Reflections on Mabon

And so autumn arrived at our doorstep yesterday. I have to admit that this didn't surprise me all that much because our summer was very rainy and the temperatures here have been lower than usual the past few weeks. But honestly, I didn't fully feel autumn until yesterday at you Mabon celebration.

The ten of us got together and went to celebrate the autumn equinox in nature. Some traveled more to the meeting point, while others traveled slightly less, but everyone made some sort of sacrifice to be there. Some had to let go of their children for that afternoon, and others had to think of some excuse for their jobs. But one of Mabon's aspects is sacrifice, right? The Horned God dies on this day, just as to the fruits of the earth, only to be born again soon (and in the process revive the earth, enable the fruits of the land to grow once more and the land to thrive). But despite all of the obstacles, we got together! There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but the many previous rainstorms did their share; the earth was flooded, soft and wet, the paths were impassable (partly due to the floods) and dry wood was nowhere to be found. But we persevered and managed to get to our destination, light a small fire to warm our freezing hands and we also managed to do a beautiful ritual which was filled with laughter, tears, dancing, singing, much insight and love. Everyone got the best they could from it in that moment. We had such a nice time that we changed the well-known "Merry meet, merry part and merry meet again" into "Merry meet, merry part and merry meet as soon as possible". :)

The reason why I say that I truly understood what autumn is all about just yesterday is the following. Up to now, autumn was, at least for me, just that season marked by a lot of boring rain, the beginning of the academic/school year and a general feeling of lethargy. But yesterday, I realized that rain is essential to the land which is in desperate need of respite after the summer-long scorching Sun. The "working" half of the year is needed for there to be a time of rest. Even lethargy brings with itself a certain dose of relaxation and enables us to just slow down a bit. Yesterday, we all had the chance to stop for an hour or two and reflect on our lives - something we don't really have the opportunity to do in our everyday lives which are just so full of mundane obligations.

Surrounded by people with which we weren't connected to in the usual way, but rather in a special, spiritual way, we had the chance to see ourselves in a new light, behave the way we wouldn't usually behave, dance and yell the way we wouldn't typically dance or yell and release our emotions and thoughts the way we wouldn't normally dare to.

I hope that you too celebrated Mabon in a special way, one that has meaning to you and also that you were able to achieve balance in yourself as balance is just one thing that this equinox encourages. I know that this wasn't one of my typical posts in which I give advice, ideas and theories, but sometimes, some reflection on past events is necessary for us to fully absorb their meaning in our lives. After all, this is also an important aspect of Mabon - appreciating our past efforts and seeing their results in the present moment. 

A blessed Mabon, autumn equinox, Alban Elfed, Svarog's day or whatever you call this festival to you all! :D

Until next time. Yours,

Witch's Cat