MABON ñ THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX This is the Harvest Home and falls in a busy season. Agricultural work all through the harvest season, from Lughnassadh to Samhain, should be done communally and with simple rites, keeping the presence of the Gods in mind, and accompanied by games and amusements where they can be fitted in. The Harvest Queen with her chosen Lord preside at all these occasions, leading the work, the dances and the feasting. Wagons coming in from the fields at Mabon form a parade. There are garlands around the necks of the draft animals, and the Harvest Queen rides in rustic splendor on the last wagon. THEMES Many fruits and nuts full-ripe. Leaves turning. Harvest in full swing. Bird migrations begin. Chill of winter anticipated. Farewell to Summer. Friendship and family ties remembered. Thesmophoria, the Eleusianian Mysteries and the Cerelia, all in honor of Demeter or the Roman Ceres. Feast of Cernunnos and of Bacchus. The myth of Dionysos: the young god is sacrificed or abducted as Winter begins. Hy is restored to his mother in the spring. Dionysos (vegetable life) if the offspring of Persephone (the seed corn) and Hades (the underworld, beneath the surface of the earth). PURPOSE OF THE RITES Thanksgiving to the gods for the harvest. Magic for good weather and protection of the winter food supply. Blessing the harvest fruits. FOLK CUSTOMS Gala processions to bring home the harvest. One or two fruits left on each tree, no doubt originally meant as an offering to the spirit of the trees. Harvest customs are too numerous to list here. Refer to The Golden Bough. They include relics of purification rites and sacrifice of the God-King. SYMBOLIC DECORATIONS Colors: gold and sky-blue Autumn leaves and berries Fruits of harvest Nuts Acorns Pine cones Autumn flowers SOCIAL ACTIVITIES Husing bees Harvest parade Barn dances Harvest ball Country fair Canning and preserving parties THE RITE Takes place late afternoon of Mabon Day, in a field or garden, not in wild woods. The Circle may be marked out with autumn braches. Altar in the west. A sky-blue altar cloth makes a beautiful background for harvest-gold candles and decorations of autumn foliage. Make an image of the Goddess from a sheaf of grain, so that the ripe ears form a crown. Place this image, decorated with seasonal flowers (chrysanthemums are sacred to Her, being really marigolds) above the altar. It is a barbaric-looking figure ñ no Praxiteles goddess. Have a jug of cider and a supply of cups or glasses near the altar. Build the central fire in the cauldron and wreathe the cauldron with autumn branches. Coveners may wear work clothes or white robes, or dress in ordinary clothing in autumn colors. HPS and HP should wear crowns of autumn leaves and berries. Everyone walks in a procession to the Circle, each carrying a sheaf of grain or a basket or tray of apples, squashes, melons, nuts, etc. as they continue to walk deosil within the Circle, HP and HPS take their burdens from them and stack them around the altar. Banish the Circle with sat water. In the prayer of intention, refer to absent friends and relatives who are present in spirit and to the harvest offering. Bid Summer farewell. HP kindles the fire. HPS invokes the Goddess and charges the fire. Communion materials are cider and Sabbat cakes. The Ritual of Harvesting: Have a fruit-bearing potted plant at the North. Reap the fruit and carry it slowly, elevated at about eye-level on the Pentacle, on a tour of the Circle. The fruit represents the benefits and results of our efforts during the year. The elevation, with all eyes fixed on the fruit, represents our assessment and evaluation of our results. The coveners' individual messages, burned in the fire, briefly detail these. The fruit itself is divided with the knife and eaten by the coveners as a token that they accept the consequences of their actions. Have a platter prepared for the Goddess, bearing some of each kind of food provided for the feast. Using the knife, HPS buries this food before the altar, inviting the Goddess to share in and bless the feast. HP pours a libation. Then he pours cider all around and proposes a toast to the harvest. HPS gives thanks to all the gods for the harvest. HPS asks the blessing. The usual divinations and similar business follow, then feasting, dancing and games and the rite ends as usual.