Mabon Incense by Pamela Jean De'Sherlia II

As the Wheel of the Year turns with each season, you may wish to use different types and scents of incense for your ceremonies and rituals. While incense isn't mandatory for a good ritual, it certainly can help to set the mood. To make your a blend of incense for Mabon, the autumn equinox, we'll be using scents that remind us of the fall season, and the second harvest of the year.
You can make incense with sticks and in cones, but the easiest kind uses loose ingredients, which are then burned on top of a charcoal disc or tossed into a fire. This recipe is for loose incense, but you can adapt it for stick or cone recipes if you wish.

As you mix and blend your incense, focus on the intent of your work. In this particular recipe, we’re creating an incense to use during Mabon. It’s a time to celebrate the season of balance and harmony, as well as the gratitude and thanksgiving of the harvest season.

You’ll need:
2 parts sandalwood
2 parts pine
1 part rosemary
1 part cinnamon
1 part dried apple
1 part dried oak leaf

Zucchini Augratin

Just in time for Mabon harvest.

2 zucchini sliced thin
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic minced (jar)
1/2 cup milk
sprinkle of Italian seasoning
1 cup cheese (I used both Mozzarella and mild cheddar)
1 tablespoon butter

In a saucepan sauté both the garlic and onion with the Italian seasoning until onion is opaque. The add the milk and zucchini and simmer 10 minutes until the zucchini is almost cooked.

Transfer into a baking dish and mix 1/2 the cheese into the zucchini mixture and top with the rest. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until it is hot and bubbling and cheese is a golden brown.

Serve hot. makes 4 servings

Mabon Cider

SOLITARY MABON / AUTUMN EQUINOX RITUAL

This Ritual is best performed during the early evening hours, just after Sunset, as this is the time of day which corresponds to the time of year. Sweep area, starting in the North and moving deosil, with your magickal broom to cleanse the Circle area and "sweep away" any lingering negative energies. Lay out the circumference of your Circle with cord, stones, etc., as necessary.

Set up the Quarter candles (North-Green, East-Yellow, South-Red, West-Blue) and/or other items
symbolizing the elements at the Four Quarters (use a compass if not permanently marked out). Set up your altar as desired, and face it to the North, covering it with the red altar cloth. Place all of the items listed below in their proper places upon it. For this ceremony, decorate the altar with the cornucopia filled with harvest items, and whatever else feels right. In addition to your usual tools and props, upon the altar should be:

Red or Brown Altar Cloth
Cornucopia filled with Fruits and Vegetables of the Harvest
A Red Apple
Boline or another Sharp Knife (for cutting the Apple)
Altar Pentacle or a Plate (to cut the apple on)
A Bell
A Second Wand decorated with Colored Ribbons
(to use in the Demeter/Persephone portion of the ritual)
A Wicker Basket (to carry the Decorated Wand in)
Incense - Any of the following either alone or mixed together to make an Autumn Blend:
Frankincense, Aloes Wood, Jasmine, Cinnamon, Musk,
Cloves, Benzoin, Myrrh, and Sage

When all is set up, take a shower or bath for purification and don your ritual robe or other ritual attire. Be sure to wear your magickal jewelry. Sit quietly and meditate for a little while - to ground and center before beginning the Ritual. When you feel ready to begin, play some quiet peaceful music for the ritual.

After the Circle is cast, begin the Mabon Sabbat Ceremony by sitting quietly for a few moments,
then say these words aloud in dedication:

"Lady Autumn, Queen of the Harvest,
I have seen You in the setting Sun,
with Your long auburn tresses
blowing in the cool air that surrounds You.
Your crown of golden leaves is jeweled
with amber, amethyst, and rubies.
Your long, flowing purple robe
stretches across the horizon.
In Your hands You hold the ripened fruits.
At Your feet the squirrels gather acorns.
Black crows perch on Your outstretched arms.
All around You the leaves are falling.
You sit upon Your throne and watch the dying fires
of the setting Sun shine forth its final colors in the sky.
The purple and orange lingers and glows
like burning embers.
Then all colors fade into the twilight.
Lady Autumn, You are here at last.
I thank You for Your rewards.
I have worked hard for these gifts.
Lady Autumn, now grant me peace and rest."

Sit quietly again and reflect on the meaning of the Autumn Season for a little while.

When you are ready, pick up your wand and hold it in your power hand, face the North and with
your arms outstretched (kneel or stand) and say:

"The Wheel of the Year turns on and on,
bringing us all to and from each Season,
and from and to another.
What will be is. What was will be.
All time is here and now in this Sacred Space.

I now pause to watch the Wheel turn
and cast this Circle on this blessed eve
to celebrate the Season of Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox -
the time of the Second Harvest.
In this moment between time,
I come to praise the bountiful aging Goddess
and Her consort, the God of the Harvest.
I wish to give thanks and feel myself
as a part of the relentlessly turning
wheel of life, death, and rebirth.

O Great God of Wine and the Harvest,
who has been known as Mabon, Dionysus, Bacchus, and Thor -
Grant me strength and understanding
throughout this season and always.

O Great Goddess of the Harvest and the Underworld,
who has been known as Demeter, Persephone, Modron, and Morgan -
Teach me the secrets of the Mysteries and the ways of magick."

Place your wand back in its place on the altar.

Spread your hands out over the Harvest Altar and say these words:

"The time of change is upon us again -
the Equinox comes, the Wheel turns...

The Goddess and the God prepare for
Their journey to the Otherworld,
as the Earth and all of Her children
prepare for the time of quiet and
reflection that lies ahead...

May I use this Autumnal period to
seek for the strength and power within
to assist me on my own quest for
vision, feeling, and peace...

May I see and feel the presence of
the Goddess and the God within,
though without,
the Earth begins Her slumber...

Keep me in Your light..."

Lower your arms and sit quietly meditating again for a while.

When you are ready, stand at your altar facing the North and raise your arms in greeting. Say:

"Between the worlds I build this sacred altar.
Outside of time, this rite leads to the ancient way.
Where I may find Demeter of high Olympus
And conjure magick great. Be here, I say."

Place the decorated wand in the wicker basket and carry it to the North. Say:

"Persephone returns to the Underworld.
Weep not, Earth Mother,
For the Divine Child of love is here."

Carry the basket to the East; say:

"Persephone returns to the Underworld.
Although the Light is fading,
It shall return to the Earth."

Take the basket to the South; say:

"Persephone returns to the Underworld.
The cold of winter comes,
But only for a short time."

Finish by carrying the basket to the West; say:

"Persephone returns to the Underworld.
The Earth shall lie in slumber
Until the Light of this Divine Child
Once more grows in strength and shines full upon us."

Place the basket on the floor before the altar. Ring the bell three times.

Take your boline in your power hand and the apple in the other. Say:

"Reveal to me your hidden secrets
That I may come to understand your sacred Mysteries."

Set the apple on the altar pentacle (or plate) and cut it crosswise (with the bolline) to reveal the
pentagram in the core. Contemplate this hidden sacred symbol for several moments. Then say:

"In life is death, in death life.
All must follow the sacred dance into the cauldron,
Time after time, to die and be reborn.
Help me to remember that
Every beginning has an ending
And that every ending has a new beginning."

Take a bite of the apple. What is left put outside later to share with the birds. Say:

"Holy Mother, Demeter,
Comfort and protect me in my times of tribulation.
Instruct me into the Mysteries.
You, with your daughter Persephone, have the power
To lead me to new understanding. "

Now is the time for meditation and any spellworkings you may need or desire to end your Sabbat
celebration. Appropriate Spellwork for Mabon include those for protection, wealth and prosperity,
security and spells to bring a feeling of self-confidence. If no spellwork is to be done at this time,
then proceed with the Cakes and Ale Ceremony, followed by Releasing the magic circle

Mabon - Autumn Equinox

For many it is just another day on the way to fall and the impending winter months. The crisp clean scent perminates int air we breath with a unique scent. The smell of Autumn. As we watch the leaves turn and fall, the weather getting a little cooler day by day, we are reminded that everything changes. Winter makes way for spring, spring makes way for summer, and summer is now making way for fall. We are always in a spiral ever moving, folding into it's self.

Autumn equinox is one of two days a year when the Northern and Southern hemispheres receive the same amount of sunlight, each receiving the same amount of light as they do dark. This is because the earth is tilted at a right angle to the sun, and the sun is directly over the equator. In Latin, the word equinox translates to "equal night."

Globally the idea of a harvest festival is nothing new. People have celebrated it for millennia, all around the world. In ancient Greece, Oschophoria was a festival held in the fall to celebrate the harvesting of grapes for wine. In the 1700's, the Bavarians came up with Oktoberfest, which actually begins in the last week of September, and it was a time of great feasting and merriment, still in existence today. China's Mid-Autumn festival is celebrated on the night of the Harvest Moon, and is a festival of honoring family unity. Lets not forget the pagans and later the wiccans who also honor this as a sabbat.

Some symbols of Mabon include:
•Mid-autumn vegetables, like squashes and gourds
•Apples and anything made from them, such as cider or pies
•Seeds and seed pods
•Baskets, symbolizing the gathering of crops
•Sickles and scythes
•Grapes, vines, wine
You can use any of these to decorate your home or your altar at Mabon.

Mabon is a time of equalizing. we clear our minds of the recent past, celebrate the end of harvest, and make way for the coming seasons. It is a time of winding down of going inward, reflection and apple crafts and magick are big at this time of year.