Mabon Ritual (Submitted by Alastar)

Preparation: For decorating the altar use fall leaves, a Horn of Plenty with Indian corn and vegetables and plastic grapes, and dark red, golden yellow, and indigo ribbons or streamers. Prepare the altar with the God and Goddess candles and the supplies for casting the circle. Include a cauldron prepared for use as a portable fireplace, a bottle of wine (homemade the year before, or three years before if possible), ritual cake, a Corn Dolly, a Grape Dolly, a chair, a white pillow, and the herb or flower planted at Ostara. The Corn Dolly should be dressed in russet-red to look pregnant. The Grape Dolly should be dressed in a deep purple. Place the chair with pillow in front of the altar with the cauldron in front of it. Begin by casting the circle.

Here I am on this evening, Mabon, the Witches' Thanksgiving, the Second Harvest, the Autumnal Equinox, and the first day of the planting season. I am here to understand life, death, and rebirth, and to give reverence to those who have endured each.

Set the Dollies on the pillow on the chair. Bow your head to think about how Lammas fits in one of the three groups above and how it fits in the Wheel of the Year.

I stand at the gate between the living and the dead on this evening when both light and dark are equal. I am here to witness the generosity of my Goddess, Mother Earth, the waning Lady of the Moon, and her consort, my God, Old Lord, the waning Lord of the Sun. Thanksgiving. . . a necessary transition on the Wheel of the Year.

Set the wine bottle and ritual cake on the pentacle. Hold high the athame and chalice.

Now is the time of the giving of thanks to the beloved Dark Crone, one of the three faces of my Goddess, and to the beloved Old Lord, one of the three faces of my God. I watch as the God and Goddess bestow their gifts upon me.

Open the wine bottle and pour some into the wine chalice. Use the athame to cut the cake into three pieces and dip a piece in the wine. Hold up the chalice in thanks and drink from it. Using the athame as a fork, hold up a piece of the ritual cake in thanks and eat it. Say:

The Elder Gods wish to bestow upon us the gift of knowledge. Thus they shall speak.

Hold the Corn Dolly and Grape Dolly high.

These wise words are their gifts. "There is a time for ever purpose under the heavens above. Now is the time to reap that which was sowed during the spring. This is the time to pay for the karma built up over the years before it becomes unbearable. Release emotional baggage and remove restraining walls. This is now your time to reap your seeds, both good and bad, that you have sowed through your actions of the past seasons." So mote it be.

Light the fire, and burn the remainder of the ritual cake and wine from the chalice as a gift to the Gods.

The Gods have shown me the way. Now, on this evening of Mabon, at this time of reaping and ending, I shall give thanks for the gifts given to me by the Elder Gods.

Carry your plant to the fire, and silently pray to the Gods telling them the things for which give thanks and the things which you wish to change. Pull one flower (or one leaf if it is an herb) and places this on the fire as a sacrifice to the Elder Gods. After this, you can conclude the ritual.

May these sacrifices and thankful prayers please the Gods and bring me their favor and blessing for the coming year.

Close the circle. Serve yourself wine, grapes, apples, vegetables, and cider. You can leave the Horn of Plenty on the altar until Samhain to remind you of this harvesting time and the gifts of the Elder Gods. Also leave fall leaves to remind you of the turning of the Wheel of the Year.

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