Self Care

Autumn Equinox: How to Celebrate Mabon's Harvest & Ground For Winter September 08 2020, 0 Comments

What is Mabon?

Mabon is a celebration of the Autumn Equinox and occurs over Sept 21st to Sept 29th in the Northern Hemisphere. The days have been growing shorter and, on the Equinox, are exactly as long as the nights. Days will continue to grow shorter and nights longer through the season.

"As a holiday, Mabon represents the time of honoring the dead, visiting burial sites, giving thankfulness for the end of the harvest season and the bounty it provides. These are the themes of closing, letting go, and remembering. For the year, the harvest, and for those who were lost to land of Avalon during the year.

Although many view the Harvest season as a celebration of life, it is also a celebration of death. The bounty you gather from your garden provides nourishment for you, family, and friends. But it is also the death of those plants and vegetables which have been harvested from that garden. Thus Mabon is a celebration of the cycle of life."
- Magickal Winds

What Does It Mean?

Personally, I love incorporating the seasons into my day to day life. And sales of Pumpkin Spice Lattes tell me that a lot of you do too! So let's look at how we, as humans, can follow nature's lead through this time.

Autumn is associated with the Earth element. We can remember this if we think of how, after we've harvested the final fruits of the summer, nature begins pulling its energy down into its roots, grounding and protecting itself for the coming winter. No more flowers, no more fruits. Leaves are falling, nature is preparing to go dormant with all of its energy is moving into the ground.

Summer, which ends at the Equinox, is associated with the Fire element. It's Fire is seen metaphorically as we're all taking trips, getting outside, and bursting with extroverted energy (or Yang as it's called in Chinese medicine). It's also seen quite literally, as seen in the wildfires that inevitably ravage some locations at this time every year.

Normally, I like to pre-emptively balance Autumn's Earthiness by using the Fire element series in the shop. It can prevent excessive sluggishness and depression from developing by the time winter comes along (or excessive Yin energy). That just doesn't make sense to me anymore, as the skies above the entire west coast of the US already burn red and rain ash. So now we're calling to Autumn's Earth to show up and tame Summer's Fire. To pull that wild passion down to the ground, down to the physical presence that we all hopefully come to after a meltdown: that "woah, I can't believe I got that carried away but I feel a lot better now and I'm ready to stop and analyze what just happened."

Sound familiar?

So let's all spend this Mabon to follow nature down into the Earth, humbling ourselves and giving thanks for nature's bounty, friends, family, hearth, and home. If you'd like some tools to amplify this intention of gratitude and grounding, check out the Mabon Self-Care Kit.

"The Time of Change is upon us again –
the Equinox comes, the Wheel turns…
The Goddess and the God prepare for
Their journey to the Otherworld,
as the Earth and all of Her children
prepare for the Time of Quiet and
Reflection that lies ahead…
May we use this Autumnal period
to seek for the strength and power within
to assist us on our own quests for
vision, feeling, and peace…
May we see and feel the presence of
the Goddess and the God within, though
without, the Earth begins Her slumber…
Keep us in Your light…
Who Was Mabon?"
-by Dana Corby

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Autumn || Mabon September 01 2014, 0 Comments

Autumn // Wellness // Seasonal // Large Intestine // Lungs // Metal //

Autumn is associated with the metal element in Chinese Medicine, which is characterized by expansion, contraction, and transformation {think about what metal does when it gets hot or cold} on physical, emotional, and spiritual levels. For this reason, the organs associated with Autumn are the lungs and large intestine, due to their own expanding and contracting nature. This makes Autumn a great time for detoxification by supporting and toning these organs which are imperative for toxin elimination.

You’ll see nature pulling it’s vitality down into its roots after it provides us with it’s final fruits of the year. This makes Autumn the ideal time to harvest and use root medicines, since that is where the plants energy is being stored for now. This allows us to get rid of any residual excesses from Summer’s Yang, and prepare our bodies for the calmer and quieter Yin of Winter.

Autumn is associated with the Earth element, and the sun signs Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. As we begin grounding down into the earth for the coming months, this season’s kit will bring balance with Fire, to warm and enliven the senses, preventing congestion, worry, and depression that can come from “burying” oneself excessively in Earth.

Give your body what it wants to stay well this Autumn & make sure to enjoy the fruits of the harvest!

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photo via tumblr