Happy Mabon

The Fall Equinox this year lands tomorrow, 9/22. For the past week I have already been feeling the energy shifts in the air. As it is in Wisconsin the night times are beginning to grow colder and the plants around the house are beginning to whither away. Mabon is traditionally known as the time of harvest. Back in the day you didn’t have 24 hour grocery stores. Instead you had to store as much food as you could for the coming winter months. Your survival truly depended on how well you had tended to your crops during the summer months.

These days you can buy fruits and vegetables any time during the year. You don’t have to look forward to a winter of pickled veggies and fruit jams, unless of course you want to. But even in our time of plenty our internal clock still changes with the seasons. We begin to crave less citrus fruits and more root vegetables with our meals. We begin to turn the air conditioning off and open the windows again. We begin cleaning, reorganizing, and purging out our homes and our lives to make room for what is to come in the winter.

Although the spring time is more famous for clearing out the dust and cobwebs of winter, fall too is here to clean out the stagnant air of summer.  During this time I recommend switching from the summer to winter wardrobe and clearing out any pieces that you really did not miss wearing. This is also a good time to mend any holes in jackets or buttons on shirts. Open your windows and give your house a good deep clean. I like to burn sage afterwards and finish off by throwing saltwater on any door and window frames to really cleanse the space.

I also love this time for sitting outside and feeling the crisp air beginning to roll through. You can find a tree to meditate under or simply walk barefoot in the grass and feel the changes in texture under your feet. During this time I love to journal not only about the things I learned during the months of summer but what I am looking forward to in this upcoming fall and winter. As we are nearing the end of the year you can look back on the intentions you set in the beginning and in what ways they have manifested around you. Take stock in all your successes and clear any hurt feelings about your failures. They allow us to learn after all. If we were successful at everything would life even be very fun?

Lastly, I advise you to sit. Find a place in your house that makes you feel at home. Make yourself your favorite drink and just sit and observe everything around you. If this season teaches us anything, it is how beautiful and precious life is. Take the time to appreciate it.