Tag Archives: fall

by

🍂 Mabon 2026

The Sacred Season of Balance, Gratitude & Release

There is a moment each year when the Earth seems to pause.

The green begins to soften into gold. The evenings arrive a little earlier. Gardens offer their final gifts, trees begin preparing to let go, and the air carries that unmistakable whisper that summer is ending.

This is Mabon the Autumn Equinox.

In 2026, the Autumn Equinox occurs on September 22 at approximately 8:05 p.m. EDT in the Eastern United States. (Time and Date)

For many, Mabon is a time of harvest, gratitude, balance, reflection, and release. It is often considered the second harvest festival of the modern Wheel of the Year, falling between Lughnasadh and Samhain.

And perhaps the greatest lesson of Mabon is this:

Not everything we have grown is meant to be carried into the next season.

🌗 A Season of Balance

The equinox represents a point of balance between light and darkness. Although day and night are not literally equal everywhere on the equinox, the symbolism is powerful: the light is beginning to surrender its dominance to the darkness.

Mabon asks us to look at our own lives in the same way.

Where are we balanced?

Where are we giving too much and receiving too little?

What nourishes us?

What drains us?

What have we accomplished since spring?

And what are we finally ready to release?

Mabon reminds us that darkness is not something to fear. It is part of the natural cycle. Just as the Earth needs the quiet of winter, we need periods of rest, reflection, and going inward.

🌾 The Harvest Within

Harvest isn’t only about what grows in the garden.

There is also the harvest of our lives.

Think back over the past year.

What have you planted?

What have you nurtured?

What survived the storms?

What finally came into bloom?

Perhaps you grew stronger. Perhaps you learned something difficult. Perhaps you walked away from something that was no longer healthy for you. Perhaps you discovered a part of yourself that had been waiting patiently to be seen.

Mabon encourages us to acknowledge those things.

Celebrate what came to fruition—even if it didn’t look exactly like you imagined.

There is wisdom in recognizing the harvest we actually received rather than mourning the harvest we expected.

🍎 The History of Mabon

There is an important distinction when talking about Mabon.

The Autumn Equinox and harvest traditions are ancient, and people throughout history and across many cultures have marked the changing seasons, gathered food, celebrated abundance, and prepared for winter.

However, Mabon itself is a modern Pagan name for the Autumn Equinox, rather than the name of a documented ancient Celtic festival. The name draws from Mabon ap Modron, a figure from medieval Welsh mythology, and became associated with the modern Pagan Wheel of the Year during the twentieth century. (Hālau ’Aha Hui Lānākila)

That doesn’t make the celebration any less meaningful.

In fact, there is something beautiful about recognizing that Mabon is a living spiritual tradition, one that draws upon humanity’s ancient relationship with the seasons while allowing modern people to create meaningful rituals of their own.

🖤 What Mabon Teaches Us

Perhaps Mabon is ultimately about learning to appreciate the beauty of impermanence.

The flower blooms and fades.

The garden gives and becomes dormant.

The leaves turn brilliant colors and fall.

The sun sets and rises again.

Everything moves in cycles.

We are not meant to remain forever in summer.

Sometimes we need to bloom.

Sometimes we need to harvest.

Sometimes we need to let go.

And sometimes we need to disappear into the quiet for a while so that something new can eventually grow.

So as Mabon arrives in 2026, pause. Look around at the life you have created. Give thanks for the harvest. Honor what didn’t survive. Release what has finished its purpose. Step gently into the coming darkness knowing that the darkness is not the end of the story.

It is simply another season.

Blessed Mabon. 🍂🌙🕯️

May your harvest be abundant, your heart be grateful, and your spirit find balance between the light and the shadow.

Peace, Cath.

by

October gives to us the Harvest Moon.

The idea that who you are, and who you know yourself to be, is determined by anything or anyone other than YOU, is a great lie. You are your own. YOU determine.

Our October 2025 full moon is the Harvest Moon, occurring on the night of October 6th and reaching its peak at 11:48 p.m. (EST) It is also a supermoon and will appear larger and brighter than usual due to its proximity to Earth.

This moon is my favorite, and I watch for her each year.

Although October’s full moon is often called the Hunter’s Moon, the moon closest to the autumn equinox is the “Harvest Moon”. This year’s Harvest Moon happens to fall in October.

For farmers, the October full moon was the time to harvest the last crops and store them for winter. In many ancient civilizations, this time of the year also marked the end of the agricultural cycle, with festivals and rituals aimed at celebrating the earth’s bounty before the cold season arrived.

We mark Autumn with so many joyous things. There are pumpkin festivals, apple festivals, fall fests, October Fest, and so many other celebrations.

Just as ancient hunters prepared for winter, this full moon is a call to complete your “internal harvest”. This means reflecting on your accomplishments, acting on goals, and gathering the necessary energy and resources for future endeavors.

Lately I have been spending time reflecting. This is not always easy. There were times in my life when I worked so very hard to fit myself into what others would want me to be. I would say and do things that I believed would bring me acceptance and validation. Because I began to come into my own and break out of those molds that I allowed others to place me in, I also lost those people from my life. Sometimes I do not blame them, because I did that. I formed myself into what I believed they wanted me to be, but it was not me.

I watched a leaf fall from the tree in my front yard a few days ago. Just one. Silent, floating down until it softly hit the ground. I looked up and saw all the other leaves that were yet to fall. That leaf can grow a whole other tree. Strong and tall. It fell alone. What can grow from that will be beautiful, tall, and strong in its own way, adorned with beautiful leaves, not one the same.

I think of those that left relationship with me. I am sad about it. I miss the laughter and time shared. The beauty in this sadness is I do not have to miss ME.

Watch our Harvest moon on Oct. 6. Take this time to see the harvest in your own life, and know she is there, high in the sky to light your way – even in the dark places.

Peace,

Cath