Mabon Solitary Ritual

Witch's Broom

From Patricia Telesco's book The Wiccan Book of Ceremonies and Rituals.

Preparations

Gather one colorful leaf each from rowan, birch, hazel, sassafras, hawthorn, willow, ash, and oak trees (or as many of those trees as you can find) and wax them prior to the ritual.  Store the collection in a white cloth until you’re ready to use them.

You will also need a yellow colored candle to represent the sun and a cup of grape juice or wine.  If holding this ritual inside, have a bowl into which you can pour the juice or wine during the rite.

The Altar

Cover the altar with a red or orange (or any color you associate with the harvest) cloth.  Decorate the altar with fall fruits and grains, gourds, and bunches of grapes.  Add a horn of plenty with coins inside, to the collection.

Place the sun candles at the center of your altar and light it.  Keep the goblet of wine just in front of the candle, and put the waxed leaves wrapped to the right or left of center.

Invocations

Since Autumn Equinox marks a change in power from the sun to the moon, begin this invocation in the West.  This is the seat of water, traditionally associated with the lunar sphere.  It is also the region of the setting sun.

The quarter markers for this invocation could be gourds hand painted in traditional colors, or those decorated with elemental emblems.  For example, use the image of a purple water droplet for the west, a red tongue of flame for the south, a yellow feather for the east, and a brown seed for the north.

In the Greek and Roman traditions, this festival honors Bacchus or Dionysus because of the grape harvest.  Consequently I have chosen to call on this deity for the center point of the circle.  Feel free to substitute any other god of the harvest with whom you’re more familiar.

West

  • Water Maiden, come and celebrate!
    Taste the wine and the fruit filled with your drops.
    Wash gently on the shores of my soul
    with the sustaining waters of creation,
    for I am your servant.

 

North

  • Earth Mother, come and celebrate!
    Taste the wine and the fruit of your womb.
    Grow gently in the soils of my soul
    the seeds of Nature's lessons,
    for I am your servant.

 

East

  • Wind Brother, come and celebrate!
    Taste the wine and fruit of your breath
    Blow gently into my soul
    with the wind of insight and motivation
    For I am your servant.

 

South

  • Fire Father, come and celebrate!
    Taste the wine and the fruit you warmed to maturity;
    Burn gently in my heart and soul
    with the empowering embers of magic,
    for I am your servant.

 

Center

  • Dionysus and Demeter, come and celebrate!
    Taste the wine and the fruit of Earth’s bounty.
    Fill gently my heart and soul
    with the wines of wisdom and wonderment,
    for I am your servant.

 

Mediation and Visualization

At your altar, take the leaf divination kit in hand.Raise it toward the sky, saying: Powers of Light, grant me sight beyond sight.As day gives way to dark, grant me foresight’s inner spark. Sit down and hold the tool in hand.  Close your eyes and center your attention on the energy each leaf brings to the bundle.  Feel its inherent symbolism in color and form.  If any of the leaves seem to have a different meaning to you than those given below, make note of it.  Your instincts are important to the divination process; heed their council above anything found in a book. Now, think about the next three month.  Ask Nature’s tool what the future holds for you.  Keeping your eyes closed, randomly draw out two leaves for each month, placing the first one to your left and the second to your right.  The left-hand leaf’s symbolism is determined by the one on the right.  For example, if you drew maple followed by birch for the month of October, this indicates that your path to inner peace during that time frame lies in activating your feminine attributes.  A willow leaf followed by a hawthorn for November indicates that you can achieve your goals then, if you learn to be flexible. Here are the basic correspondences for the leaves:
  • Rowan – Safety; the need for protection
  • Hazel – Wisdom; the use of discernment
  • Birch – Highlights or augments feminine attributes (nurturing, intuition, gentility, and so on)
  • Maple – Peace, truce; reconciliations
  • Sassafras – Physical, spiritual, or emotional well being
  • Hawthorn – Wishes; goals; desires; achievements
  • Willow – The capacity to bend and change with circumstances
  • Ash – Vitality; energy; power
  • Oak – Highlights or augments masculine attributes (leadership, strength, and so on)

 

The Ritual

Stand before the center of the altar.  Hold your ritual goblet toward the sky with both hands, saying:

Lord of the Harvest, Lady of Crops,
I thank you for your gifts freely given,
and now return wine from this bounty
to the soil with a grateful heart.

Pour out the wine into the soil or the secondary container.  If you’re using the latter, you must take this outside after the ritual and pour it into the earth.

Accept my offering as a gift to you and Earth. 
Let this libation nourish and sustain the land
as the Wheel moves on.

Put down the cup, and take up the cornucopia with both hands while reciting:

Providence, while my table is rich with the harvest,
soon the crops fall to the snows. 
Let each silver piece be used kindly to help others,
then return thrice-fold in times of need. 
Bless these coins that I,
and all within my home, might not want for food,
nor comfort, while the land lies fallow. 
By your power, let it be so.

Return the coins to the altar.  After the ritual keep them in an accessible place and use them for random acts of kindness, such as putting a quarter into an expired parking meter.  Your gifts to others, as the prayer says, will return to you three times over to meet your needs.

The Wheel has turned. 
The sun no longer reigns.

Blow out the sun candle.

It is a time of increasing darkness…
a time to look within at shadows of my soul
and face them bravely. 
May the Powers be with me in this Underworld journey,
that like the sun I will return from my meditations
with the brightness of enlightenment as a guide.

Linger before the altar and consider any negatives in your life.  Be honest with yourself here.  Choose one on which to work for the remainder of the winter so that by Imbolc, it will be banished with growing light.

Closing the Circle

South

  • Fire Father,
    may your cooling embers heal heated emotions. 
    I bid you farewell, with thanks.

 

East

  • Air Brother,
    may your winter winds grant me freshness of mind. 
    I bid you farewell, with thanks.

 

North

  • Earth Mother,
    may your providence continue through barrenness. 
    I bid you farewell, with thanks.

 

West

  • Water Sister,
    may your rains fall freely on parched spirits. 
    I bid you farewell, with thanks.

 

Center

  • Spirits of the Vine, of corn and grain,
    from You I am born, and shall return again. 
    I bid you farewell, with thanks.

 

Post Ritual Foods

In keeping with the theme of prudence and conservation, serve long lasting foods such as apples, potatoes, squash, nuts, oats, and onions, or leftovers. Cider and goose are also traditional Autumn Equinox foods.

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