As the nights grow longer, and the sun sets earlier every day, we can feel balance approaching. The summer is fading, and pumpkin spice already fills the store shelves. Mabon approaches!

Whoever you are , I hope your summer was good. We are now approaching Mabon, the Fall Equinox ! Here are some online ritual opportunities, and below that, Fall Equinox celebration ideas. Plus, the growing darkness brings many changes to our lives – the feel of the fleeting day, the urgency of preparations for winter, and more time to see the wonders of our sky. That sky still has a good potential now for auroras with sunspot cycle 25 still active, though beginning to wane – and auroras more common around the Equinoxes (due to the direction of the field).

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Fall Equinox is celebrated soon (it is September 22nd this year) as Mabon, also called Harvest Home. (Those in the Southern Hemisphere celebrate the Spring Equinox, Ostara, at this time.)

Fall Equinox Celebrations

First, here are some online opportunities for those of us without a local Pagan group (whether a member or a visitor).

Date	Time	Group	Link
16-Sep	Any time you want	John Beckett	https://www.youtube.com/user/mircea142 (use search bar for Sabbat)
16-Sep	Any time you want	Druids of the Light	https://www.youtube.com/@druidlindamae3003 (use search bar for Sabbat)
18-Sep	6:15 pm MDT	Southern Arizona CUUPS	https://www.facebook.com/SAZCUUPS/posts/pfbid0gkc8D2Qwbu8UfLdeMcQjja4Z9KWEoiJYkC4hMEptJe2XJbLMJyEU5FV6ftKb6BMPl
18-Sep	7:00 pm PDT	Sanctuary of Solace	https://www.facebook.com/events/1738699303999521?post_id=1741150500421068&view=permalink
19-Sep	1 pm CDT	Circle Sanctuary	https://circlesanctuary.org/event-6076638?fbclid=IwY2xjawIxNxJleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHUjP_oHJpEydtE934ttpF6nOrYzhZCv42kxGNF5Wzjoiyy4jpXS7KiKtAA_aem_l0aiC-OMUh80UCI8ZrLobA
19-Sep	5:45 PM EDT	Cabot Kent Hermetic Temple	https://ckht.org/
20-Sep	11:00 am CDT	Phoenix of the Grove – New Moon Rit	https://www.uujackson.org/services/mabon-2026/
20-Sep	5:30 pm EDT	Covenant of Earth and Sky CUUPs	https://www.facebook.com/events/1744080916606040/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A%5B%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22attachment%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22newsfeed%22%7D%5D%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D
21-Sep	3:30 pm EDT	Glastonbury Goddess Temple	https://goddesstemple.co.uk/goddess-temple-autumn-equinox-ceremonies/
22-Sep	9:30 PM EDT-Midnight	Diana	https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mabon-an-online-autumn-equinox-ceremony-tickets-1999318527536
23-Sep	7:00 pm EDT	Wyoming Valley CUUPs	https://www.wyomingvalleycuups.com/events.html

Plus, here are ideas for everyone, such as this nice compilation from the Pagan Grimoire.

Growing Darkness……

Mike Nichols writes of the day: “Mythically, this is the day of the year when the God of Light is defeated by his twin and alter ego, the God of Darkness. It is the time of the year when night conquers day.” The metaphor for the natural solar cycle is perfectly clear, and easily appreciable by naturalists – as is the promise included within the metaphor that the darkness is temporary, and the light will return. Likewise with the agricultural myth of John Barleycorn, personification of the ripened grain:

“Often this corn spirit was believed to reside most especially in the last sheaf or shock harvested, which was dressed in fine clothes, or woven into a wicker-like man-shaped form. This effigy was then cut and carried from the field, and usually burned, amidst much rejoicing.”

Bart Everson observes that the autumnal equinox gets short-shrift in our culture because of our aversion to death:

“Perhaps that’s why this equinox seems like such a blindspot in the American imagination. Themes of loss and darkness don’t fit well with the national narrative.

“Yet there is much to celebrate, if we aspire to a full and comprehensive vision of what it means to be human on this planet. The metaphors of the equinox can work for us, if are open to the possibility. …

“This might be a time for drawing in, for gathering together. The equinox can be a time for reflection, for making changes and starting projects, for setting priorities and recognizing intentions. … For truly darkness and loss, though they present challenges, are not to be feared if we can only gain adequate perspective.

Bart has also put together a great playlist of Mabon/Equinox-themed music.

Celebrations

Glenys Livingstone of PaGaian Cosmology, celebrates this as a time of abundance and thanksgiving, but also of loss. She associates it with the myth of Persephone’s descent into the underworld, ritually enacting a moment of “letting go”. “Demeter” goes to each participant:

”(name), I give you the wheat – the Mystery – the knowledge of life and death. I let you go as Daughter (Child/Mabon), most loved of Mine … you descend to Wisdom, to Sovereignty. You will return as Mother, co-Creator with me. You are the Seed in the Fruit, becoming the Fruit in the Seed. Inner Wisdom guides your path.”

Response: “It is so. I am Daughter (Child/Mabon), becoming Mother – Seed becoming Fruit. I am deepening into/descend to, Wisdom, into Sovereignty. The Mother knowledge grows within me.”

[PaGaian Mabon 2009]

NaturalPantheist of the Nature is Sacred blog recites the following from ADF Solitary Druid Fellowship ritual on this day:

“As I stand here on this celebration of Harvest Home, the Autumnal Equinox, the sacred wheel of the year continues to turn. As my ancestors did in times before and my descendants may do in times to come, I honour the old ways. Today is the day of balance, of equal light and dark. The sun has begun to wane while the nights grow steadily longer and the weather becomes cooler. We head towards winter. It is the time of the second harvest, the harves...

Naturalistic Paganism

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