Correspondences
Activities and Rituals: Celebration of the Second Harvest, ritual sprinkling of leaves, protection, prosperity, security, and self-confidence. Also those of harmony and balance the Mysteries, Equality
Incense: Autumn blend made by combining: benzoin, myrrh, and sage, also these incenses separately
Stones/Gems Sapphire, lapis lazuli, and yellow agates.
Colors Red, russet, maroon, brown, gold, scarlet, purple
Symbols & Decorations acorns, Indian corn, wine, gourds, pine cones, acorns, grains, grapes ,corn, apples, pine cones , pomegranates, vines such as ivy, dried seeds, dried leaves , dried flowers, and horns of plenty.
Herbs, plants and flowers: Acorn, benzoin, ferns, grains, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, myrrh, passionflower, pine cones, rose, sage, Solomon's Seal, tobacco, thistle, vegetables , wheat
Foods Breads, grains, seeds, dried fruits and beans, baked squash, nuts, apples, pomegranates, and vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and onions, wine
Deities Goddesses-Modron, Morgan, Epona, Persephone, Pamona, Bona Dea, Land Mother
and the Muses Gods-Mabon, Thoth, Thor, Hermes, Sky Father, and The Green Man.
Mabon Prayer
--Adapted by Akasha Ap Emrys
Autumn colors of red and gold
As I close my eyes tonight
Such a wonder to behold
I feel the God/dess hold me tight
Watch leaves turning one by one
Though it grows dark, I shall not fear
Captured bits of Autumn Sun
For Divine Love protects all here
Soon they'll fall and blow away
Through the night, until the morn
The golden treasures of today
When the shining Sun's reborn
When the trees are bare
Time to sleep, time to dream
And the ground grows cold
Till warm gold rays upon me stream
These warm memories
I'll still hold.
Activities for Mabon
Do a thanksgiving circle, offering thanks as you face each direction -- for home, finances, and physical health (North); for gifts of knowledge (East); for accomplishments in career and hobbies (South); for relationships (West); and for spiritual insights and messages (Center).
Dip colorful leaves in melted paraffin wax for altar decorations that may be enjoyed even after the celebration or attach to a wreath for your head
Make a dried leaf mobile
Make wine
Take a walk in a wild place with your family or circle members; Sing songs and talk about all the things you've done over the summer and spend time discussing other things you've done together in the last year; gather wild seeds and seed pods to decorate your circle for ritual.
Gather dried leaves, herbs, plants, seeds and seed pods
Scatter offerings in harvested fields
Offer libations to trees
Have a potluck feast with a group of friends and loved ones to celebrate the abundance of the season. **see our recipe section for a great Pot Roast recipe!**
Adopt someone in a nursing home. As a family, take your special person baked goodies and colored pictures. Read them books or tell them stories.
Walk around your neighborhood picking up garbage. Do what you can to improve your home and prepare for winter.
Pick a subject that interests the whole family. Go to the library or find other resources and study that subject. Together, share what you've learned.
Cut an apple in half to show the star inside. This is a reminder that all life is renewed in some way. ***see our craft section below for a printing project!***
Bake cored apples filled with butter and cinnamon as a special treat. **see our recipe section for a great recipe!**
Create decorations for your front door out of colored leaves, pine cones, nuts, acorns and Indian
Corn bundles.
Honor the birds and small animals in the wilderness or by your home by making a bird feeder filled with seeds and grain. **see our craft section!**
Make rattles out of empty gourds and sunflower seeds or seeds collected from nature walks. Use the rattles to make music or scare away bad dreams.
Look at your family habits and figure out what you can do to improve your conservation habits. Can you use less water or recycle more of your garbage?
Go through your garden, tending it, thanking the plants and flowers for their abundance, harvesting whatever is ready-try collecting seeds of non-hybridized plants for next year
Make a mandala of seeds and grains on the ground, an offering of the Mother's gifts to the animals and birds; infuse it with specific magick that will be released as the seeds are consumed or scattered- **see out pagan kids coloring pages for some wonderful Madala coloring pages that will give you wonderful ideas! ***
Share your abundance...collect a basket of goodies from your garden or pick up a few extras when shopping at a local farmer's market to share with a neighbor who has no garden, or who has had a rough year; gather donations of food and/or clothing for a favorite charity.
Arrange baskets of fresh fruit and baked goods for friends or family
Fill a basket with pine cones, fruits, colorful dried leaves, wheat, acorns, and fallen pine branches and leave it by your altar or door
Cook up a Mabon soup with carrots, onions, potatoes, radishes, and/or corn **see our recipe section for a great recipe!**
Crafts
Easy Bird Feeders
Pine Cones rolled in peanut butter and then in bird seed or sunflower seeds
Animal Brethren
Materials:
An apple, paring knife, lemon juice, whole cloves, pencil, jar, glove, felt scraps, glue.
Peel the apple and remove some of the core from the bottom. (Parents) To carve the animal's face, cut two holes for the eyes, slice two triangle flaps for the ears, cut a deep "X" for the nose and mouth, and some shallow slits for whiskers. Soak the apple in the lemon juice for about 15 minutes, then remove to a paper towel to dry. Insert cloves into the eye holes. Push the pencil into the bottom of the apple, and set it in a jar to dry. To hasten drying process, a food dehydrator works great! As the apple dries, lift the ears so they dry upright. When the head has dried, use the glove and felt scraps to make the body. Glue on markings and paws. Cut off the middle finger of the glove, and drop the pencil through it, with the head attached. Have the child grab the pencil with their 3 middle fingers, while using the thumb and pinkie for the animal's forelegs. ( Discuss the habits of different animals during the winter months. Explain why we leave bird food and other tidbits out for our winged and furry brothers.)
Woodsy Flower Vase
Materials:
¼ inch diameter sticks, scissors, an empty plastic (p-butter) jar, 2 thick rubber bands, ribbon, glue, and pine cones.
Break or snip sticks to about 1in. longer than jar. Place rubber bands around jar, 1in. from top and 1in. from bottom. Tuck the sticks under the rubber bands, placing them together as close as possible. Once the jar is surrounded by sticks, push the rubber bands to the center of the jar and cover with autumn colored ribbon. Ribbon can be tied into a bow. Glue on a few pine cones and fill the vase with flowers. (While hiking and looking for sticks, explain why fallen sticks are more Earth friendly, but if live branches are needed, to take only what is needed and thank tree for gift.)
Harm None Paper Bouquets
Materials:
Autumn colored tissue paper, scissors, crayons, and pipe cleaners.
For each flower cut eight 3-1/2 in. squares. With side of crayon color down 2 opposite sides on each square. Lay on flat surface with colored sides at top and bottom. Start folding from the top, like a paper fan. Each pleat should be approx. 1/2in wide. For the stems, bend a pipe cleaner 1-1/2in. from one end to form a hook. Place the pleated squares in a stack, and place the stack in the hook. Twist the hook around the stem. To open flower to full bloom, twist the petals a half-turn near the stem. (Thank children for beautiful vase of flowers that can be used on your alter for the Mabon ritual, and later a table center piece.)
Make Leaf Prints
Gather fresh leaves together. Have the children paint one side, then print that side down on paper. You may also wish to have them make leaf rubbings with the leaves-you can make it a dual activity by using the leaves for rubbings first and then painting and printing with them afterward. If you use large sheets of paper or newspaper roll ends (available in almost every newspaper office) the children can make wrapping paper. Another great item to print with is an apple that is cut to show the star inside. Printing can be done with any tempera paint.
Make Wax Paper Leaf "Sun Catchers"
Have the children sprinkle crayon shavings between two pieces of wax paper. Put this between two brown bags. Have an adult iron on a very low temp. to melt wax paper together. Make a construction paper frame. Hang in window.
Make a Place Mat
Materials:
Dried Leaves, flowers and seeds that are flattened
Clear contact paper
large sheet of construction paper or poster board cut to approx. 12x18 inches
white or stick glue
Have children place leaves, flowers and seeds on the paper of choice and glue into place with a very small amount of glue. Use only as much as is necessary to hold items in place. Help them to cut contact paper to the same size as the paper used and cover by placing over the top of design. These are very long lasting-especially if you coat the back of the place mat as well. Children may wish to also decorate the back in the same manner or perhaps draw a picture and incorporate the dried items into it. Let their imaginations take flight! J
Story
Meagan's Mabon
by Kathryn Dyer Copyright 1996
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Meagan. She lived with her Mommy and daddy, her big brother Corwin and her beautiful cat named Starweaver. It was a cool day. The leaves had started to change color. Meagan walked home looking at all the pretty colors. She was wearing the new sweater that her Nana had made for her. Meagan sighed. Her brother had gotten his cast off of his arm. But he still didn't seem to want to play with her. Meagan wished that things would go back to being the way they were before he broke his arm.
Suddenly Meagan saw a flash of color at the door to her house. She looked closer and started running. It was her best friend Cindy! "Hey!" she called out. Cindy turned around and grinned. "Guess what?" asked Cindy. Meagan stopped by her panting, "You haven't got a cold anymore." Cindy giggled, "Yeah, but that's not all. My mom said that I can go with you to pick apples at Jeremy and Sybil's farm!" "Yay!!" shrieked Meagan. She and Cindy started jumping up and down and dancing around. She had been looking forward to picking apples but it would be even more fun having Cindy with her. Especially since Corwin wasn't paying attention to her.
The two girls went inside the house. Meagan's father smiled as they walked past him chatting about how many apples they were going to pick. "My Nana said that she'd help teach me to make applesauce and apple butter," said Meagan, "Then we can have them for Mabon." Cindy frowned, "Which one is that?" They sat down on Meagan's bed. "Mabon is when we celebrate the second harvest." "Huh?" said Cindy, "I know that a harvest is when you bring the crops in on a farm but I didn't know that there was more than one." Meagan nodded, "Yeah, remember I told you how Lammas is the grain harvest?" Cindy nodded. "Well," continued Meagan, "Mabon is when you harvest the fruit, like apples. And then Samhain is when you harvest the meat if you eat meat. 'Cus you have to choose how many animals you can feed through the winter." Cindy looked puzzled, "But we don't have to do that anymore." Elizabeth appeared in the doorway, "That's right Cindy, but we still celebrate many of the holidays that our ancestors did. But Mabon is also one of the two equinoxes. That's a day when the sun is up just as long as it's down. But I didn't come in here to lecture. Would you two like to come help me make cookies for Mabon?"
The girls jumped off of the bed and went into the kitchen with Elizabeth. They laid out the ingredients and began making cookies. They rolled out the dough and used the special cookie cutters. They had a stag for the North, an eagle for the East, a lion for the South and a dragon for the West. They also had a star, a sun and a moon. Cindy looked through the rest of the cookie cutters. "Hey, here's an apple! Wouldn't that be good for Mabon too?" Elizabeth nodded, "Yes, you're right. And we have a pumpkin cutter you can use too." Everyone worked busily making the cookies. Soon Meagan looked at her mother, "Mom? How come Corwin is such a grouch lately?" Elizabeth set the timer and put a tray of cookies into the oven. "Well," she said, "your brother is going through some changes right now. His body is changing and so is his life. How he sees things. How he relates to people and what they expect of them. So he has lots of stuff to deal with right at the time his body is changing which makes it that much harder. You'll understand better when your body starts changing more. Try to give him some space. Once he works things out he'll be able to be your favorite brother again."
"He's my only brother!" laughed Meagan, "He'd better be my favorite!" Elizabeth smiled at her. "I remember my cousin Lisa getting really weird when her body started getting to be like a grown-ups," said Cindy, "I hope I don't get like that." Meagan nodded, "Me too!" she said. "Well," said her mother, "it helps if you know what is going on inside. And remember, you can always go talk to a grown-up, even if it isn't me or your father. You should never try to keep everything inside. If it's inside too long it might burn, like those cookies will if we don't get them out soon!"
Soon it was time to go to the farm to pick apples. Meagan and Cindy had a good time. They were made the official apple inspectors since they were still too young to climb the ladders. Sybil had even made them buttons to wear on their coats. They checked all the apples for worm holes. The apples that didn't pass inspection went into baskets that went to the animals on the farm. Some other apples had started to rot or had other damage. They put these into another basket to go to the compost pile. When all the apples had been picked they divided them up. Jeremy and Sybil got the most because it was their farm, but everyone got at least some apples to take home with them. When Meagan and Cindy got back home, Meagan's Nana was already there, ready to teach them to make applesauce and apple butter. They worked so long that Elizabeth called Anna and got permission for Cindy to spend the night.
The next day Meagan and Cindy carefully packed some jars of the applesauce and apple butter for Cindy to take home with her. Elizabeth also let her have some of the cookies that they had made. They were just finishing when they heard Anna's car in the driveway. The girls rushed outside to put the packages in the car. "Hold up!" said Anna, "I've got a few things in the car that need to go inside." In her car she had some pretty gourds. Meagan hadn't known that gourds could come in that many colors. She waved good-bye to her friend and went back inside with the gourds.
It wasn't very long before it was time for the Mabon celebration. Meagan put on warm clothes under her robe. She helped lay out gourds and grapes and apples on the Altar and around the Circle. She felt a little better after talking to her mother about Corwin and he wasn't acting so weird either. Someone lit the candles and the Coven members began chanting. After Circle was over Meagan wasn't very tired so she helped clean things up. But soon she began yawning. It was time to go to bed. She picked up Starweaver and went to her room. She got ready for bed and was just about to snuggle under the blankets when Corwin put his head in the room. "Hey Sis," he said, "sweet dreams." "You too," replied Meagan and she went to sleep. It had been a good day.
Recipes
