Autumn Equinox / Mabon Ritual

21st or 22nd September

 

Welcome to our Mabon Ritual.

 

Please turn off or silence all mobile phones.

 

Equipment Required

 

· Altar candles

· Quarter candles and apples to mark the circle

· Lighter

· Simple feast – harvest fruits and nuts, Spiced Berry cordial or mulled wine or mead

· Acorns and scraps of paper 

· Cauldron or fire-proof bowl

· An autumn incense

 

Preparation:

 

Take two branches from the garden, or fallen ones found locally. Create some strips of paper for writing on. Also find some yarn or thread in autumn colours and cut it into enough 6″ long pieces to fasten all the items to the branch.

At the beginning of the ritual, set up the quarter candles and symbols of the elements of the quarters.  Place the apples around the edge of the circle. Decorate the altar and add the candles. Place the branches in the middle of the altar with the cauldron in front. Place the items for the feast to one side.

Hand out pieces of paper.  Ask all present to think about the things they have finished in the past year, or decided not to finish.  Write these on the paper.

 

The Ritual:

 

High Priest casts the circle, leaving a doorway in the NE.  Invite all to enter, then close the doorway.

Call the quarters (E, S, W – whoever is standing there, N – High Priest.  High Priestess lights the candles):

East: Guardians of the watchtowers of the east, guardians of Air, I do summon, stir and call you to witness these rites and guard this circle, for as I breathe and think, we are kith and kin! I bid you Hail and Welcome. (Light candle.) I call upon the light and air at the east to illuminate and enliven this circle.

South: Guardians of the watchtowers of the south, guardians of Fire, I do summon, stir and call you to witness these rites and guard this circle, for as I consume life to live, we are kith & kin! I bid you Hail and Welcome. (Light candle.)  I call upon the light and fire at the south to illuminate and warm this circle.

West: Guardians of the watchtowers of the west, guardians of Water, I do summon, stir and call you to witness these rites and guard this circle, for as I feel and my heart beats, we are kith & kin! I bid you Hail and Welcome. (Light candle.) I call upon the light and water at the west to illuminate and cleanse this circle.

High Priest – North: Guardians of the watchtowers of the north, guardians of Earth, I do summon, stir and call you to witness these rites and guard this circle, for as I have body and strength, we are kith & kin! I bid you Hail and Welcome. (Light candle.)  I call upon the light and Earth at the north to illuminate and strengthen this circle.

Call Goddess & God: 

High Priestess – Hail to the elementals at the four quarters! Welcome Our Lady & Lord to this rite! I stand between the worlds with love and power all around!

Tribe of the Hundred Wells poem:

(This is a poem that was written by one of the groups founders and is often included within our rituals. Feel free to use this or substitute your own verse.)

Across the landscape there are many wells and springs,

Each one an opening into Nature’s mysteries,

From which we draw healing, inspiration and transformation.

Each one of us is a wellspring to ourselves and to each other,

Where we draw from the depths of our soul

The constant learning and discovery of life.

High Priest – We come before you, the Goddess and the God, as the wheel of the year turns to the time of the autumn equinox once more. Green Lady, the earth has been weighed down with the bountifulness of your great harvest. Horned God, your creativity has brought forth the burgeoning fruits of nature that we see all around us. Your joining has produced the harvest; may it nourish and sustain all living creatures through the coming time of darkness and winter.

High Priestess – Many things have happened in the past spring and summer, and many more will come in the autumn and winter. We stand in this place as the year balances between the dark and light, and we look back and remember, look forward and plan, and balance the dark and light in our lives.

All hold the pieces of paper in their hands.

High Priest – The tree this paper was made from was grown in the time that is now past. It lived through the events that happened in that time. 

High Priestess – While thinking in the coming weeks, may we remember the past, and consider the present and the future, which are represented in all living things as they continue on the cycle of the ever-turning wheel.

High Priest – We look back as the past returns to our minds. We think of the things we have completed and give thanks for them.  We offer them up as a harvest of our creativity.  To make space for the future, let us clear away the events of the past.

Use an altar candle or taper to set them alight and burn them in the cauldron.  The ashes are scattered on the ground after the ritual.

All hold the acorns in their hands. 

High Priestess – You have left the tree you grew on but you live and work in this ritual. You will go back to the earth to be reborn in the time that is coming. In the future you will help other beings to live in the ever-turning cycle of life, death and rebirth.

High Priest – We see the things begun.  We give thanks for them and we hope for their continuing. We look forward as the future beckons with the coming time of introspection and continued inner growth. We see the things planned and look for the things not yet planned. 

High Priestess – We give thanks for the things that are planned and look forward to beginning their creative cycle. We also think on the things that are not yet planned and hold ourselves open to new possibilities, in the knowledge that we have made space for their existence.

Take the acorns and imbue them with your thoughts for the future.  Drop them at your feet.

High Priest – The warm time is passing, when the green earth’s creatures basked in the golden light of the sun. We remember times of bustling activity spent in the outer world of sunlight, and times of quiet exploration spent in the inner world of mind-light.

High Priestess – The cold time is coming, when the warm burrows of bed and fire-side beckon. We look forward to times of pensive and joyous reflection in the warmth of flickering candlelight, and busy activity in the safety and shelter of home.

All repeat:

Lady of life, Lord of the Harvest,

May I listen for and hear you,

May I look for and see you,

May I reach for and touch you,

May I wait for and find you.

Teach me what I need to know, and what I am now ready to know.

Your blessings are abundant, bless me abundantly. 

I accept your bountiful gifts with joy and humility.

Dedication of ritual tools: …

(We included a dedication ritual which I have not included here)

 

Renewal of Vows:

 

(In our ritual the High Priest & High Priestess were to renew their handfasting vows. I have left these vows in as I feel it would be wrong to remove this section of the ritual.)

High Priestess:

Husband of my heart, I love you more than words can tell.

You are my sun, you are my moon; you light my world so well.

It seems a daily miracle you want to be with me.

From now until the end of life, I hope that this will be.

Before the Goddess and the God, my vows I now renew;

That while our love shall last, I will always be with you.

I swear by leaf and bud to stand

Heart to heart and hand in hand,

Your partner through both calm and strife,

Together through the tides of life.

 

High Priest:

Wife of my heart, I love you more than words can tell.

You are my moon, you are my sun; you light my world so well.

It seems a daily miracle you want to be with me.

From now until the end of life, I hope that this will be.

Before the Goddess and the God, my vows I now renew;

That while our love shall last, I will always be with you.

I swear by leaf and bud to stand

Heart to heart and hand in hand,

Your partner through both calm and strife,

Together through the tides of life.

With me as husband and you as wife.

 

(End of renewal of vows)

 

Bless the wine and cakes.

Pass the chalice and plate around the circle, giving some to all, offering some to the Goddess and the God.

 

Closing:

 

Thank the spirits of the quarters, and also the Goddess and God. Ask them to go if they must but stay if they will. Bid them all Hail and Farewell. 

High Priest – North: Guardians of the watchtowers of the north, guardians of Earth, we thank you for your presence in this circle.  Leave if you must, stay if you will.  We bid you Hail and Farewell. (Blow out candle.) 

West: Guardians of the watchtowers of the west, guardians of Water, we thank you for your presence in this circle.  Leave if you must, stay if you will.  We bid you Hail and Farewell. (Blow out candle.) 

South: Guardians of the watchtowers of the south, guardians of Fire, we thank you for your presence in this circle.  Leave if you must, stay if you will.  We bid you Hail and Farewell. (Blow out candle.) 

East: Guardians of the watchtowers of the east, guardians of Air, we thank you for your presence in this circle.  Leave if you must, stay if you will.  We bid you Hail and Farewell. (Blow out candle.) 

High Priestess – Thank you to the elementals at the four quarters! Thank you to Our Lady & Lord for attending this rite!

High Priest opens the circle. 

“The circle is open but never broken.”

Sharing of harvest and scattering of ashes from the cauldron.