| The Lore and Stories of Mabon |
The main qualities of Mabon are:
The harvest : reaping what we sow, grapes becoming wine, giving the God and Goddesss thanks for all they have bestowed upon us, not just the food, but everything we have,
The Equinox : equal hours of light and dark, in the ancient world the equinoxes were seen as a battle between light and dark, and in this case the dark wins. Not neccessarily evil, just a period of rest, death, ect. and
the beginnings of winter : the plants are almost all harvested, the animals are fattening up and in some cases preparing to hibernate. Ancient cultures created many myths surounding the beginning of winter : |
Persephones descent into Hell : Persephone, daughter of Demeter, Goddess of the Earth, and the fields. was picking flowers in a field one day when Hades, God of the Underworld saw her, and was mesmerized by her beauty. He rode up in his chariot, kidnapped her and brought her back to his kingdom. Demeter was so saddened by her daughters dissappearance that the Earth and the feilds began to die. People began to starve. Zeus (father of the Gods) told Demeter she had to do her duty and help the fields grow, but she refused and said nothing on Earth would grow until she had her daughter back. Zeus went to Hades and demanded Persephone back, Hades refused, saying that Persepone had eaten half a pomegranate, and the law(which even the Gods had to follow) said that no person who ate the Food of the Dead could ever leave. Foretunatley for the Earth since Persephone had only eaten half it, Zeus was able to bend the laws and Persephone could return for half the year, the other half had to be spent with Hades (who by this time had become her husband). When Persephone returned Demeter's grief left her and the fields bloomed, and when the six months were up and Persephone had to return her grief made the plants die, and we have fall and winter.
Mabon and Madron : Mabon was the son/Sun, and Madron his Mother (Mother Goddess). He dissappears at Mabon and His Mother seeks the four corners of the Earth, for she must find him by Yule, or the Sun will not return.
Canadian Thanksgiving : Although it's not technically Mabon, the Canadian thanksgiving started out as a folk festival, and wasn't made a legal holiday until 1957. It also commerates giving thanks to the Gods ( however we may name or envision them) and to the land. In fact the Canadian festival was brought over by the European settlers, so in a way it's the new world take on Mabon.
Harvest Moon : the Moon nearest Mabon is the Harvest Moon. It is also the point when the moon is closest to the Earth, and therefore brighter. Which must be very helpful to the farmers working long into the night to bring in the crops |
Superstition
a hard apple skin means a hard winter
|
|
