by Polana Fehu

Created on: September 17, 2008

A Personal Celebration of Mabon.

For me, Mabon is a double celebration. As well as being the Sabbat of the autumn equinox, a time of balance when the day and night are of the same length and the second harvest of the year, it is also my birthday.
Being born on such an auspicious day, I have an opportunity, every year, to reflect on the past twelve months, reap my own harvest' of the fruits of my labours, and find my own balance' for the coming year.

As a pagan, I celebrate the goddess moving from the mother to Crone phase of her life and, as I myself have moved through my adult years, I have found each Mabon bears more and more significance to me.
Sometimes, I feel as though I am facing the future with dread aging and loss seem heavy on my mind at this time of year, but a Mabon ritual usually sorts me out, reaffirming the benefits and wisdom that age brings.
I take my time over decorating my altar, using symbols of autumn (nuts, pine cones, brown leaves, grains, fruits, etc,) and light black and white candles, to signify the day and night in balance. I invoke the goddess Pomona and the Green Man and make a list of all the things I want to leave behind in the coming year on tiny pieces of paper. I then burn each of the bits of paper in my cauldron and ask the god and goddess to bless the fire. I then write a list of things I would like to happen or achieve in the coming year and pin this piece of paper up in my home so that I can look at it every day.
My Mabon celebration resembles a new year' celebration, but I feel that, as pagans celebrate the new year' at different times, according to our path (Samhain for some, Yule or January 1st for others) it seems wholly appropriate, to me, to mark a personal new year' on my birthday. I would encourage others to do the same it is wonderfully liberating to feel as though this day belongs exclusively to you!
I feel sometimes that, living in the West, we are unfortunate. We have all the trappings of the modern world, our lives (supposedly) made easier by such, but at the same time we do not have time for stopping and marvelling at the wonder of Mother Earth. Time passes us by so quickly and before we know it, we have lost whatever it was we were searching for in our youth.
Mabon is a time of equilibrium; we teeter as though on a knife-edge. The summer is waning and the colder months of winter are just around the corner. For me, one year is ending and another beginning, with all the possibilities and challenges that may hold. Nature herself is teetering on the edge of something leaves turning brown, animals burying their food for the colder months, the sun drifting further and further away from the Earth.
And yet, I find, Mabon gives me enormous Hope, because after the Winter, which is only a stone's throw away, comes spring and then summer and all the bounty of the world.
Taking just a moment to stand and stare' reveals all this, on this magical day.

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