Mabon


With clouds overhead and more rain today, I am most aware that the promise of Fall is just around the corner. As I savor the last of summer, I await the Fall with eager anticipation. Fall is my favorite season. It's a natural for me since I was born on Mabon. I started putting Summer to rest yesterday, doing some final harvests before I pull my plants. The herbs are still doing well as are my fairy gardens. I hope to bring both of my fairy gardens inside for the winter to put in my garden room. I harvested basil and made a nice pesto to enjoy before we head out to California. so many of the leaves were damaged but I decided to dry them to use for magical purposes. I will do the same with the mint, lemon balm and lemon verbena.
Today I have decorated the mantle with leaves, ravens, owls and candle jars. I will add some tiny pumpkins when they are available. My harvest wreath and Celtic knot doormat are out on the front porch. So often in the past I have bypassed Mabon in terms of decorating, and gone straight to Samhain, which is my favorite holiday. In the past few years as my magical practice has grown, I have made it a point to do something with every holiday, however, as much as I have come to appreciate and be fully in the moment of each season, the dark side of the year calls to me still. Some people associate the dark side of the year with isolation, cold and perhaps a touch of loneliness. I see this time of year as a season of both going inside for inner dialogue and also a season of celebration with friends as gatherings become a festive time against the cold the the outside.  Dinner parties, game nights, movie nights, Samhain parties, Yule. The dark side of the year is a great time to snuggle down and escape into a good book, knit a warm wooly sweater or scarf, sip hot chocolate or Irish coffees, bake, cook stews, chili, pot roasts & soups.

For me fall means:
Apples & apple crisp
cinnamon as a scent and in my coffee
chili
Harry potter movies
Halloween movies and witchy TV shows (this year I have "Beautiful Creatures" in my collection, next year I will have City of Bones as well)
raking leaves
pumpkins
pumpkin pie
apple pie
decorating for Samhain both inside and out
witches ball
witches tea
ravens
spicy teas served hot with honey
re reading Halloween books I have collected over the years
knitting and cross stitching spooky things
I carry the spirit of Owl, Deer and Raven with me always, but during the dark side of the year, the spirit of Raven is prominent in my thoughts. The raven as messenger and totem is a reminder that those around you are reflecting back at you the things you most have to learn about yourself.
"Know that when Raven appears that magic is imminent. Raven is about rebirth, recovery, renewal  recycling and certainly reflection and healing. He signifies moving through transitions smoothly by casting light into the darkness."

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