Mabon 2003

Items needed: Cauldron, blessed water.

Purify and cast Circle.

_____________ invoke Goddess:

“Sovereign Lady of the stars, compassionate Queen of the night, by whatever names we call Thee - _____________ - we know that You hear us. We give thanks this night for the fertility of the earth's harvest; there is more than enough to share with all. You give to us the energy to reap the goodness that we have sown, and you enhance our strengths at this time, so that we may share our abundance equally with all. We join together in your presence, with those we love to give true thanks for our good fortune. We welcome you here to share our Mabon celebration. Hail and welcome, blessed be.”

_____________ invoke God:

“Shield of courage and Lord of light, by whatever names we call Thee - _____________ - we know that You hear us. As we begin the journey toward the cavern of the dark, we thank You for the courage to look at ourselves, both our light and our dark sides. For like this equinox, we must balance ourselves between forces, and reap the benefits of both. Continue to challenge us, for through the trials of change, we learn to grow and to weave these lessons into the fabric of our lives. This harvest, may we reap joys of successful endeavors. We welcome you here to share our Mabon celebration. Hail and welcome, blessed be.”

_______________ say:

“Blessed be this season of Mabon, time of the second harvest, the harvest of fruit and wine. Tonight all things are in balance: Goddess and God, Life and Death, Light and Dark. Tonight the darkness will conquer the light, leading us deeper into the waning year. This is the time of harvest, of thanksgiving and joy, of leave-taking and sorrow. Now day and night are equal, in perfect balance, and we give thought to the balance and flow in our own lives. The Sun King is transformed into the Lord of Shadows, we follow him into the dark. Life declines; the season of barrenness is upon us, yet we give thanks for what we have reaped. We turn the wheel and weave a cord of life that will sustain us through the dark.”

_______________ say:

“Leaves fall, the days grow cold.
The Goddess pulls Her mantle about Her
As You, O great sun God, prepare to sail Westward
Wrapped in the coolness of night.
Fruits ripen, seeds drop,
The hours of the day and night are balanced.
Chill winds blow from the North wailing laments.
In this seeming death, O blessed Goddess,
I know that life continues.
For Spring is impossible without the Second Harvest,
As surely as life is impossible without the harvest of death.
Blessings upon You, O fallen God,
As You journey into the lands of winter
And into the Goddess’ loving arms.
This is a time of transition and endings,
When we must look inward and evaluate what
We must harvest from our own lives.”

_________________ say:

"We honor Thee, Autumn Queen, and Thy consort,
the God of the Harvest.
The Wheel has once more turned, and the change of season begins.
What will be is. What was will be.
The Equinox is upon us, and the time to reflect is at hand.
All time comes together, here and now in this sacred space.
Time itself slows and for a moment
We feel the changes as we pass
From one season to the next.
Now is the moment when we look back on the past year
And acknowledge one thing that we must leave behind
So that we may grow again in the Spring.
Now is the time to reap our own second harvest
Before we can be allowed to rest.”

Each person names one thing in their lives that they have left behind this year.

____________ say:

"As the Wheel turns, the seasons pass, and the years give 'way
To the next,
Guide us, Wise Ones,
Lest we forget
Every beginning has an ending
And every ending is a new beginning.
Just as we must say goodbye to
Parts of us with the harvest
We must also recognize that which we have gained."

Each person names one thing in their lives that began over the past year.

____________ say:

"As the days grow colder, and the nights last longer,
May we remember the summer past.
With sunlight fading, and hearth inviting,
Our memories will warm our souls
From a season of hard work and hard play,
We must remember the myriad of things
That we have to be thankful for.”

Each person names one thing that they are grateful for from the past year.

Everyone should close their eyes and feel the seasons pass within the circle from
summer to autumn. Feel the energies within yourself and earth slow, readying themselves for the dormancy of Winter. Feel yourself attune to the subtle energies of Autumn, the balance of it as day and night are equal for a single moment.

When everyone has opened their eyes, ______________ say:

"Between the worlds we stand in this sacred place.
All time is here and now.
As we leave this circle, the season shall have changed,
And we will have changed with it.
May we use the short time before
The chill of Winter
To draw strength and power from within
That the lessons we have learned
Wont be forgotten or abandoned
As we continue on our individual paths.”

____________ ring the bell three times (once for the passing of the first three
seasons).

____________ say:

"In Life is Death, and in Death is Life.
The Sacred Dance goes on and on
From whence we came, we shall return,
And come again.
Seasons pass, and pass again,
The circle stays unbroken
Heed the words of your children, here,
Through Your wisdom we have spoken."

_____________ pour the blessed water into the cauldron, then walk around the Circle and sprinkle the water around the perimeter. Then say:

"Autumn is more than a time of harvest
It is the stillness before the cold,
When we prepare to purified and cleansed
By the deep snows.
We count our abiding blessings
And give thanks for all that we have.
We also recognize that, at times,
For us to truly appreciate some gifts
We must loose them.
All is impermanence, all is change.
We give thanks for the flow of seasons
That allows us to grow.”

Everyone say:

“Summer is past,
Autumn is here
Let us celebrate this season of harvest!
Let our hands work for peace and justice
Let us work to heal the land,
Gather round our harvest table
Let us feast and bless the land.”

Bless the Chalice:

“Reaping Mother, I offer this wine in Your honor,
As we drink it fill us with the nectar of Your love.”

Bless the Cakes:

“Fallen God, I offer these cakes in Your honor,
As we eat them, fill us with the power of Your spirit.”

Eat the simple feast and open Circle.

Eidolon Moon's Notes:

Well, I was feeling rather melancholy when putting this ritual together, as usual it's cobbled together from various sources. Anyway, when I was thinking about what I wanted from this ritual I found I really wanted to incorporate more from the Shinto side of my heritage but didn't really have a lot of time to spend researching it and putting it together. I admit it, this was a last minute preparation. Bad me. Anyway, I realized that this ritual signified an end of an era for me. I had been going through a large upheaval in my spiritual life and this ritual seemed to represent a reaping of the benefits from those doubts.

Dorian and Maia joined me for the ritual and Dorian really helped for me to inject humor into this. I'm glad he did that because otherwise this ritual would have been more of a death knell. And while that would also be appropriate considering the season it really isn't me. Nor should it be a time of sadness, I am gaining insight into myself and allowing myself to grow. A good thing. =)

Anyway, we did ritual in the living room at the low coffee table that I originally used as an altar. We alternately sat and knelt and all of our voices blended well and deepened into a chant. Dorian was worried he would flub his lines but did an excellent job. However, he needs to learn how to contain energy and not just let it randomly bounce around the Circle.

This ritual really helped me to connect with what I ~want~ out of my religion and the fact that while some things change, some things stay the same. I don't have to scrap everything in order to fine tune some parts.