30 Days of Witchcraft ~30-Day Challenge~Day 23 Mabon

We're going to wrap up the final week of our 30 Days of Witchcraft "Write Your Craft" challenge with the remaining Wheel of the Year, Starting with Mabon.

Mabon is considered a "Witchs' Thanksgiving" because it's our fall harvest celebration. It will peak Thursday, September 23, at 9:03 pm EST in the northern hemisphere. (Yes, you read that correctly, 8 days. See my post here for an explanation...kinda.)

It is the beginning of shorter days and longer nights (fall equinox), and a goodbye to those perfect days of the growing season. Just as the pilgrim and Native American story of celebrating a harvest Thanksgiving dinner and blessings together, so do we. WE celebrate and give thanks to The Green Man for the harvest. Offerings of fall ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time as well.

Mabon is a perfect time for looking back in the past year and considering blessings and what you have to be grateful for, how you have grown, and what you have reaped in your personal, family, work, and witchy life.

Correspondences for this sabbat:

Deities (across all Pantheons)

• Mabon
• Demeter
• Modron
• Persephone
• Lugh
• Ceres
• Dionysus
• Cernuous
• Thor
• Horned God.

Associated colors are the rich colors of fall. Some correspondences are:

• Brown - Security, Friendship, Generosity, Beginnings, Endurance, Strength, Focus, Concentration, Earth
• Violet - Security, Friendship, Generosity, Beginnings, Endurance, Strength, Focus, Concentration, Earth
• Red - Passion, Fire, Courage, Strength, Energy, Desire, Ambition, Confrontation, Motivation
• Orange - Happiness, Kindness, Relieving depression and abandonment, ceativity, self-expression, joy, fun, action, opportunity, celebration
• Gold - Masculine Divinity, Great Fortune, Abundance, Prosperity, Understanding, Solar/Sun Energy, Positive Attitude, Luxury

Stones and their energies are:

• Cornelian - Healing, Creative, Sympathetic
• Smokey Quartz - Potential, Beginnings, Change
• Yellow Agate - Protection, Peace, Healing

Herbs, Plants, & Spices relate to:

• Apple - Wealth, Prosperity, Divination, Love, Fertility, Beauty, Marriage, Soul, Afterlife, Immortality
• Cinnamon - Energy, Creativity, Aids with Financial Matters, Courage, Lust, Happiness
• Nutmeg - Fidelity, Luck, Well-being
• Sage - Purification, Repelling negativity, Wisdom, Intuition, Divination
• Vines - Longevity, Prosperity, Connection, Binding, Strength, Confidence in Self
• Oak - Strength, Protection, Money, Success, Fertility, Stability, Health, Healing, Potency and Good Luck

Food and Drink

• Red wine
• poultry
• fish
• squash
• melons
• vegetable stew

Animals

• Crow
• Owl
• Dog
• Wolf

Spells

• Ritual of Thanks
• Gratefulness of Blessings
• Cedar Blessing & Protection planks

Ways to Celebrate

• Volunteer at a soup kitchen.

• Donate canned food.

• Make stamping projects such as tote bags using an apple cut in half from top to bottom to show the five-pointed star in the center.

• Hold a family feast.

• Create gift baskets of baked goods, seasonal crops and wine or ale for friends and family.

• Fill a cornucopia with seasonal fruits and vegetables and place in the center of the family table.

• Visit a pick-your-own farm and gather apples and pumpkins.

• Make a centerpiece by filling a vase with wheat stalks, colored leaves and dry branches.

• Hang apples on a tree as natural bird feeders.

Now, if you have something specifically fall harvest to you, IT CORRESPONDS.

I read a Tumblr post once written by someone who lives in the dessert...I wish I could remember who! Anyway the writer said that prickly pear come into season in the fall and he or she used that in place of apples and apple cider, as it was a favorite and readily AVAILABLE. Prickly pear is resilient, hardy. Its a cactus so it's got protection and strength nailed too! The intent and availability works.

Remember: Intent over Requirement.

This means you don't have to have everything EXACT, use a suitable substitution for yourself and fill it with your intent. I also call it...

"YOU DO YOU!"