Mabon (pronounced may-bon), also known as the Fall Equinox, is the second harvest festival of the Celtic calendar.
In the Celtic calendar there are 8 high holy days that revolve around nature festivals. Mabon is a quarter festival – along with Ostara (Spring Equinox), Litha (Summer Solstice), and Yule (Winter Solstice) – that mark the seasons with the cross-quarter festivals of Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain celebrated in between.
These holy days are times when we harness the energy of connecting to Nature and expand our sense of the Self and the Sacred.
Mabon is the last of these holy days in the Wheel of the Year. Generally considered the pagan (a term meaning a person holding beliefs other than those of the main world religions) Thanksgiving, it is a time to gather and rejoice in the abundant harvest.
The actual date varies due to astronomical influences but is generally celebrated between September 19th – 22nd with it falling on September 22nd this year.
I {heart} Fall. Like, freakin’ love it. Though I appreciate the lessons and blessings that all of the seasons provide, I love Fall SO much more than Summer. There, I said it.
Fall always feels more like the New Year to me than January. I love big sweaters, cozy blankets, a nice hot chai, and watching the leaves turn.
Fall Equinox is the time to rekindle practices that most sustain us.
Mabon celebrates the changing of the seasons, turning inward, letting go, and preparing for a long Winter’s rest. It is the time to gather our inner reserves, to tend to our inner worlds, and to slow down.
Just as plants burst with vitality throughout summer, there is now a pulling back to root energy in order to rest and prepare for growth next spring.
Fall also calls for us to become alchemists of our own change. This final Celtic Nature festival is an opportunity to acknowledge the power of our shadow. The equinox (derived from Latin, meaning “equal night”) heralds when day and night are of equal length before nature begins descent into longer nights. There is a sense of equality between day – night, yin – yang, light – dark. The veil between these states becomes thin thereby granting us a glimpse at how to work in the medial realm.
You see, Eastern medicine teaches that everything in existence is in polarity. To make light is to make shadow. One cannot exist without the other. All of us have a shadow. It is an intrinsic part of who we are. As we grow up we learn to accept certain parts of ourselves and to push other parts into the dark corners of our being. These become our shadow – the often despised, hidden, secretive parts of who we are. Our shadow isn’t necessarily bad or good. It simply represents parts of ourselves we’ve disowned or separated from.
As psycho-analyst Carl Jung said: “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
I know from my own experiences that I spent a lot of time turning away from my shadow and chasing the light (believing in the “high vibe only” refrain) only to find more darkness.
I didn’t know that soul work is proportional.
So because everything exists in duality, so too does our shadow. It also has a light and dark side. Some of our brightest parts are in shadow. The times we accepted that it wasn’t okay to be “too pretty”, “too smart”, “too brave”, “too creative”, “too loud”. When we shun the parts of ourselves we label as unworthy or unlovable, we push away the brilliant shining parts of ourselves too.
Debbie Ford sums this up in her book The Dark Side of the Light Chasers: “When we suppress any feeling or impulse, we are also suppressing its polar opposite. If we deny our ugliness, we lessen our beauty. If we deny our fear, we minimize our courage.”
So often we are afraid to turn within. We tend to live from the neck up and the rest of our being is foreign territory. We’re taught to be afraid of the foreign, of the unknown, of what we don’t understand. We’re taught to fear the dark. We fear our own shadow.
“Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the Truth”. ~ Pema Chodron
But, if we would only pause for a moment and really look at what’s inside, the parts we fear the most might just bestow us with their messages. Yoga teaches that we are not light OR dark; yin OR yang. This is maya – an illusion. We are both. Both our light AND our dark.
While this descent to our innermost SHE self requires courage, stillness, solitude, and deep soul-searching perhaps we can learn from Her teachings and by doing so bring ourselves back into wholeness. Shadow work unlocks an unbounded vitality, power, and healing that brings us to rest in our centre point – between light and dark; creativity and destruction.
Scared and sacred are one letter placement shy of the other.
I believe that recognizing the scared parts of us are what draw us into our sacred. I know for me that I’ve learned to respect and appreciate my shadow for She mirrors the messages I often forget to hear while the sacred radiance within me guides me into the depths of my inner labyrinth within which I can bathe in the fullness of my soul’s splendor.
Healing occurs when we attune to the lessons of nature and we embrace the natural ebb and flow of Life. Mabon is all about transition and we are given the opportunity to appreciate and celebrate what we’ve harvested over the year, and let go of what no longer serves us so we can carry forward only that which is essential or most important to us.
Turning back to Nature, I find that when I prepare for it all that I love about Fall becomes so much more vibrant while the unnecessary forcing of myself to have the same energy as Spring and Summer falls away.
How can we Acknowledge the Sacredness of this Time?
Before you continue to the suggestions on how to celebrate, first connect to the essence of this being a time to contemplate harmony within ourselves.
SoulCentred Reflections
Take out your journal and ask yourself:
- Looking back on the year, what needs to be celebrated in my life?
- What still needs to be created in my life to feel fulfilled by the end of the year?
- Is there any one area of my life taking more of my attention than another?
- What inspiration, support, or routines would best support me this fall?
- What things do I need to clear to make way for the different energetic tone of Autumn?
Ways to Celebrate Mabon (and really the whole Fall season!)
- Take a walk in Nature and notice the leaves changing colour and the smell of autumn in the air.
- The equinox is a time of harvest. Make a gratitude list of everything you are thankful for as a way of reaping your inner harvest.
- Do some Fall cleaning and prepare your home, car, pantry, etc for the new season. Root through closets and drawers and give away what’s no longer needed. Make healthy meals and snacks (and freeze some) so during those times you’d rather slip into unhealthy habits that leave you sluggish, you have better options.
- Wrap up any unfinished projects to give way for the new energy of Autumn.
- Visit a local farm or orchard. Check out an apple orchard, a pumpkin patch, or corn maze.
- Give yourself permission for spaciousness. Having a little “white space” in your calendar will help you attune to the winds of change instead of being overwhelmed by them. Consider how many social engagements and activities you have and pare down to those that are most essential while letting go of what isn’t as important.
- Create a daily rituals. Establishing a daily rhythm will help provide a framework for your day.
- Sleep in and take naps when you need to – without guilt!
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How did you celebrate Litha?
I’d love to know! Leave your comment in the box below and share your experience with me.
Your Soul Sistah,