Spell-Struck
MABON ~ A Witch’s Thanksgiving and a Time of Harvest
In Every Area of your Life!
This is a wonderful holiday that hasn’t yet been overcome by commercialism and this holiday still holds a great deal of self-reliance and dignity. It’s a quiet time. A time of change and is, in my opinion, one of the most colorful holidays naturally. The new crisp Fall air, the twirling leaves, the warm days and brisk nights…. The smell of crisp apples, the gold, orange and rust colors of the leaves…it’s nice to have a cup of hot cider or hot chocolate in the evening and breathe in the magick of the evening air. Birds are starting to move their way to homes not-so-cold and everything in nature has a crunch, snap or crackle to it that brings to mind hearth, home and family.
Spices abound at this time of the year… clove, cinnamon, nutmeg are regulars in the kitchen and people start looking for things to bake, make and share with family and friends. In the Summer months, when people are a bit more “air-elemental” and off here and off there on vacations, carefree and more concerned with self and self-fulfillment or immediate family fulfillment; Autumn is definitely an “earth-elemental” time where people tend to want to huddle more together in groups, clans and gatherings…. In the kitchen, around a fire, or a flickering candle – playing board games, sharing stories, and eating warm, soothing comfort foods.
There really is no other time quite like Fall. This is truly and aptly names, The Season of the Witch… for good reason. Dive in and share the wondrous time that Mabon brings. Relish in it like no other time of year and let your magick soar. For this is the Witch’s Season and power abounds now, unlike any other as we build to the height of the Year… Samhain in late October.
A lot of your celebrating of this time of year will depend on where you live. In my neck of the woods, September brings a mad dash of going back to school, settling into new routines, focusing once again on family time schedules, work, and the new changes that this season brings from the pelting sunshine of the summer. Here in Central California, the heat is still with us in the 80’s till late September, but the wonderful thing is that the nights fall into the 50’s instead of the upper 60’s and you can definitely start to feel the change, with the local Oak trees and Maple trees starting to shift in color around Mabon through early October. Our family starts to think of the ‘crock-pot’ more and warmer, comforting foods than we did all Summer long. Thoughts of decorating for Fall is early in my mind (being my favorite time of year) and I usually can’t wait to get my Fall decorations up, although I usually wait till mid-September before doing so. I am more reflective at this time of year and eager for the ‘hunkering’ down feeling that Fall and Winter bring. Yes… I am a Fall/Winter witch, with no doubt. So, this brings me to ask you…. What is happening in your region during September? Is it still hot? Is the weather changing already to cooler days and nights? What local things are happening in your town/city? How can you incorporate ‘where you live’ with this magickal, bewitched time of year?
Now that I have you thinking of all the wonderful things coming up in the next few months, and all the things you can be doing to “get into the Holiday mood,” you’re probably in the back of your head wondering…. “Oh no! This means I need (insert item(s) here) …which equates, unfortunately, in our day and age to the need for MONEY. This is sad, but true. There is so much more to the holidays than money, but what money does buy us at times is “freedom.” Freedom to travel to see the ones we love. Freedom to buy the foods we love to make for the family we hold so dear. Freedom to buy gifts at Yule to see our children’s (and others’) faces light up! These are not bad or wrong and we all need money to keep things going…
At Mabon, at Harvest… it is a GOOD time to bring in the feast. This is meant literally with all that you planted in your garden, in your life and in your spirit. The spell I have for you below is tied into the idea of Harvesting Abundance (money, friends, food, health) with this Sabbat of Harvest and Thanks. Feel free to play with the wording of the spell and utilize it for other types of abundance other than money.
Above all… no matter what you do with this spell… be thankful. Be very thankful for all that you DO have and all that you ARE given. Share with someone. Make someone else smile this season. Enjoy the harvest – enjoy the dance!
Make a magickally charged Cornucopia for Mabon! Tuck in a special charm box into an existing Cornucopia (or a Cornucopia you make) to bring prosperity, bounty and abundance to you and yours.
- Simply get an old jewelry box (one that is ring or bracelet/pendant size that you can tuck into the inside of a cornucopia and not be noticed.
For the Mabon Prosperity Box you will need:
- cinnamon incense (or cinnamon powder from your cupboard burning on a charcoal tab in your cauldron!)
- a box
- green wrapping paper
- a quarter and a dime
- 8 kernels of dried corn
- 8 oats (even cheerios will work!)
- a malachite bead or small gemstone
- an aventurine bead or small gemstone
- Scotch tape
- a pen with green ink
- Light your cinnamon incense. Hold the box over the smoking incense to thoroughly saturate it with the scent.
- Hold the money, the corn, oats, and beads in your hands. Charge them with energy, focusing on an increase in wealth and prosperity. Visualize yourself harvesting the rewards toward which you have been working.
- Put the ingredients in the box and close the lid. With the pen, draw a symbol that means money to you, or write a petition on the box and then wrap it in green wrapping paper. Hold over the smoking incense again and say:
Summer’s Sun is Fall’s Bounty Bold
In my life, Success and Wealth be foretold
Success increase, luck is mine
By Mabon Moon and Barley Wine.
Goddess, see only my need
And to my door, Abundance come with speed!
‘An harm it none, this spell is done!
By Morika Bernhard, www.underthenewmoon.com