Season 1, Episode 10: Mabon Magick 2023

 ​ Welcome to a special episode of the Wind Moon Magic podcast. I'm supposed to be following a monthly schedule for creating these episodes, but I couldn't resist a quick check in about one of my favorite Sabbats on the Wheel of the Year. In this episode, I'm diving into Mabon, the autumn equinox celebration.

We're about a week out now, but I wanted to share my thoughts prior to the actual date so you have some time to give this episode a listen and maybe get a few ideas to enhance your celebration this year. Mabon is one of the eight sabbats that make up the Wheel of the Year, a sacred cycle of seasonal celebrations observed by many witches and pagans around the world.

There are three harvest sabbats in the modern pagan Wheel of the Year. These Sabbaths celebrate the agricultural cycles and the bounties of nature. They are Lunasa, celebrated around August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere and February 1st in the Southern Hemisphere. It's also sometimes called Lamas.

Lunasa marks the first harvest of the year. It's a time to give thanks for the first fruits of the season. Mabon is celebrated around September 21st in the Northern Hemisphere and around March 21st in the Southern Hemisphere. Mabon corresponds to the autumn equinox. It's the second harvest festival focusing on gratitude for the abundance of the season.

and the balance between light and dark. Then comes Samhain, celebrated October 31st in the Northern Hemisphere and April 30th in the Southern Hemisphere. Samhain is often associated with Halloween. While it's not solely a harvest festival, it does mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter.

It's a time to remember ancestors and honor the thinning of the veil between worlds. So here we are nearing Mabon. As the leaves turn and the air begins to grow crisp, we gather to honor the balance between light and dark, discuss Mabon, and to express gratitude for the bounties of the harvest season. So grab your cauldrons and join me as I explore the magic of Mabon.

Rather than being a super dense, info heavy episode, I wanted to take an opportunity to maybe inspire you by sharing exactly how I celebrate Mabon. You've seen and heard all the correspondences before, I'm sure. But how does a practicing witch put the information to use in this season? That's what I'm hopeful I can answer today.

One of the most exciting little rituals of this season for me is the transition of my altar from its bright and cheery summer decor to the rich oranges and symbolism of autumn. So what do I have on my Mabon altar? Well, I actually have a couple. So let's start with the altar in my kitchen area. Here, I set up a slice of wood with a delicate, hand blown glass pumpkin, a wooden figure of a squirrel, some dried garden sage, and a branch with a few leaves still on it.

And of course, I have a couple crystals there too. So why those items? Well, The glass pumpkin gets a rechargeable candle placed in it and it's a reminder of the bounty of the harvest season. The rich nourishing foods grown in the garden and all that potential new life come spring. Pumpkins are a quintessential symbol of the fall harvest.

They represent the abundance of the season. They're typically harvested now in the autumn and at Mabon they can symbolize the fruits of the labor of the year as well as the importance of sharing and feasting with loved ones. With their nice round shapes, pumpkins symbolize the equilibrium of the equinox.

They remind us of the need to find balance in our own lives between work and rest, light and dark. Pumpkins start as small seeds and then they grow into these large round fruits and this growth process is It's very much like our personal and spiritual development. Just as the pumpkins require care and nurturing to reach their full potential, Mabon is a time to reflect on your own growth and the efforts you've put into your endeavors thus far.

Then I have the squirrel, who I've chosen as a reminder of the importance of preparation and conservation during the colder months. We all know squirrels for their busy and industrious nature. And in the weeks leading up to winter, squirrels gather and store their food. At Mabon, you might reflect on the squirrel's diligence.

Consider how you can make your own preparations in your life, whether it's storing food, or setting goals, or making plans for the future. Squirrels are skilled at finding and using available resources. They can adapt to changing circumstances, and make the most of what is at hand. This adaptability, this resourcefulness, can be seen as a lesson.

Let it encourage you to find creative solutions to challenges, and make the most of the abundance of this harvest season. Besides, squirrels are known for their agility, and this, for me personally, reminds me of the need for balance in my life. So, when you look at a squirrel, consider how you can find balance between work and rest, activity and relaxation, and any other aspects of duality in your life.

The crystals that I've placed this year on my altar are Citrine and Smoky Quartz. Citrine is so powerful for releasing negative energies and overcoming obstacles that may be holding you back. It's associated with creativity and inspiration, and I really think that's fitting. You can use Citrine as a catalyst for creative endeavors and to help with setting intentions for personal growth and Citrine is bright and cheerful and has this uplifting energy linked to joy and positivity.

As Mabon is a time of balance and reflection, Citrine can help us maintain a positive outlook and find joy in the simple pleasures of life, even as the days grow shorter. Smoky Quartz This is more of a grounding and releasing crystal. It helps us let go of what no longer serves as the season changes.

Smoky Quartz is known for its ability to transmute negative energies into positive ones. And this transformational aspect of the stone can symbolize the changing of the seasons and the potential for personal growth and renewal at this time of year. Smoky Quartz helps me stay rooted and balanced and really maintain my equilibrium as the energy of summer transitions into the more introspective nature of autumn.

Then also on my altar I have a little vase with dried sage in it. Sage is powerfully associated with purification of the inner self, but also of our surroundings. Sage is associated with wisdom. It encourages introspection and contemplation. It's an herb that continues to thrive even as the weather cools.

It can also symbolize the abundance of the harvest season and the ability to sustain oneself through winter. It can remind you of the ongoing abundance and the importance of preserving and utilizing the resources that you've gathered thus far in the year. It's symbolism at Mabon can represent the focus on health and wellness during the season as we prepare to enter, you know, all the school year cold and flu season.

Sage's use in smoke cleansing rituals often involves expressing gratitude for the blessings in one's life, and at Mabon that's a perfect time to use sage as a symbol of gratitude, and the lessons learned in the past year, and for the support and the abundance that surrounds us. Then I have a branch, and the branch is stuck into a vase, and there's some twinkle lights and stuff, but The branch, more importantly, is decorated with some handmade little animal totem ornaments.

Um, there's a bear, and a deer, and a bobcat, and a couple others. But it will also be hung with notes of gratitude by everyone in the household. So what I do is I keep a small stack of paper, pens, and some string handy, so that we can add anything that we're grateful for to the branches over the next few days.

Mabon is often called the witch's Thanksgiving, and in that spirit, we try to make gratitude a daily practice in the days leading up to the equinox. The branch with gratitude is also one of the many little ways that I make Mabon meaningful and invite the participation of my son and my husband without overwhelming them.

This year's branch is from our plum tree and has a couple of pretty reddish purple leaves still attached to it. Then throughout the house, I also have smaller reminders of the season and sort of secondary altars. Uh, for instance on the fireplace mantle sits a little handmade cat doll whose clothes I change with each season and next to her is a copper pot that I make a new candle in each year.

This year's candle is infused with scents of orange, patchouli, and rosemary. And I like to light that when I'm sitting there in the mornings with my tea and my book of shadows, especially if it's too wet and cold to go outside in the mornings, which it has been this year. In the bedroom oil diffuser, I use a similar blend of orange, patchouli, and rosemary.

And then on my desk, I have an egg of amber. And it, it just serves as a gentle reminder to cherish the remaining light. And to carry that inner warmth with me as we enter the darker months of the year. I also tend to wear a lot more amber jewelry between now and Yule. For the same reasons. Amber's ancient origins also symbolize a connection to the past and to ancestral knowledge.

During Mabon, you can use amber as a symbol of connecting with your roots, reflecting on your ancestors and honoring their wisdom and traditions. I find this particularly powerful as we move closer to Samhain. Let's talk about some Mabon crafts. I don't do a lot of crafts associated specifically with Mabon, although there are a few that I find myself returning to year after year at this time.

One of those is the gathering and drying of culinary herbs for use over the winter and into spring. So, thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender, oregano, tarragon, all of these are quite abundant in the garden right now. And they're really thriving with the cooler weather. This makes it an optimal time to harvest some for preservation.

This year I made these into a simple and lovely small wreath to hang in the kitchen. This is also an excellent time to gather herbs to make smoke cleansing bundles, tied with colorful string, can even add crystals. I actually do a lot of food and herbal preservation right around this time of year, which is fitting since it's a harvest festival.

I also made suncatchers with some of the earliest autumn leaves with my son. This has been a lovely tradition of ours since he was quite little, and is yet another way I celebrate the Sabbath with him. I put him in charge of gathering all the leaves, grasses, whatever we're going to press, and then we press and shape them into a mandala preserved between sheets of contact paper.

This then gets hung up in the dining room window where we can enjoy the morning sun hitting it as we start our school days. I mentioned the copper pot with my candle in it. That's an annual tradition as well. I make dipped candles with my son and then we use the leftover beeswax to pour a single large three wick candle in a really special copper pot that I found at a thrift store some years ago.

Every year I choose a signature blend of herbs and scents to use throughout the season in both the oil diffuser and I use those same scents in this candle as well. It's just essential oils for the scents. Easy to get a hold of, and the hand dipped candles we actually won't use until Yule. They'll be part of our Yule advent traditions, but we make them now.

I don't really have a reason why, this is just when we do it. I also continue to work on my Mabon Samhain Grimoire art journal, adding to it year after year this time of the year. I've been contemplating for a couple of years creating an embroidered and piecework altar cloth that honors the entire wheel of the year.

It's a bit daunting, but my idea is that I would work on the specific sabbat just during that slice of the year. And I might not get it all done in one year, but when the sabbat comes back round, I would continue my work on it. It's a huge project and would truly be a labor of love, but I'm very attracted to the idea of this sort of long term Handwork, what do you think?

Should I be brave and jump in? Ritual and Spell Work. This is a great time to do some autumn cleaning around the house. I make this into a ritual by using my homemade Florida water and practicing a lot of mindfulness and intention work as I clean and reorganize spaces such as the linen closet, the pantry, under the sinks.

It's not glamorous, but I do find it helpful as we head into a busy time of year. I also wash my doors and windows, each equinox, and renew my wards and home protection spells. So fresh herbs are added to the witch's bells that hang on the front door, and salt is placed at all the thresholds. I also look at any corners, rooms.

areas of the home where the energy is beginning to feel stagnant. This is an excellent time to move some things around, get a lamp into that corner, donate unused items, and just generally give your home some love, and sprucing up in preparation for the colder, darker months. I switch out pillow covers, I add blankets to beds, and I adjust the schedule of any lights that are on timers.

Okay, I know some of you don't really consider these things magic, but magic is not all spells and rituals under the full moon. Now, I mentioned the branch, with the things we are grateful for written on paper and then tied to it. Well, after Mabon, when we're done with these slips of paper, I gather them up and do a simple ritual where I burn them all, allowing the ashes to fall into a bowl of salt.

I then use this black salt to add to small herb packets made of felt and embroidered with a sigil of protection. Each sigil is crafted with a phrase specific to the individual in the household, so they're all unique to my wishes in the coming season for that member of my family. And then I place these under the mattresses at the head of the bed for each family member.

These packets include rosemary, basil, and mugwort, along with a piece of clear quartz, and, of course, the aforementioned black salt. It's all sewn up using black felt and silver thread, and they stay there until the spring equinox. Let's talk about food. I love the food of Mabon and the autumn season in general.

Yes, I am among the pumpkin spice crowd. I make my own pumpkin spice sauce. I roast squash with cinnamon and butter to eat for breakfast, and I fill up on hearty soups and stews this time of year. This also marks the beginning of baking season. I love to make breads, but in the summer it is too hot to turn on the oven.

So, as soon as we start getting some cooler weather, I'm making beer bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, and restarting my sourdough, which I've maintained in a semi dormant state in the refrigerator the past few months. On Mabon itself, I prepare a feast of apple and walnut stuffed acorn squash, roasted brussel sprouts, and spicy chicken sausages.

Homemade no knead bread with sweet cream butter and apple cobbler for dessert. This will also be served with the final batch of homemade vanilla ice cream for the season. My family looks forward to this same food year after year and it's the only time they make most of these dishes. Well, other than the bread and the ice cream, which we enjoy all through the summer months.

And no, my son will not eat the Brussels sprouts or the squash. He loads up on sausage and bread and butter, but my hope is that with repeated exposure, he'll come to love these seasonal foods as much as I do. The table setting is simple. I use a dark green linen tablecloth, golden yellow cloth napkins, and I place the branch with all our notes of gratitude as the centerpiece.

And then after dinner, we take turns pulling the notes off the branches and reading them aloud to one another. It's really sweet and very simple. If the weather is nice, we share this meal outside on the back patio as dusk gathers, enjoying the sounds of the neighborhood, kids playing, neighbors chatting, the burble of the patio fountain, and the first few cries of the bats getting up and to work for the night.

The garden. This season marks the first big garden cleanup. Usually at this point, things have gotten pretty out of hand. The tomatoes are sprawling all over the place, the evening primrose has grown so so top heavy with seed pods that it's laying on its side. Weeds have come up and some things have died, leaving messy dead tangles of beans and pea vines.

So in addition to the big harvest, this is my main garden cleanup period. I cut back to the soil the dead and dying items. Side note, I never pull things out of the garden. I prefer to leave those roots in place to help build the soil, so I just cut things at soil level. I pull out onions and garlic and I hang them to cure in the garden shed and the final crop of potatoes is usually ready to come out of the ground.

And it's a race to get the right pomegranates between me and the raccoons, the squirrels, even, I hate to say it, the rats. I adjust my watering settings. Things need far less as they begin to enter their dormant period. And I add a thick layer of straw mulch around everything. I turn the compost one final time before spring.

It's, it's back breaking. It's an exhausting period in the garden. But honestly, I do the minimum all summer long because it's too hot. So it's quite pleasing to get back out among the plants. Autumn is also the time when I try to take one large garden project on, and this year's is moving the chicken coop and putting in a pond and water catchment system in that area.

We have a lot of flooding that happens because we get so much rain in such short periods of time, so I really need a way to funnel that water off of our patio. Last year I built a side patio space on the side of the house and created an arch of livestock panels that attached to the house to create a cozy area to cover with binding gourds and place a hammock under.

It was It was great. So this year will be the water catchment system. And that about sums it up in the garden. And really for our Mabon celebration and activities as well. I'm sure I'll get this recorded and then I'll think of something else that we're doing that I wanted to share with you all. If I do, I'll post it to Instagram.

What are your traditions for Mamon? How do you celebrate the Witch's Thanksgiving? Do you include other family members? I'd love to hear. Reach out via the website or Instagram to share. And if you're in the Inner Circle membership, check out the mamon hashtag on the Discord server to see what others have shared and join the conversation with your ideas, tips and tricks

this month. In addition to the monthly content drops for Inner Circle members, I'm sharing a mamon themed three day experience. It's designed to help you connect deeply with the energies of Mabon and engage in meaningful practices that honor the season. Unlock rituals and spells, enjoy delicious recipes and easy herbal preparations, along with daily tarot spreads.

I'm releasing that today, to allow you time to look over the suggested activities and plan ahead. Do as much or as little each day as feels comfortable, or spread it out over the course of the week. However, the magic is most potent when performed each day as written. You'll feel the power of Mabon season building within you.

Again, that is exclusive content for Inner Circle members for about the cost of two cups of coffee a month. You can gain access to that and the entire Wind Moon Magic archive of courses, workshops, and events, as well as those monthly content drops.

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Remember, if you're hungry for more knowledge and eager to dive deeper into the craft, I invite you to visit my website, windmoonmagic. com. That's magic with a K. There you'll find the show notes for this episode, along with a treasure trove of free resources. Also consider joining me in the Inner Circle.

Inside this membership, you'll gain access to over 22 courses and growing, covering a wide range of topics in modern witchcraft, magic, and herbalism. To stay connected with me and receive updates, inspiration, and glimpses into my journey, follow me on Instagram, @wind_moon_magick, remember that's magic with a K, and underscores between each word.

As we bid farewell for now, I want to express my deepest gratitude to each and every one of you for joining me on this extraordinary adventure. Your support and presence mean the world to me.