Photo from our Avalon Priestess Pilgrimage 2019 on Equinox at Stonehenge by Melissa Robin
This Autumn Equinox / Mabon in the Northern Hemisphere and Spring Equinox / Ostara in the Southern Hemisphere is exact on September 22nd at 6:30am PDT.
Day and night are of equal length as Mother Earth takes a sacred pause in Her rotation around the Sun. On The Wheel of the Year, this Holy Day in the Northern Hemisphere is celebrated as Mabon (pronounced in many different ways May-bun, May-boon, May-bawn). Mabon is considered a time of the Great Mysteries. It is a time to honour the Sun Gods and Goddesses, the Harvest, and the Spirit World.
This is a time of balance, to slow down and reflect, enjoy the bounty of our harvests (whether this be from your gardens, your friendships, and family, your work or your personal achievements) and also to prepare for the next season by welcoming the gifts of the darkness to release, let go, give away, share and shed (whether physically, emotionally, mentally or all the above).
This is a potent moment to honour the light and the shadow within your Womb, Heart & Mind. To honour the human part of you and the spirit part of you… the masculine and the feminine. For, to live fully Whole and integrated, we must embody both polarities. This is the power and alchemy of which all creation is based.
Video from our Avalon Priestess Pilgrimage during Equinox 2019. Filmed by Melissa Robin. Original song by Venetia Pristavec.
Harvest is encoded with both joy and grief, bounty and completion, fullness and loss. Allow yourself to experience the full spectrum of emotions as you celebrate and grieve with with both sorrow and bliss. All your feelings have deep wisdom & insight for you at this time when you are present with curiosity and acceptance. Give reverence for how far and deep you have journeyed this year. Honour your pain, shadow, and challenges. Honour your pleasure, light and triumphs. For every step of your path has led you to this moment now.
We offer thanks and honour to the Goddess as she moves from Mother to Crone, and to the Green Man, the King for the fortitude of the Sun, as we now reap the gifts and abundance, prosperity and fruitful ways of being.
May we welcome the power of this Holy Day in our personal lives and as the needed change for the world. May we offer to one another the bounty of love in our hearts, and offer the gifts of respect, kindness, honour, and peace to all those we come across. May we do what we can to contribute our energy in gratitude to the Earth, to the Spirit World and to all of humanity.
Symbolism and Attributes
The Second Harvest, The Mysteries, Equality, and Balance.
Symbols: Wine, cornucopia, gourds, vines, pine cones, acorns, grains, corn, apples, pomegranates, dried seeds, and horns of plenty.
Herbs: Acorn, ferns, grains, myrrh, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, passionflower, rose, sage, Solomon's seal, tobacco, benzoin, and thistle.
Foods: Bread, nuts, apples, pomegranates, squash, potatoes, carrots, and onions.
Scents: Benzoin, Myrrh, Sage
Colours: Red, Orange, Maroon, Rust, Brown, Gold
Goddesses: Modron, Morgan, Epona, Persephone, Pamona and the Muses. Gods: Mabon, Thoth, Thor, Hermes, and The Green Man.
Stones: Sapphire, Lapis Lazuli, Yellow Agate
Ritual Suggestions
Earth Connection: Place your hands and bare feet or entire body on the Earth to receive the imprint of Gaia’s frequencies of Balance, Integration and Harmony. Breathe deeply and commune with these specific vibrations to welcome in the power of this Holy Day and Night, Balance Light and Dark to nourish and support you. Offer gratitude and any intentions for the next quarter of the year.
Cornucopia Altar of Gratitude: Gather and harvest from the land with reverence and create an altar space for honouring the bounty. Add pictures, crystals, symbols and writings of your gratitude. Speak and share your prayers of thanksgiving.
Activities: Making wine, gathering dried herbs, plants, seeds, and seed pods, walking in the forest, scattering your offerings in harvested fields, offering libations & elixirs to trees, adorning burial sites with leaves, acorns, and pine cones to honor those who have passed over.
Magick: Rituals and spells of protection, prosperity, harmony, balance, equality, gratitude, security, and self-confidence.
Commune: Gather in an intentional way with loved ones and do any of the above together and create your own. Now is a powerful time to be with the energy of the collective.
With Love, Achintya
