Cups. Oh yes. I am happy with that.

When the Page of Cups appears she talks of Love. Love with a fresh perspective, a love that is new and to be nurtured.  Just as a child loves and cherishes her family, looking at them with innocent eyes full of admiration and gratitude; so this card is telling me to settle back and relax into my home, and nurture and cherish the love that is surrounding me. And I’m happy to do that!

In other words, embrace the change in energy.  Relax into it. Enjoy the chance to relax and rejuvenate. And most of all, Take it Easy!

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Katie Horn

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