4 Easy Ways to Celebrate Mabon and the Autumn Equinox
The pagan festival of Mabon celebrates the Autumn Equinox, the midpoint between the sun-drenched days of summer and the long, cold nights of winter. It marks the second harvest, an important agricultural event that traditionally helped prepare the community for the coming darkness.
Mabon is a time to practice gratitude for all the gifts we’ve been given. While in the past there was a focus on the gifts given to us by the earth, this is a wonderful time to cultivate a more expansive and inclusive gratitude practice.
Apart from counting your blessings, you may be wondering how to honour this fruitful festival. We offer a few ideas below!
Image: Snow White & the Huntsman (2012, Universal Pictures)
Apple Picking
Grabbed a loved one, a knit scarf, and a flannel shirt, and head out to a nearby orchard for some trendy photo ops and juicy autumnal apple varieties, like Gala, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith. If you’re a fan of cider, raise a glass and toast Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, protagonist of ancient Greek myth, and the true originator of Sad Girl Autumn.
Image: Suspiria (1977, Seda Spettacoli)
Decorating Your Space
Bring the Mabon magic into your home by decorating your space with cosy autumnal touches. Natural items like sunflowers, pumpkins, pressed leaves, or dried corn cobs are great additions to an altar or decorative bowl, and shades like rust, burnt orange, olive green, and mustard yellow add a festive pop of colour.
Image: Cobweb (2023, Lionsgate Films)
Baking (and Sharing) Autumnal Desserts
Whether you pick your apples from your local orchard or the grocery store, baking an apple pie for a sweet feast is a wonderful (and tasty) way to celebrate the harvest season. If you’re not a huge fan of apples, that’s okay — you can bake a tasty, shareable treat with pears, figs, or even grapes!
Image: The Witch (2015, A24)
Spending Time in Nature
Take advantage of the waning warmth before the winter chill takes hold. Grab a notebook and do some solo journaling under a tree, or call up your coven, grab some pumpkin spice lattes, and head out to the park for a picnic, and maybe some light hexing — who am I to judge?
Your Accursed Librarian,
Valeska