Hello Beautiful Souls,
The fall harvest season is my favorite time of year. The festivals and celebrations are so beautiful and have wonderful foods, traditions and rituals. It is a season of dualities, celebrating the bounty of what you’ve reaped this year while moving into the season of death. It is a time to shed what no longer serves you, bad habits, old ways of thinking, poor attitudes, old wounds etc., and move into a time of winding down and preparing for winter. After the last harvest festival for the season at Samhain, we move into winter, preparing for nesting, a time of deep healing and rest. There are different rituals and blessings done with offerings to nature and the Gods at this time of year.
This is the time of year farmers plow their fields, gather the seeds and store them for planting in the springtime. Grains are a representation of the God. He dies and goes back to the earth to be born again at Yule. We make bread from the grain so that his sacrifice nourishes us throughout the winter months. His energy merges with ours and we carry a piece of the God with us. There is a lot of history with this season on the God Mabon and Goddess Modron and their story. I hope you take some time to go read up about it. I won’t go into detail here today.
In the Northern hemisphere we will start to see the colors of nature turn to reds, oranges, yellows and browns. The days get shorter and the nights longer, and we feel the energy start to change. I live in California, so we don’t get a real autumn seasonal change. However, I can feel the energy of the season change, and I notice the light of the day changing. I would like to share some things I like to do, and maybe you will enjoy them too. You can do these things to connect into the spirit of the season and tune in with nature no matter where you are.
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- Make a nature mandala – You can do this in your yard, at a park, or go on a hike. Take a small basket or bag with you. You will look for fallen leaves, loose sticks, fallen flowers, pinecones, acorns, rocks, or anything else you come across that won’t harm the plants and trees in the environment – as in, don’t pick a flower to use in in your mandala. Find a spot to arrange your found items in a pattern that pleases you. Offer thanks and express gratitude for the gifts you found at the end and leave it for the spirits.
- Bird feeders – Do you remember making bird feeders out of pinecones when you were a kid? I did and it was well received by the wildlife. Keep one of the pinecones you found when you made your mandala. Cover it in a salt free organic peanut butter and roll it in bird seed then hang it from a tree in your yard. Set out a little bowl of unsalted sunflower seeds for the squirrels.
- Apples – If you can make it to an apple orchard and pick your own apples it is a fun experience to do. Make your own apple cider when you get home. Bake a pie and carve words of blessings into the crust or a protection symbol. Put an apple on your altar or do an apple spell.
I hope you take the time to do something small for Mabon. If nothing else have a cup of black tea with cinnamon, orange, and anise and if you have a deck of tarot or oracle cards try this spread out. You only need 15 or 20min and a journal.
Here is a spread from Jess Carlson’s E-book on Mabon. I highly recommend checking out her website and her blog. She is an amazing tarot card reader and one of my teachers. www.JessCarlson.com
- What is burning within you right now?
- What needs to be washed away to manifest it?
- What do you need to remain grounded?
- What are the winds of change blowing in?
Use this spread to get more clear on exactly what you need right now. This is
great when you feel a sense of urgency or a calling within you, but you can’t seem
to put your finger on what it is or how to work with it.
I know you’ve heard this before but it cannot be said enough. So take the time to be with your loved ones and friends. Do not take for granted the time you have with them. You never know when they will go. Be well on your journey.
Love and light,
Shara
