September's Mabon

September's Mabon
MABON - Second Harvest Festival / Autumnal Equinox




When and why the fall equinox happens:

The seasons of the year are caused by the 23.5º tilt of the earth's axis in relation to it's path around the sun. Because the earth is rotating like a top or gyroscope, it points in a fixed direction continuously -- towards a point in space near the North Star. But the earth is also revolving around the sun. During half of the year, part of the Earth is more exposed to the sun than its opposite half. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, at noontime the sun appears high in the sky during summertime and low in the sky during winter. The Sun is at its highest at the summer solstice (about June-21) and at its lowest at the winter solstice (about December-21). The half-way points in the year are called the equinoxes. Mabon/Sept 21st/22nd Fall Equinox is exactly halfway between the Summer and Winter Solstices. It is the time of the year when the sun rises exactly in the east, travels through the sky for 12 hours, and sets exactly in the west. After the equinox, you will notice the sun will set more and more southerly or northerly as the days continue towards the solstice.

According to THIS CHART , this year Mabon/Autumnal Equinox occurs Sept 22nd, 2010 at 8:09 pm Eastern time in North America.

The exact date and time of the fall equinox, when the sun moves into the astrological sign of Aries, varies from year to year.

Over time, the Fall Equinox has been known by other names such as: Alban Elfed, Autumn Equinox, Autumnal Equinox, Cornucopia, Feast of Avalon, Festival of Dionysus, Harvest Home, Harvest Tide, Mabon, Night of the Hunter, Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Witch's Thanksgiving, Pagan Thanksgiving and/or known by common modern man as the "first day of autumn". Which is far from the truth of the Earth's cycle.


Religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam, tend to view time as linear and ignore natural Earth/Sun/Moon tide, solar or lunar cycles. They say time started with creation; the world as we know it will end at some time in the future. Neopagan religions see time as circular and repetitive, with lunar (monthly) and solar (yearly) cycles. The Rituals and observances of the wheel of the year don't guarantee the continuity of nature's cycles, but do give thanks and reverence to them which traditional human societies depend on for survival.

Wiccans recognize eight seasonal days of celebration. Four are major sabbats (holy days) and occur at the two solstices and the two equinoxes. The other minor sabbats happen approximately halfway between equinoxes and solstices.

Wiccans may celebrate Mabon on the evening before, or at sunrise on the morning of the equinox, or at the exact time of fall equinox when the Earth is passing exactly thru that position in space relative to the Sun. This is free will and personal choice. So long as thanks is given with proper intent, the details are unimportant.

Mabon is the second and main Wiccan harvest festival.


Ancient lore says the Wiccan God has sacrificed the last of Himself on this day to provide us with a final harvest of food before the winter begins (occuring at Samhain on or about Nov 6th). Celebrants gather to mark the turning of the wheel and to give thanks for the ultimate sacrifice of The God, recognizing that He will be reborn at Yule. (Dec 21st) This Mabon Holiday has been called 'The Witches' Thanksgiving' and is a time for feasting together with family and friends.


While in the past, most all people were farmers, this harvest festival traditionally applies to the harvest of foods (like traditional American Thanksgiving), yet in this day and age, the 'harvest' may also apply spiritually to the 'seeds of dreams and wishes' that were planted many months earlier. Now is the time to give THANKS to the many blessings we have reaped over the year. Whether some dreams/wishes have come true or not ... now is the time to celebrate and thank the higher powers that be.


The month of September also marks the 'Wine Moon,' the lunar cycle when grapes are harvested from the arbors, pressed and put away to become wine...The full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox is known as the 'Harvest Moon,' since farmers would also harvest their crops during the night with the light of the full moon to aid them. For September 2010 the "Harvest Moon" occurs on Thursday, 23 September 2010, 11:17:12 am very close to the actual moment of Mabon.

Symbols celebrating the season include various types of gourds, turnips and melons. (and in America Pumpkins have evolved into the symbology) In old traditions, Stalks can be tied together symbolizing the Harvest Lord (God) and then set in a circle of gourds. The Harvest Lord (God) is often symbolized by a straw man. The Harvest Queen (Goddess), or Kern/Corn Baby/Corn Dolly, is made from the last sheaf of the harvest and bundled by the reapers who proclaim, 'We have the Kern!' The sheaf is dressed in a white frock decorated with colorful ribbons depicting spring, and then hung upon a pole (a phallic fertility symbol). In old celtic europe, the last sheaf of harvest is called the Maiden, and must be cut by the youngest female in attendance.