Mabon - The Return of the Darkness.

The night between the 21 and the 22 September marks a very peculiar astronomic phenomenon: the Autumn Equinox, when night and day stay in balance. It is not a coincidence that the Sun is getting ready to enter in Libra - a zodiac sign that rules equilibrium. It is equilibrium indeed the main theme for the sabbat we celebrate on the Autumn Equinox: Mabon.

Compared to its spring equivalent, this period of the year marks another kind of balance: after this date, days will be shorter, the earth is getting colder, the animals are sheltering in their dens and the flocks are migrating towards South. It is then a conscious balance of that the earth is slowly dying and we need to get ready for a long descent in the Darkness - culminating with Yule, the longest night. 

Known also the “Second Harvest Festival”, Mabon is a moment of gratitude towards Mother Earth for all the bounty she gave us, before the winter. Most of the popular celebrations, in the Northern Hemisphere, converge around this topic:

• Greeks used to celebrate Oschophoria, a festival in honour of the god Dionysus and the grape harvest.
• In Germany we still celebrate the Oktoberfest, nowadays considered an opportunity to cheer and to drink but with a pagan background: people used to celebrate the harvest and the last stock of the summer beer. One last occasion to be grateful to the earth and clear the barrels before the winter brewing.
• In China people celebrate the Moon Festival, one of the most popular and beloved Chinese recurrence: during this festival, it is customary to make moon cakes with rice flour from the harvest.
• Originally Thanksgiving was celebrated around the 3rd October, in synchrony with the harvest.

For Neopagans, the Goddess is now becoming Chrone whilst the dying God is getting ready to be reborn (symbolised by the seeds in the fruit, harvested during summer). The God is often represented by a corn doll, whose body gets burned and its ashes scattered in the fields to bless the soil.

Another theme during this sabbat is the descent in the darkness and death. We are adventuring in the dark half of the year, the part that is inviting us to stop, reflect on what we achieved so far and start a journey within ourselves to transform what is not needed anymore through the mysteries of death.

The name Mabon itself is the name of a Welsh god of vegetation and harvest, meaning “Great Son” (from the protoceltic makwo - son), often depicted on a horse and with a hound.
According to the legend, Mabon had been kidnapped from his very mother Modron (“Great Mother” - from the protoceltic mātīr - mother) and eventually rescued by King Arthur. During his imprisonment, the earth fell into a sterile and cold gloom, which had been dispelled with Mabon’s liberation.

We have similar myths in Greece and Persia, with Mabon’s counterparts: Persephone and Inanna.

Proserpine by  D.G.Rossetti

Persephone, known to the Romans as Proserpina, was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter - the goddess of the harvest. After a deal between her father and Hades, she was kidnapped by the King of the Underworld to become his wife. Demeter, suffering from a tremendous sadness, left the soil dying. Zeus, concerned that this eventually would have put an end to life on earth, came to terms with his brother Hades: Persephone finally could have been with the mother again; however Hades gave her six seeds of pomegranate before she left. In this way she could spend six months with the mother (spring and summer), when the earth was again covered in flowers and fruits, and six months with her husband (autumn and winter) in the Underworld. 
The pomegranate is both symbol of fertility and death: it was used in funerary rituals from both Egyptians and Greeks. It represents a juicy and dying fruit - the last gift from a tree ready to die for the winter; at the same time the pomegranate contains the seeds ready to sprout to start a new cycle. A clear parallelism with the agricultural cycle, this fruit was a propitious symbol to wish a good life in the afterlife to our beloved departed.

But what does this sabbat represent for us, modern pagans?

Mabon is a time of mysteries, it is a time for reflection on our spiritual harvest and projects we achieved during the year. It is a time to connect with our darker part and meditate on this aspect of our soul, that completes us with the light. This Equinox is also connected with a New Moon, perfect portal to connect even further with our darker selves.

Here below a simple ritual for the sabbat.

• Get a black and a white candle.
• Focus on the black candle: think about something you didn’t achieve or something you want to get rid of during the next year. Light the candle, visualise the transformation through the flame. 
• Focus now on the white candle: think about something you are grateful for, that you received during your harvest. Light the candle and visualise it in the flame. 

♃Ludna

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