The Solar Sabbats: Mabon
Around here, Mabon is a busy sabbat, one that focuses largely on preparation and gratitude.
Some of the practical activities we’ll be doing include:
Garden preparation—For Mabon, we clean out our garden beds, plant cover crops where appropriate, and tend to autumn crops like lettuce, spinach, and peas. Because we lost most of our spring-planted onions and garlic to aphids this year, we’ll also be planting fresh onion sets and garlic cloves in hopes of a spring harvest. This also includes bringing the patio plants back inside to avoid cold damage.
Household preparation—Mabon’s a good time to close storm windows, store patio furniture, and treat the house for all the insects who want to winter indoors (we use clove spray on doorways in window frames). We also set up our basement exercise areas with annual treadmill maintenance and by moving my bicycle onto the fluid trainer. Basement workouts aren’t nearly as satisfying as being outdoors, but they make spring ramp-ups easier.
Pet preparation—We have two garden cats, Rusty and Fanny, who need protection during the cold months. A few years back, Michael built our cat condo, a two-story house that sits on our back porch. We re-install their outdoor-safe heating pads, check the insulation, and set up their wind blocks. Rusty is an indoor/outdoor cat, so this year we plan to encourage her to spend more time indoors—at 12-years-old surviving an Indiana winter outdoors can be rough. Fanny is new to us this year and hasn’t been indoor socialized. Instead, we’re teaching her to be a shop cat. During particularly rough weather when a hot pad isn’t enough, she can stay in the shop.
Gathering seeds—I gather seeds throughout the summer, but Mabon is a great last chance to make sure I’ve collected everything I’ll need for next year. Look for some of the seeds I collected this year in next year’s seeds starter sets!
Canning and freezing—This year we didn’t plant any large tomatoes, only grape and pear types. Most years, however, I spend a day or two in September canning tomatoes in a hot water bath. If you have a pressure cooker, it’s also a good time for canning other vegetables and even soups for quick winter meals. Mabon is also a great time for freezing veggies like carrots, peas, and green beans.
Preparing for the Irvington Halloween Festival—We live in an area named for Washington Irving and well-known for its annual Halloween Festival. This will be the festival’s 78th year (2020 was the only one skipped), and Green Witch Vintage & Handmade has been fortunate to participate in in the past two years. It’s a long day and a lot of work but it’s delightful to meet so many local witches, pagans, and curious people. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend visiting the Irvington Halloween Festival—it’s loaded with crafters, food trucks, costumes, activities, and more new things every year.
On the spiritual side, we’ll be:
Updating the altar—During warm months, I keep fresh flowers on the altar and sprinkle petals all over. For the colder months, we’ll switch to leaves and dried flowers, maybe change up some of the tools and colors. For Mabon, we’ll burn some benzoin and honey amber resins in our cauldron.
Watch the sunrise and sunset—It’s a tradition at our house to spend time with the sun on equinox days, welcoming it, thanking it, and rejoicing in its return.
Enjoy the Harvest Moon—This year, the full moon will be on September 18, but that’s close enough to Mabon to be part of our celebration. It’s a great time to make moon water for the cold season.
Enjoy Mabon-correlated food—One of my favorites is bruschetta with homemade bread, garden tomatoes, and garden basil. It’s also a good time to enjoy grains (homemade bread) dried beans (chili!) and root veggies like beets, carrots, and potatoes. Check out last year’s Mabon mushroom barley recipe.
Give thanks—Mabon is heavily correlated with giving thanks—for the sun’s constant return, for food stores that will last until spring, and for everything good in our lives. It’s a great time for a gratitude meditation, focusing not on things to improve but things that are already positive.
Find balance—I’m always in search of balance (and rarely find it 😊), but the equinox is an excellent time to take stock and consider ways to even out my life balance.
How do you celebrate Mabon? Let us know!
