If you’ve seen the post for the Women’s Circle this month, you’ll notice the term “Mabon” and might wonder what it means.
As the wheel of the year continues to turn we are now approaching Autumn Equinox, which corresponds with a festival known as Mabon.
It is time in the year where there is equal day and night, but from here on in, the amount of sunlight each day will reduce as we head towards Winter.
Although we still feel some warmth from Summer, the intensity is starting to wane and the leaves on deciduous trees are starting to fade to yellow.
Mabon is the second of three harvest festivals. It’s a time to honour what has grown and come to fruition, and be thankful for what we have achieved. Back in the day when we relied on ourselves to produce our own food, now would be a great time of food and abundance but we would be aware that we need to store food and prepare for the coming winter.
If we take this time of year and overlay with other cycles in life there’s a strong pattern of waning or decent – sometimes into darkness. Take the moon for example, the corresponding moon would be the last quarter or the third quarter moon – half way between the full moon heading towards the darkness of the new moon (in the same way the season is half way between Summer and Winter solstices).
Two of the cycles that occur to us individually are the menstrual cycle and cycle of life. In a menstrual cycle the corresponding time would be the luteal phase – you’ve past the peak of ovulation and now on the decent towards bleeding (unless of course you’re pregnant!) In the cycle of life Mabon corresponds closely to the transition from Mother to Crone or Wise Woman. Our fertility peaked as a Mother and we begin to reflect what is important in life and start sharing our wisdom as we age.
Understanding where we are in the rhythm of the various internal and external cycles can help trust in the changes and process these within yourself.
If you’ve read my posts previously Ive mentioned how I struggled with Christmas – traditionally a time that celebrates Winter, Yule, snow and pine trees; when in Australia the corresponds with Summer Solstice - warmth, intensity and peak energy. Instead of having a Christmas wreath on the table, I made myself a Summer wreath filled with yellow flowers to honour the natural cycles in nature.
The same is true for Easter – a time to celebrate rebirth, renewal and blossoming of new life. That's exactly whats happening at this time of year, but in the Northern Hemisphere! Here we are in Autumn with the leaves starting to turn yellow and red before they fall to the ground. We watch in real time how a tree lets go of whats not needed and preserve its energy as we prepare to head into Winter. To remind me to flow with the seasons I made an Autumn wreath that I will place on our table for the next three months.
When I’m preparing for the Women’s Circle, I use the seasonal influences of the season to shape the discussion prompts. (By the way, you can talk about absolutely anything; the prompts are just there if you need a suggestion)
Below is a picture of my Autumn wreath. Come Winter Ill share a picture of that one, and notice the changes as we circle through the seasons.
