Autumn Equinox

We entered meteorological autumn on 1st September, even though with the weather the way it is, you’d think it was still summer. We are also approaching the Autumn Equinox, which is one of eight Pagan Sabbats.  Autumn Equinox is what I call the ‘autumn same day’ – a powerful balance between light and dark, and where the day and night are equal. This marks the coming of the winter, and the days growing shorter and the nights growing longer. It is a time of transition, when the Goddess transitions from the Mother to the Crone.

Many people call this Mabon, which is pronounced “may-bahn”. It is of Welsh origin, and the meaning of Mabon is “divine son”. Mabon is the Welsh god of youth and beauty. Mabon is the Welsh word for Autumn. It is derived from the Welsh word for youth, mab, and the word for son, bon. Mabon is also the name of a Celtic god of youth.

Mabon is also known as the second harvest, a time for gathering hearty foods like gourds, pumpkins, grapes and apples.  As such, the symbol of Mabon is the apple, which has a special place in in our work as when cut horizontally it reveals five points. These represent the elements of Earth, Fire, Air, Water with Spirit at the top. If you are like me, then you will be gathering lots of apples for preserving and use over the winter months. We love apples in our family and I have already gathered a fridge draw full.

A simple spell you can try when you are cutting up apples you have gathered. Select a whole apple, and place the knife at the top of the apple and close your eyes. Make a wish and cut through the apple, so that it is cut into two halves. If the knife has cut any of the seeds in half, then your wish will come true.

One of my favourite things to do with apples during Mabon is to make an apple crumble. Or two…

180g butter (either salted or unsalted)

180g caster sugar

180g plain flour

As many apples as you like

Ordinary sugar to add to the apples (This will be to your taste. If you are using desert or red apples you may not need this sugar at all)

Half a teaspoon cinnamon

Put the flour, caster sugar and butter into a bowl and mix together with your hands, giving thanks for everything your have. When done, the mixture should be crumbly when separated, but should stick if you clump it together.

Slice up the apples and place them into the bottom of the dish and sprinkle on the sugar and the cinnamon. Sometimes I put in other fruit here, such as blackberries that I have gathered and frozen from an earlier harvest. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top and place in the oven at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until you can see the crumble looking good enough to eat!

Mabon is usually celebrated between 20th and 24th September, with the Autumn Equinox in Crawley is Saturday, 23 September 2023, 07:50 BST.