It is the time of the Autumn
Equinox or Mabon and the harvest is winding down. The fields are nearly empty, because the
crops have been plucked and stored for the coming winter. Mabon is the mid-harvest festival and it is
when we take a few moments to honor the changing seasons and celebrate the
second harvest. On or around September
21, for many Pagan and Wiccan traditions it is a time of giving thanks for the
things we have, whether it is abundant crops or other blessings.
The holiday of the autumnal equinox is a Pagan ritual of thanksgiving
for the fruits of the Earth and a recognition of the need to share them to
secure the blessings of the Goddess and the God during the coming winter
months. After the Autumn equinox the Oak
King slowly begins to regain his power as the Sun begins to wane.
Activities: Wine Making, Adorning Graves, Community, Dancing
Animals: Dogs, Wolves, Birds of Prey, Squirrel
Attunement Teas(Individually
or Blended): All Berries, Grape Drinks, Heather, Hops, Sassafras
Colors: Brown, Orange, Violet, Maroon, Russet, Deep Gold
Deities: Wine Deities, Aging Deities, Crop Deities
Foods: Wine, Grapes, Nuts, Apples, Corn, Oats, Mead, From the Garden
Foods
Goddesses: Cessair (Welsh), Harmonica (Greek), Rennutet (Egyptian), Snake
Woman (Aboriginal), Epona (Celtic-Gaulish), Lilitu (Semitic), Modron (Welsh), The
Muses (Greek), Pamona (Roman), Sophia (Greco-Hebraic), Sif (Norse)
Gods: Dionysus(Roman), Great Horned God (European), Iacchus (Greco-Tuscan),
Hermes (Greek), Thoth (Egyptian), Thor (Norse)
Key Action: Give Thanks, Equality, Sharing, Veterans' Care
Meaning: Celebrating the Second Harvest, Balance, Honoring the Aging Deities,
Honoring the Spirit World, Darkness Overtaking Light, Celebration of Wine
Mythical Creatures: Andamans, Cyclopes, Gnomes, Gulon, Minotaur, Sphinx
Other Names: Second Harvest, Festival of Dionysus, Alban Elfed, Cornucopia,
Mabon
Plants: Vines, Ivy, Hazel, Cedar, Hops, Tobacco, Sage, Sunflower
Ritual Oils: Apple Blossom, Hay/Straw, Black Pepper, Patchouli
Stones: Amethyst, Yellow Topaz, Amber
Symbols: Grapes, Wine, Vines, Garland, Burial Cairns, Rattles, Horn of
Plenty, Indian Corn, Sun Wheels
Taboos: Passing Burial Sites and not honoring the dead
Autumn Song
Autumn´s Bliss tumbles to
the ground,
A floating leaf of Red,
Twisting and gliding a graceful dance
To furnish the land.
Acorns´ ripe prize, the golden fruit
feeds the land as it feeds the boar
Boar´s final sigh as the spear finds home,
We shall feast on his sweet flesh.
Rain from above with Thor´s sweet kiss
Drips from skeletal boughs
Drops into rivulets, rivulets to rivers, rivers to the ocean roar.
Hammer song cleanses the air.
A kiss of winter fills the nights air,
The teasing our cheeks with its cold breath.
The fire warms our hearts as
The Ice is kept at bay a little longer.
The folk sing strong and proud
Of Summer´s adventures and heat´s demise
Let us gather tonight in frith and faith
The Harvest is in, and Winter draws nigh.
A floating leaf of Red,
Twisting and gliding a graceful dance
To furnish the land.
Acorns´ ripe prize, the golden fruit
feeds the land as it feeds the boar
Boar´s final sigh as the spear finds home,
We shall feast on his sweet flesh.
Rain from above with Thor´s sweet kiss
Drips from skeletal boughs
Drops into rivulets, rivulets to rivers, rivers to the ocean roar.
Hammer song cleanses the air.
A kiss of winter fills the nights air,
The teasing our cheeks with its cold breath.
The fire warms our hearts as
The Ice is kept at bay a little longer.
The folk sing strong and proud
Of Summer´s adventures and heat´s demise
Let us gather tonight in frith and faith
The Harvest is in, and Winter draws nigh.
~ Dana
Runkle
Tide of
Harvest
In this tide of Harvest, a
longing awakens in me
for the mad, cold, dark of winter's wailing winds,
belling like the hounds of the mythic hunt of old.
I grow fey in the season of reaping and cutting
and remember ancient days and dreams.
I am kin to another time and an older way.
I am the reaper, the scythe and the grain.
I am the vine, the grapes, and the knife.
I am the apple, the press and the cider.
I am the wealth of the land and the lash of the storm queen,
waiting.
for the mad, cold, dark of winter's wailing winds,
belling like the hounds of the mythic hunt of old.
I grow fey in the season of reaping and cutting
and remember ancient days and dreams.
I am kin to another time and an older way.
I am the reaper, the scythe and the grain.
I am the vine, the grapes, and the knife.
I am the apple, the press and the cider.
I am the wealth of the land and the lash of the storm queen,
waiting.
~ Laurel Mendes
A Crop Song,
for Sif and Thor
All through this summer's
run,
We children of the Sun
See gold wheat sway,
And we shall pray
For a rich harvest won.
May Sif, Thor's golden bride,
Bring us her fertile tide;
Her gilded bloom
We may consume,
New strenght to us supplied.
We children of the Sun
See gold wheat sway,
And we shall pray
For a rich harvest won.
May Sif, Thor's golden bride,
Bring us her fertile tide;
Her gilded bloom
We may consume,
New strenght to us supplied.
This god and goddess great,
Man's friend and gentle mate,
Let's honor now;
Their sacred plow
Brings food to our plate.
Man's friend and gentle mate,
Let's honor now;
Their sacred plow
Brings food to our plate.
Let's sing a song of praise,
And thankful voices raise,
Daughters of Sif,
For every sheaf
We gained in summer days.
And thankful voices raise,
Daughters of Sif,
For every sheaf
We gained in summer days.
O sons of Thor, rejoice
In merry solstice joys!
Thor's goats race by
Through yonder sky
Amidst his thunder's noise.
In merry solstice joys!
Thor's goats race by
Through yonder sky
Amidst his thunder's noise.
And after days all warm
Come wind and rain and storm,
Cold days draw near;
To bread and beer
Our harvest's now transformed.
Come wind and rain and storm,
Cold days draw near;
To bread and beer
Our harvest's now transformed.
So in the winter's reign,
To those who gave us grain,
To Thor and Sif
Bring gift for gift--
May plenty come again!
To those who gave us grain,
To Thor and Sif
Bring gift for gift--
May plenty come again!
~ Twa Raven Motifs
Vetrsongr
(Wintersong)
The bride of Báleygr
has given us
the bounty of her bosom;
summer’s work is ended,
the harvest has been reaped
we await the coming cold.
Let the strong mead
be set to age
within its oaken cask;
meats hung in the smokehouse,
fish be salted,
winter’s provision is set.
Time to give thanks and honor
to the Holy Powers
Gods and Elves and Wights;
time for kith and kin
together to feast
enjoying Jördh’s bounty.
has given us
the bounty of her bosom;
summer’s work is ended,
the harvest has been reaped
we await the coming cold.
Let the strong mead
be set to age
within its oaken cask;
meats hung in the smokehouse,
fish be salted,
winter’s provision is set.
Time to give thanks and honor
to the Holy Powers
Gods and Elves and Wights;
time for kith and kin
together to feast
enjoying Jördh’s bounty.
~ Hrapp R Normansson
Archaeology
Swords, stones and bones,
Coins, cloaks and combs,
Potshards and pollen
Are all we have left
Of our forefathers.
Coins, cloaks and combs,
Potshards and pollen
Are all we have left
Of our forefathers.
The songs that they sang,
The tales that they told
Are heard in no hall.
The tales that they told
Are heard in no hall.
Writings that were wrought
By the foes that they fought
Tell a false tale.
By the foes that they fought
Tell a false tale.
Brooches in bogs
Tell us the truth.
Tell us the truth.
Swords, stones and bones,
Coins, cloaks and combs,
Potshards and pollen
Are all we have left
Of our forefathers.
Coins, cloaks and combs,
Potshards and pollen
Are all we have left
Of our forefathers.
~ Vivian
Apple of my Eye
Apple of my eye.
Arrow in the night.
Arrow from my quiver.
Arrow from my quiver.
Star in my sky.
Second of seven in sight.
Second of seven in sight.
Little fish swim down ancestral river.
The Ladies whisper
The Ladies whisper
From that Weird Well,
"Wake the Gods, raise the banner."
"Wake the Gods, raise the banner."
Follow your sister,
Like Fetch in human shell.
Like Fetch in human shell.
Learn the sign of Red-Beard's Hammer.
Let it grow
Like our tree
Let it grow
Like our tree
Slowly and with patience.
Few will know
What you see,
Few will know
What you see,
Arrow of the Ancients.
~ Izak
Sample
For the Nordic, it is time for a Winter Finding ceremony to
bid farewell to the passing summer and to prepare for the rigors of winter. The
Norse, like the other pre-industrial societies of Europe, depended heavily on a
successful harvest in the fall to make it through the winter and so they took
this time to thank the Gods for all that had been given during the harvest and
to ask their protection during the cold of winter.
In some Germanic countries, people worried about the fate of
their grain harvest. If there was a
great deal of wind during the harvesting season, it could be because Odin
wanted a share of the crop. To keep him happy, a few spare sacks of flour were
emptied into the wind.
