Mabon

What is Mabon?

Mabon (pronounced may-bon) is the newest name on the Wheel. It was given to the autumn equinox in the 1970s, borrowed from Mabon ap Modron, a figure from Welsh legend. The celebration behind it is far older: harvest home, the feast of the second harvest, when fruit was gathered in and thanks was given.

It is a time for gratitude and for balance, for enjoying the abundance of the season while making ready for the longer nights ahead.

Harvest traditions in Ireland

In Ireland the harvest was a season, not a single day, stretching from the first grain at Lughnasadh to the final gatherings at Samhain. The last sheaf cut was often plaited into a harvest knot and kept in the house over winter for luck, and the workers were thanked with a harvest feast.

At Loughcrew in County Meath, the autumn equinox sunrise shines into Cairn T, a passage tomb in the tradition of Newgrange, and lights up the carved stones inside, just as it does at the spring equinox in March.

Ways to mark Mabon at home

• Write a gratitude list

  Everything the year has given so far, big and small.

• Bake with apples

  A crumble or a loaf, with windfalls if you can find them.

• Walk among the turning leaves

  Gather a few for the table while they’re still bright.

• Welcome the longer evenings

  Light the first candle of autumn as the sun sets earlier.