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Mabon – the autumn equinox is one of the eight festivals / Sabbats marked on the wheel of the year. The autumn equinox celebrates a time of balance and the harvest the name Mabon was coined by Aidan Kelly around 1970 as a reference to Mabon ap Modron, a character from Welsh mythology.

The autumn equinox fall between the 21^st – 24^th September the day will depend on the position of the sun. At this time of year pagans and neo pagans will either celebrate The Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Feast of Avalon, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), Alben Elfed (Caledonii), or Cornucopia. The Teutonic name, Winter Finding, spans a period of time from the Sabbat to Oct. 15th, Winter’s Night, which is the Norse New Year.

The basic theme behind the celebration is giving thanks and preparing for winter and understand that the earth is dieing and the fields are becoming barren, Many of the myths around the Equinox are often relating to the dieing or descent in to the underworld by a deity. The Myths of Persephone , Innana and Mabon are some of the major myths related to this festival / Sabbat.

Many of the activities that take place at this time of year include wine making, collecting seeds and pods for spring planting, walks in the countryside, decorating relatives graves as well as sharing a meal with friends and family.

During Mabon some of the major symbols include wine, gourds, pinecones, acorns, grains, corn, apples, pomegranates, vines such as ivy, dried seeds, and horns of plenty. Apples are used extensively through out this celebration they are used as symbols to honour the dead.

Equinox and Solstice times

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Related articles

• The astrology of summer weather extremes (beliefnet.com)
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• Mabon: A Pagan/Wiccan Celebration of the Autumnal Equinox (blogher.com)

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Originally posted 2010-08-29 13:37:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Wicca is an earth-based Spiritual path, based on reviving the ancient pagan religions of pre-Christian Europe. Wiccan’s have a strong belief in the forms and forces of nature and that the divine source exists on all planes and is both male and female. Wiccan’s see aspects of life and nature as being sacred.

Wiccan’s will attempt to attune themselves to natural rhythms of nature and cycle of life so they can communicate with the divine form. Wiccan’s will use rituals and rites, which are a mix between ancient text and modern ceremonies as well as shamanic practices to achieve this commune with the divine force.

For Wiccan’s the divine form / force is divided in to two parts the two parts are considered to be equal and opposite (up-down / left-right / good bad / summer-winter etc.). These two halves created the balance in the universe and manifest as a Goddess(s) and God(s). By manifesting the power in two deities (Goddess and God), the natural balance of opposites, cause and effect are retained, e.g. Summer/winter, light/ dark, life and death etc   

Although Wiccan’s may name their deities Wiccan’s believe that all goddess’s are but one goddess and all gods are but one god. The reason a Wiccan will call on a deity by name is to focus the aspect or nature of the persona that that aspect of the divine portrays. Wiccan’s believe that with the will of the divine and through magickal workings such as spells and rituals you can bend the unlimited source of energy to your will and desire. 

The Wiccan path has no leaders, No laws saying what is right and wrong, No real religious text such as The Bible,The Qur’an ,The Torah,The Vedas ,The Book of Mormon ,The Guru Granth Sahib ,The Avesta ,The Zhuan Falun etc although there are hundreds of books on wicca.

Wiccan fall basically into two groups the Hedge Witch, which is a solitary practitioner, and those that belong to a formal group or coven. Covens normally consist of 13 member and they are normally presided over by a High Priest and Priestess who have had may years of experience and are respected as an Elder and teacher of the craft.

All Wiccans adhere to one overriding ethical precept as stated in the “Wiccan Rede”:

“Though it harm none, Do what thy wilt”.

For a more detailed view of this rule please read “And it Harm None”

And to insure that Wiccan’s work ethically and with an understanding that their actions have a consequence the have “The Three-Fold Law”.

Which basically is what you send out will return three-fold three times good three times bad. This means Alli Online that a Wiccan has to be responsible for their own actions and how the actions affect other people because of the backlash they will receive for causing harm

Wiccan’s celebrate 8 major rituals each year called “Sabbats”

There are 4 major and 4 minor Sabbats. The major Sabbats include: Imbolc (February 2nd), Beltane (April 30th), Lughnasadh (August 1st) and Samhain (October 31st), while the minor Sabbats are: Ostara (Spring Equinox, March 21st), Litha (Summer Solstice, June 21st), Madon (Autumn Equinox, September 21st), and Yule (Winter Solstice, December 21st).

The Sabbats are solar rituals marking the points of the sun’s yearly cycle, and make up half of the Wiccan ritual year. The other half is made up with “Esbats”, the Full Moon celebrations. There are 13 full moons each year symbolizing the goddess, wisdom and the inner self of the individual.

Anybody can be a Wiccan or Study Wicca and many people do. Since Wicca is a very personal and practical religion it can be moulded to suit an individuals needs spiritually and personally.

There are many different branches with in the Wiccan religion all with different rituals and rite but they all share the basic structure Wicca and Wicca is only one of many Pagan paths, And the one thing all these traditions share, is an overriding reverence for life, nature, and the environment, as seen through the Goddess and God.

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Originally posted 2010-06-24 08:59:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

For the second time in the solar cycle. We stand equally between light and dark time instead of moving from darkness to light. We now move from light to dark and it is the time of the autumn Equinox, celebrated by Druids and Celtic traditions are Alban Elfed, (the light of the water in the Druid tradition).

Although most of the celebrations are related to agriculture and harvest and giving thanks to the fields. One of the major symbols depicted in Celtic charms is the stag, which is used to symbolise nature surviving through the hard times of winter. The stag is closely associated to Cernunnos horned God. Also known as the Lord of animals or the laws of wild things.

Cernunnos is often seen with horns, cross-legged in shamanic pose with the torc around his neck and in one hand and with a snake in the other. Cernunnos is depicted with seven points on his horns and often in the company of a stag. The stag is the symbol for Cernunnos or Herne, the horned gods; and is also is sometimes associated with the Green Man  and with gods of the Underworld.  Moreover, the Druid’s Horned God of Fertility, Hu Gadarn, was usually portrayed with the head of a stag.  Also, the Man in the Tree, or Derg Corra, is always accompanied by a stag. He is the Celtic guardian of knowledge.

The stag and itself symbolology, played a large part in the Celtic belief system. They were considered to be animals of the supernatural, and occasionally called faerie cattle both the stag and the deer are often considered manifestations of the male and female deities.

Hind, Eilid, represents gracefulness, subtlety and femininity.

Stag, Damh, symbolizes independence, pride and purification. He is King of the Forest, protector of its creatures and represents the Sun, warrior’s virility and fertility.

According to Celtic mythology, the role of the underworld would send a white hind or stag to guide chosen in humans into the underworld.

During the Medieval times. It was believed that the power of a deer or stag could be accessed from its skin a reason why a number of ceremonial magicians will have or make amulets or talismans made from deerskin parchment.

Even today, the symbol of the stag still holds power, and it is common to find ritual items that contain stag horn or the symbol of a stag or deer. Used in talismans and amulets and jewellery shop drugs and coat of arms.

In animal magic deer’s and Stags are used in an embodiment of particular correspondences-the deer: gracefulness, subtlety and the goddess; there’s stag: Independents, purity, power, virility, protection, and God.

Stags and deer’s have always captured our imagery and appear in ancient mythologies as well in modern day fairy tales.

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• Cernunnos (vonfaustus.blogspot.com)
• On the Gods of the Motherlands – Part One from THE LAND OF NOD (matt-landofnod.blogspot.com)

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Originally posted 2011-01-03 03:40:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter