Autumn Equinox.

Our Harvest celebration.

Mirror to the Spring Equinox, it is a time of balance between light and dark.

On this night we move away from light into darkness, from warmth into cold, drawing less and less from the outer world and more and more from what we have stored within.

At our Equinox celebration this week, we will work with the power of the Spiral.  Many of us are fond of the triple spiral.  Maiden, Mother, Crone.  The cycle of life.

Our Circle  will include Sacred Dancing, Ritual and Storytelling.  Our theme is “Liberation.”  Apt for this is also the week of International Day of Peace.  And to so many, peace equates as liberation.

We will consider Tara, Goddess of Liberation.

As well as The Green Man, for one of our clearest signs of the changing season here in New England is found in his realm.

As night and day are in equal magnitude, so are the forces of creation and destruction that we each possess.

At this time, we can draw on our Power

to create or destroy,

build or dismantle,

embrace or release that what we wish.

This Equinox I encourage you to think of what your wish is.

As the story I will tell unfolds, consider what it is you would like to bring into,

or cast out of,

your life at this auspicious time of balanced energies.

For Druids, Fall Equinox is called Mea’n Fo’mhair.  It is a time to pause and recognize The Green Man, the God of the Forest.

For Wiccans, a time to celebrate the cycle of the Goddess as she passes from Mother to Crone.  Harnessing the wisdom gained in Time’s passing.  Honoring the gift of old age.

Our Harvest Moon holiday is often referred to as Mabon.

Unlike Lammas and Beltane, Mabon does not merely refer to a seasonal celebration.

Mabon is the name of a Welsh God.  

An ancient one.

Born at the beginning of Time.  Who, as the story goes, was taken mysteriously from his Mother (Modron) when he was only three nights old.

No hope of freedom.

Nary a sign of him throughout the years.

As a young oak in a budding wood grew to a hundred limbed tree. The tree in its old age, spawning a forest, which too has been laid to rest and reborn again.

Not a whisper on the wind in all those years indicating where Mabon was abducted to.

His name but a distant memory, in a story rarely told, the God Mabon was imprisoned until a man name Culhwch (KESH-lookh), accompanied by his cousin the great King Arthur set out to find him.  Aided by King Arthur’s most trusted companions, Mabon was rescued from a fortress like none had ever seen.

Mabon was aided in his liberation, not only by the men who took to the task of saving him, but also the many animals who gave them direction as they wandered the Earth searching.

The Blackbird,

The Stag,

The Owl,

The Eagle,

The Salmon.

Each, while not directly aware of Mabon, were connected indeed, as their remembrances lead one to the other, and finally to the discovery of Mabon’s whereabouts.

The men became his saviors.

The animals, his Totems.

The story creating another message for us to heed as we are reminded at this time of Harvest: that Nothing exists separately from the whole.  

That, like Nature, we are always and all ways giving and receiving.

Mabon is the God of Freedom.  

His long imprisonment driving him to protect all things desiring liberation.

We honor Mabon when we protect the rights and freedoms of all Mother Earth’s offspring: the elements, plants, animals and people from all nations and walks of life.

We honor Mabon when we seek sovereignty over our life’s path.

We honor Mabon when we free ourselves from self-imposed bindings.

Wishing you every blessing of the Equinox,

~ Twinkle

The Story of Mabon abbreviate and revised from many sources, including: Circle Round, Raising Children in the Goddess Tradition; sacred Wicca websites, Celtic myth websites, wikapedia,  It was originally posted on my blog here:

http://mariemanning.wordpress.com/2013/09/16/mabon/

Photo credit of Mabon: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRzM9VdZy6b4rVuF-uraxWHMR3XAnBoGetbrBC8B3zFK8BPw9PeesG-x7L_