Have a blessed Mabon – Vixxieville

Have a blessed mabon (Part I)

The summer is winding down, the orchards and fields are barren as everything has just been harvested and stored, and nights are getting a bit cooler as fall begins to creep in. The colours of nature are starting to change to warm orange, brown and yellow hues.

Today is the Autumn equinox, or Mabon, as it is called by pagans for many centuries. Mabon is traditionally a harvest festival (one of three) and some sort of thanksgiving to honour the changing seasons and giving thanks for the things we have, whether it is abundant crops or other blessings, love or things that make us happy. It’s also a moment to reflect on the equal hours of darkness and light and contemplate on the balance that we all seek in our lives.

If you are interested in learning more about Mabon, the history and origins of the name, festival and traditions, there is plenty of information available on the internet. Here, I’d prefer to share a bit of Vixxie’s take on Mabon and how I prepared to celebrate my favourite season of the year.

Let’s start by getting in the mood with some ancient storytelling.

The mythical relationship of Hades and Persephone.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess called Persephone. Persephone lived a happy, fruitful childhood, playing and spending time in the gardens of Olympus, protected by her loving mother Demeter, the goddess of earth’s fertility and harvest. She was the most nurturing of goddesses and, in turn, was the most nurturing of mothers. Demeter loved her daughter dearly and spoilt her with all of the earth’s bountiful delights.

Persephone’s intense beauty didn’t go unnoticed. From his place in the Underworld, Hades had seen the innocent beauty of the princess grow to radiance. He fell in love, head over heals, desperately wanting Persephone to become his queen. So, one day he approached Persephone’s father Zeus asking for permission to take the princess as his Queen. With little concern for how Demeter would respond to such a request, Zeus agreed and the king of the underworld was given consent.

One day, Persephone, accompanied by some or her favourite nymphs, descended onto the earth. As the princess was picking fresh pomegranates, the earth suddenly opened up in a gaping chasm. Out of the deep, dark blackness Hades emerged. He took the princess into his strong arms and carried her gently down with him to the Underworld. Persephone however, scared of the unknown, cried out for her mother but to no avail. Now in the Underworld, Persephone was crowned Hades’ queen.

Demeter approached the gardens where her princess daughter usually played with the nymphs but could not find her anywhere. The nymphs, crying in anguish, would not answer. Stricken with grief, Demeter scoured the earth in search of Persephone. Her immense sorrow caused the earth to grow dark, cold, and barren. The once lush meadows yellowed. The trees curled and furled. Having searched the entire living land, Demeter finally turned to Zeus, who informed her of Persephone’s marriage to Hades in the Underworld. Demeter combusted into a motherly rage. She demanded him to return her daughter to her care, but Zeus refused. Demeter threw a tantrum and then refused to fullfil her duties as the goddess of fertility, and instead watched as the earth began to decay without her nurture. The now yellow meadows blackened and decomposed to dust. The trees began to shrink into the hard dirt. The rivers shriveled up, and the lakes froze over. Zeus had no other choice but to reconsider Demeter’s demands, or his beloved earth would die.

In the Underworld however, Persephone had grown to love and lust for Hades, who treated her with compassion, respect and loved her immensely as his Queen. Hades admired her kind and nurturing nature, gifted her with lush gardens and spoilt her with her heart’s desires. Persephone was happy, even though she missed her mother.

When the messenger Hermes reached the Underworld and requested Persephone’s return, Hades knew he could not refuse the commands of Zeus, but he also could not part from his beloved queen. Before she departed from the Underworld, Hades offered Persephone a pomegranate as a gift of farewell. A cunning and desperate last act of love to keep her close to him, because all the Olympians knew that if they ate or drank anything in the Underworld, they would be destined to remain there for eternity. The gullible and naive young queen decided to, instead, eat the small seeds of the pomegranate – assuming that these would not count as consumption. But they did.

After eating 6 of the seeds, Persephone was approached by the Fates, who told her she would forever remain in the Underworld as Hades’ Queen. However, Zeus, being the mighty king of all gods, could not allow his beloved land to become decayed and barren; and so, he met with Hades himself and struck a deal. Because Hades had deceivingly tricked the young Persephone into eating the pomegranate, he was commanded to allow Persephone to visit her grieving mother above. In return, Zeus promised a binding deal that allowed Hades to have Persephone a month for each seed she had eaten. Thus, for half of each year, Persephone was to sit on the throne of the Underworld besides her husband that she came to love dearly and the other half of the year with her mother Demeter in the city of gods.

During her six months on earth reunited with her mother, the land was fertile, beautiful, and warm. The meadows grew lush again and of the deepest green in spring. The trees were tall and fruitful in summer. The rains came often and drought was unseen. However, when Persephone left the land and entered Hades’ domain, Demeter started grieving for her daughter again and had no mood to nurture the land. In Autumn, the land started to wither and became barren, crops died. And as Winter came after, the earth experienced a cold, dark period with no growth.

I’ve always loved the story of Hades and Persephone, but there are many more myths that are inherently tied to this time of the year. The tales of dark mothers like Inanna, Hecate, Kali or Morrigan are also worthy of a read. Nearly all of these stories focus on the themes of life, death, and rebirth. Not much of a surprise, is it?

Two days a year, the Northern and Southern hemispheres receive the same amount of sunlight. Not only that, each receives the same amount of light as they do dark — this is because the earth is tilted at a right angle to the sun, and the sun is directly over the equator. In Latin, the word equinox translates to “equal night.” If you’re living in the Northern hemisphere, like I do, days will begin getting shorter after the autumn equinox.

For me, Mabon is more like a seasonal awareness between the two harvest celebrations Mabon and Samhain in November.

Autumn tingles and a lot of gut feeling

I don’t know whether it is the magic of Autumn around me, or the fact that the weather is back to being bearable and I can take longer walks again, but during the lingering after summer in September, I rejuvenate. It feels like the sting is taken off life and I get less edgy. When the colours and smells of Fall come to life slowly, so do all my senses. I trust my instincts, I listen to my gut more often, I feel like cooking and crafting. Like living.

When you look at those images, do you not feel a flash of inspiration? To Live harder? To live better? Healthier? More conscious?

Well I do. Autumn helps me think. Contemplate. Focus on what I deem important in my time on earth.

After all, that exactly what Mabon is all about. Time to reflect on the past half a year, recognizing your successes and letting go of the things that did not serve you during that time. It’s a great time to set good intentions such as ending unhealthy habits or self destructive beliefs, too. Shed the burden and the abundance, the over consumption and return to the essential. Especially in your own head.

Autumn is the season that makes me feel closest to the divine. And that is a weird thing coming from a self-declared atheist writing about a pagan harvest festival. I’m very quick to secularize any kind of (religious) influence that blows my way but whereas believing in one god creator or a pantheon of gods is a hardboiled no go for me -even though mythology truly fascinates me-, I do sometimes feel the divine and the inspiration of a ‘greater cause’ around me in the shape of animals, oceans or beautiful landscapes. The splendour of nature in Autumn (even more so than a serene winter scene littered with snowy trees, or a fresh spring field full of lively red poppies) makes me feel incredibly small, insignificant, humble and in awe. Grateful, also. For love, life and everything in it that makes me happy.