Mabon Refresher



Mabon, (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon, or MAH-bawn) is the Autumn Equinox. The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally, and we all take a moment to pay our respects to the impending dark. We also give thanks to the waning sunlight, as we store our harvest of this year’s crops. The Druids call this celebration, Mea’n Fo’mhair, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. Wiccans celebrate the aging Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone, and her consort the God as he prepares for death and rebirth.



Various other names for this Lesser Wiccan Sabbat are The Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Feast of Avalon, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), Alben Elfed (Caledonii), or Cornucopia. The Teutonic name, Winter Finding, spans a period of time from the Sabbat to Oct. 15th, Winter’s Night, which is the Norse New Year.



At this festival, it is appropriate to wear all of your finery and dine and celebrate in a lavish setting. It is the drawing to and of family as we prepare for the winding down of the year at Samhain. It is a time to finish old business as we ready for a period of rest, relaxation, and reflection.



Symbolism of Mabon:

• Second Harvest, the Mysteries, Equality and Balance.

Symbols of Mabon:

• Wine
• Gourds
• pine cones
• Acorns
• Grains
• Corn
• Apples
• Pomegranates
• vines such as ivy
• dried seeds
• horns of plenty.

Herbs of Maybon:

• Acorn
• Benzoin
• Ferns
• Grains
• Honeysuckle
• Marigold
• Milkweed
• Myrrh
• Passionflower
• Rose
• Sage
• Solomon’s seal
• Tobacco
• Thistle
• vegetables

Foods of Mabon:

• Breads
• Nuts
• Apples
• Pomegranates
• vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Incense of Mabon:

• Autumn Blend-benzoin, myrrh, and sage.

Colors of Mabon:

• Red
• Orange
• Russet
• Maroon
• Brown
• gold

Stones of Mabon:

• Sapphire
• lapis lazuli
• yellow agates

Activities of Mabon:

• Making wine
• gathering dried herbs
• Plants
• seeds and seed pods
• walking in the woods
• scattering offerings in harvested fields
• offering libations to trees
• adorning burial sites with leaves, acorns, and pine cones to honor those who have passed over.

Spellworkings of Mabon:

• Protection
• Prosperity
• Security
• Self-confidence
• harmony and balance

Deities of Mabon:

• Goddesses
  • Modron
  • Morgan
  • Epona
  • Persephone
  • Pamona
  • The Muses
• Gods
  • Mabon
  • Thoth
  • Thor
  • Hermes
  • The Green Man.

Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries. It is a time to honor Aging Deities and the Spirit World. Considered a time of balance, it is when we stop and relax and enjoy the fruits of our personal harvests, whether they be from toiling in our gardens, working at our jobs, raising our families, or just coping with the hussle-bussle of everyday life.



Altar Dressings

• candles should be brown or cinnamon.
• Decorate circle with autumn flowers, acorns, gourds, corn sheaves and fall leaves.

Incense



• Pine
• Sage
• Sweetgrass
• Myrhh
• You can also mix Marigold, passionflower, and fern, using frankincense or myrrh as a resin for Mabon incense

Holiday Fare



Mabon is the Witch’s Thanksgiving, a time to appreciate and give thanks to the Goddess for her bounty and to share in the joys of the harvest. Fall fruits, squash, gourds, pumpkins, grains, nut breads, vegetables.



A magickal Mabon beverage: hot apple cider. 

• Apple rules the heart, cider alone is a self-love potion. By spicing it with cinnamon, ruled 

by Jupiter and the Sun, we are in essence, ingesting the sunlight.



Sample menu #1: Mabon Wine Moon Cider, Roast Chicken Rubbed with Sage, Basil, and Thyme, Acorn Squash made with Sweet Butter, Cinnamon and Honey, and Apple Bread.



Sample menu #2: Wine from the god and beans and squashes from the goddess. A hearty multi-bean soup with smoked meats (optional), including such as cut-up mild sausage like mild Italian or Polish.



Mabon Wine Moon Cider



• 4 cups apple cider 1/2 tsp. whole cloves
• 4 cups grape juice additional cinnamon sticks
• 2 cinnamon sticks for cups, 6 inches long
• 1 tsp allspice
• In a 4-quart saucepan, heat cider and grape juice. Add cinnamon, allspice and cloves. Bring just to boiling. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve with ladle from a cauldron. Makes 8 cups.



Mabon Activities



•  Make grapevine wreaths using dried bitter-sweet herb for protection. Use ribbons of 

  gold and yellow to bring in the energy of the Sun, and decorate with sprigs of dried yarrow

  or cinnamon sticks.

• Make a protection charm of hazelnuts (filberts) strung on red thread.
• Collect milkweed pods to decorate at Yuletideand attract the faeries.
• Call upon the elementals and honor them for their help with (N-earth) the home and finances, (E-air) school and knowledge, (S-fire) careers and accomplishments, (W-water) emotional balance and fruitful relationships.
•  Make a witch’s broom. Tie dried corn husks or herbs (broom, cedar, fennel, lavender, peppermint, rosemary) around a strong, relatively straight branch of your choice.
•  Make magic Apple Dolls: Apples are sacred symbols of the witch. Our holy land, Avalon, means Apple-land or Island of Apples. Slice an apple through the midsection and its seeds reveal the sacred shape of the pentacle.

   You will need two large apples, one for Mabon and one for Modron, 2 pencils and 2 dowels about 12 inches long, a paring knife, a glass or bowl of water to wash your fingers, a plate,and a towel to wipe your hands. 



Peel and core the apples. Carve a face in the apples. Place apples on a dowel and stand them in a jar to dry (start now). Then charge in a magick circle. After 2 or 3 weeks, they should look like shrunken heads. Make them into dolls. Use wheat, dried herbs or doll’s hair for hair. 

Dress them in tiny robes and bring them into the circle, asking god/dess to charge them with their light.

  Hang these Mabon and Madron heads on a Witch’s cord or a Mabon wreath.