A Hearty Hello to Mabon and the Autumn Equinox
The Autumn Equinox, and the pagan Mabon, welcome Libra’s entrance, much to the delight of the pumpkin-spice obsessed cardigan creatures who have no sorrow for Summer-tide’s leave.
Marching off to school as a child, shy as could be, my nose in books about forest warriors, lost maidens, wizards in wild woods, I looked forward to the Change of Leaves. To golds, browns, chartreuse yellow-greens, reds, the depression of Swamp Ass no longer would have its lethargy-grip on my Southeastern city. That being said, it takes the region in which I reside some time to mature into Autumnal majesty… But what joy to simply reach a lovely steady high in the 70’s! A relief for our bones, worn by humidity and hellfire, the (literal) breath of fresh air signifies a new beginning in itself. Mosquito, be gone!
Today, September 22nd, the Northern Hemisphere relishes in this balance. September holds Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot in the Jewish faith, the East Asian tradition of the Mid-Autumn festival and various Hindu, Zorastrian and Sikh dates of honor. Mabon as an Earth-based observation all relate to the agricultural turns of the seasons that affect humanity at large. Harvest brings winds of introspection, a pause for the close of one cycle to enter another.
This time frame tends to bring out the Hallmark hearth-hoe in hoards. Cinnamon, apples, hayrides, sweaters, Halloween. Thinking of the teen self, peacoats and first zines, Cocteau Twins daydreams, cramped clown car rides to coffee houses, cigarettes and chipped Chanel Vamp nails. Each rite of passage into Autumn adventures, onto the next chapter, there remains a rendering of renewal at the slightest hint of cooling. Soon, the roads will be picturesque with warm tones, only some evergreen and ivy an emerald depth in the forest’s contrast. Childhood aspirations well up after the Pisces Full Moon, reminders of what was and the inevitable gearing up to the mega-stress of holidaze, but the momentary magic that is the crisp of Fall seems to refresh us all.
