Mabon Rituals

Mabon Circle Notes

Use a deep orange or burgundy altar cloth, and brown, burgundy, or purple candles. Decorate with bunches of dried herbs, sunflowers, autumn leaves, potatoes, acorns, and Indian corn. Burn Mabon incense (Mabon Recipes 2 has several types of incenses).

Cast Circle using the athamé. After ritual, leave any edible decorations (herbs, sunflowers, acorns, corn, and so on) outdoors for the wildlife to enjoy.

Mabon Celebration Ideas

• Potatoes are very symbolic at Mabon, for they grow and take shape under the ground. For this reason, many Crafters like to have a potato bake during this celebration. Just rake the leaves from your yard, then use them for a bonfire to welcome the fall season. Wrap potatoes in foil, bake them in the fire, and thank the Earth for Her bounty by saying:
  • "O Goddess Mother of us all,
    We thank You as Your blessings fall.
    Upon us - each and every soul -
    As the year wheel turns and rolls.
    For nourishing our bodies and
    Our spirits with Your gifts from the land.
    For your abundance on the Earth.
    We give you thanks with love and mirth."
• Honor family ancestors with a feast of oatmeal walnut cookies and apple juice. Set a place for everyone present, and include place settings for the honorees. Go through family albums or photographs, recall the life stories of the ancestors pictured, and meditate upon the importance of their lives. Remember how each family member gone before lives on in you. End by thanking the ancestors for the roles they continue to play in your lives by saying:
  • "For your lives, I give you thanks
    You, who live now in the ranks.
    Of memories of times now past
    Whose blood still flows within me fast.
    Whose personalities I share
    Whose mannerisms here and there
    Come out in me from time to time.
    Bringing reason for my rhyme,
    I thank you for the parts of me.
    You've put in place that I might be
    I promise now that you shall thrive.
    With loving thoughts throughout my life,
    For all I am and all I'll be,
    Is because you live in me."
• Get up early on Mabon morning. Listen to the songbirds in the trees, and bid a fond farewell to those creatures who begin to burrow beneath the Earth for winter hibernation.
• Using a needle, draw pieces of monofilament cord through several sunflowers. Hang the flowers in trees so the birds can eat the seeds. As you hang each flower, say:
  • "Symbol of Sun, Who now departs.
    And leaves the world both cold and dark,
    Live on within these seeds of Light.
    And feed our feathered friends in flight.
    That they may thrive in winter's chill.
    Until again with light you fill
    The Earth and shine again anew.
    Replacing ice with morning dew."
• Remember that thanksgiving isn't just about saying thank you. It also involves giving something back for all you've received in life. That being the case, volunteer at a hospital, or spend some time visiting the elderly. Even better, plan to spend a day working at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. It will not only lighten the hearts of those you touch, but bring you the blessings of reciprocation. Blessings are much more valuable than anything else we hold!