Mabon is Dumb

There’s been a lotta hub-bub on the Witchy Paganesque interwebs scolding folks for skipping over the Fall Equinox and launching right in to Samhain. Like, slow down there esoteric folks – don’t get ahead of yerselves. We still gotta honor this Equinox business. As if this dumpster fire of a year hasn’t sucked enough, we gotta yuck the Samhain yum. Sheesh! However, I don’t think we should skip over the Equinox. It is a pivotal point in the cycle of the year. But I do need you to know that Mabon is dumb.

The Equinox is all about balance. It is that mid-way point, that liminal point. We aren’t quite in summer anymore, but we totally aren’t into the fall yet. It is the pause between the inhale and the exhale. How totally Witchy, am I right? At the Equinox there is the hint and whisper of the fallow period to come. Even among the lush harvest that many are experiencing at this time, we can still see the long cold nights ahead.

I’m pretty sure most of us could use a little help with balance right now. The Equinox is an excellent time to tap into the energy. The whole world is pulsating with it! The. Whole. World.

Remember, the Southern and Northern Hemispheres have opposite cycles. When we in the North are celebrating Samhain, our friends in the South are honoring Beltane. And so, in some ways, every holiday holds balance. But the Equinoxes are always a point of balance, no matter which side of the planet you are on. Yes, the next day (minute) we are moving in opposite directions, but for that one moment, we are all in balance.

It’s the word Mabon that’s dumb. That word has nothing to do with this time of the year. The correlation was made up and yeah, it frosts my cookies a bit. I’ve complained about it before, as have countless others. I’ve even talked with an esteemed loved one in the Witch world who said something along the lines of, “yeah, the word Mabon has nothing to do with the Equinox, but it’s not going to go anywhere, so we might as well embrace it”. And I’m like – nah.

I’m on board for the never-using-the-word-Mabon-in-connection-to-the-Autumn-Equinox-again camp. I’d like that word stricken from the record.

So Mabon is dumb, but the Fall or Autumn Equinox is awesome. Please do celebrate balance. Do celebrate what you are harvesting, both literally and figuratively. Do take a moment to do something nice for yourself; it’s a freaking holiday after all.