Hey all! As Mabon closes in on us, it’s time to start planning our Autumn rituals! Recently, someone asked me about a simple Mabon ritual utilizing the Goddess Brigid. (Thank you for the suggestion!)
To begin, what is Mabon?
An all-too brief synopsis is this: This is the holiday that represents the harvest and the start of autumn. In the Northern Hemisphere, this happens around September 21st. In the Southern Hemisphere, this would happen around March 21st. In a spiritual sense, this is a time of reaping the rewards of hard work and giving thanks for the blessings we’ve received. For Witches, with the New Year approaching at Samhain on November 1st, it gives us the opportunity to reflect on the lessons and blessings of the previous year and helps us begin brainstorming what we’d like to see happen in the next turn-of-the-wheel.
“Tokoroa (May 2012)” by rod.. from Hamilton, New Zealand – Tokoroa – perfect autumn colours!. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons
Brigid’s place at the Mabon ritual
Brigid’s season is the spring–and the early spring at that. She is associated with Imbolc, around February 1st, when the days start to become visibly longer and the first stirrings of thaw begin in parts of the world that receive a lot of snow and ice. Still, this does not mean that Brigid has no place in a Mabon ritual!
Has Brigid blessed you in the past year?
Have you been blessed with health, in the body or in the home? Have you been blessed with children? Have your projects taken off? Was due justice given to you? Were you healed from something that ails you, either in heart, mind, or body? Were you blessed with inspiration or innovation? Maybe you simply offered a prayer or intention to Brigid and felt comforted through doing so?
If so, or even if you simply just feel like working with Brigid in this one, the first part of a Mabon working is giving a bit of thanks.
Materials:
1 apple
1 cup of whiskey or black tea
1 red or orange candle
In your sacred space, light the red or orange candle and reflect on the blessings and lessons (even the tough ones!) you’ve received over the past year. Try to remember your life as it was a year ago. How are you stronger, more whole, more open than before?
Take the apple in your hands and while holding it, focus on all of the blessings and lessons you’ve already received. Those thoughts and reflections will make their way into the apple.
When you’ve finished your reflection, extinguish the candle and take the apple to a park or your yard and bury it. Pour the whiskey or tea over the place where you’ve buried the apple. The apple, being sacred to Brigid, will include Her in your Rite.
As you return the fruit to the Earth, reflect also on what the Earth has given you over the past year. How can you return a bit to the Earth other than the apple? Trash collection? Reducing a bit of driving? Less take-out? What can you do?
Mabon is a holiday of giving back. We’ve received a great deal at this point. Now, we offer thanks and as we’re able, giving back some as well.
Blessed Autumn!
Thank you Courtney. This is so lovely. My mom is going through chemo and doesn’t have the strength to do a more involved ritual which is why I asked if you had something simple. Based on your beautiful book I knew you could create a simplified ritual that would capture the essence of the holiday and the Goddess. Elaborate rituals are fun but you seem to have a gift of expressing the soul of the Holiday, the Goddess/God and the Witch with just a few items and the loving intent of the practitioner.
My mother is one example of many who desire and need the ritual but just aren’t capable of doing the involved expression of the circle any longer. You have a talent for addressing this. The heart and soul beats strong in the older witches, now all they need are simple, dignified rituals which allow them to fly again!!
Blessings, Yvette & Judie