Want to learn and experience more about Mabon/Autumn equinox

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[Théann]

I was going to post this in the Holidays section but I guess I don't have a high enough status too. My apologies if this post is still in the wrong group.

I'm very new to the Pagan Holidays and how people celebrate. From what I hear the Autumnal Equinox is like a "witches Thanksgiving". Perhaps a bold question but, would anyone mind sharing that with me? I would love to make a dish and maybe a few of us in the area could get together and have a meal? I'm in Austin, Texas but don't mind driving a few hours. Just thought I would throw it out there.

Hope you had a blessed Monday. I'm just glad it FINALLY RAINED!!! 

[Mea]

I was going to post this in the Holidays section but I guess I don't have a high enough status too. My apologies if this post is still in the wrong group.

I'm very new to the Pagan Holidays and how people celebrate. From what I hear the Autumnal Equinox is like a "witches Thanksgiving". Perhaps a bold question but, would anyone mind sharing that with me? I would love to make a dish and maybe a few of us in the area could get together and have a meal? I'm in Austin, Texas but don't mind driving a few hours. Just thought I would throw it out there.

Hope you had a blessed Monday. I'm just glad it FINALLY RAINED!!! 

   There are many in this forum, who can put words together much better than i can...but i shall give it a try.

  These are only my thoughts.  Your mileage may vary.   ( just wanted to get that out of the way first.)

   For me, the equinox, is a time of balance. Tho everything is changing, for one small moment in time all is in balance.  I like to think, ponder, meditate on that idea. 

   As for a Thanksgiving...why not ?  This is one of the Harvest festivals.  What better way to acknowledge the sacrifice of the God in fruits, veggies, grains and meats than by using local in season foods ?      For example at Lammas, i like to use our own blueberries in pie, or cobbler...they are in season and i feel that by acknowleging  the gifts of the Gods i connect with Them .    At Mabon, or Equinox, most likely it will be Winter Squashes as they will be ready to start harvesting.    At Samhein, most likely it will be meat of some sort, as that is when we plan on butchering.  Personally i do not make a large deal as to Why i do what i do, when i do it.  My DH while supportive...is not pagan, and i will not be in anyone's face about my personal beliefs.

  As to ra*n.... i would love to send some...Anywhere but here .   This has been one of the soggiest years on record !    Mea.

[Asetam]

I was going to post this in the Holidays section but I guess I don't have a high enough status too. My apologies if this post is still in the wrong group.

I'm very new to the Pagan Holidays and how people celebrate. From what I hear the Autumnal Equinox is like a "witches Thanksgiving". Perhaps a bold question but, would anyone mind sharing that with me? I would love to make a dish and maybe a few of us in the area could get together and have a meal? I'm in Austin, Texas but don't mind driving a few hours. Just thought I would throw it out there.

Hope you had a blessed Monday. I'm just glad it FINALLY RAINED!!! 

in our home i suppose you can say the equinox is treated a  bit like Thanksgiving.  In a time of balance, when the night and the day are the same length, we give thanks for the harvest....though here in CO not completely done yet.  Tis the second of the three harvest festivals, a time to reap the rewards of this years grow, and utilize what comes from it.  Whether it be medicines from the herb garden, squash pie, or saving some away for the future.   
I always try to include some of the harvest with out meal.  So what is prepared is usually dependant on what did the best during the season.....this year will be chile rellenos.....have an abundance of anaheim peppers.  Though not all of my crops are ready for harvest, I know that with the shortening of the daylight hours will bring it by months end....though with this years oddness....most certainly by the new year...
We are saying goodbye to the strength of the sun...as the god begins his yearly cycle of age..... and we say hello to the reign of the goddess who is at this time in her prime.

Tis a most wonderful time to stop and thank the energies around for the wonders that have come about this year.... for me, this is always  time for me to look back at what i may have accomplished throughout this past cycle.  this way when the new year comes.....i have taken the time to look at what i will be needing guidance with through the next.

Just a couple little things i think about this time of year...... i believe their is a book specifically dedicated to the Equinox sabbat....though i could be wrong

[Randulfr]

I'm very new to the Pagan Holidays and how people celebrate. From what I hear the Autumnal Equinox is like a "witches Thanksgiving". Perhaps a bold question but, would anyone mind sharing that with me? I would love to make a dish and maybe a few of us in the area could get together and have a meal? I'm in Austin, Texas but don't mind driving a few hours. Just thought I would throw it out there.

I should point out here that what you are asking depends entirely on the religion, as paganism is an umbrella term that encompasses many religions.  Not all pagans see the Autumnal equinox as "the witch's Thanksgiving".  Some don't even celebrate it at all.

[Théann]

I should point out here that what you are asking depends entirely on the religion, as paganism is an umbrella term that encompasses many religions.  Not all pagans see the Autumnal equinox as "the witch's Thanksgiving".  Some don't even celebrate it at all.

My apologies, I didn't mean to make assumptions that everyone celebrates the equinox the same way or even at all. I was just curious to see who did and how they celebrated. I got sucked into this new website yesterday called couchsurfing.com and I guess I got caught up in the concept of wanting to spend time with random people.

Thank you Asetam and Mea for sharing.

[dragonfaerie]

A bit late to the party, but I was thinking about this on my drive in to work this morning so I'll go ahead and chime in.

I see the Equinoxes as a time of balance, both physically and spiritually. The equinoxes are when you can really start to see a difference in the length of the days. After Ostara (Spring Equinox), it's easy to see that the days are getting longer. After Mabon (Autumn Equinox), it's easy to see that the days are getting shorter.

At Ostara, I look to plant intentions and projects to work on through the warm fertile months of the year. At Mabon, it's time to look back on those ideas and see how they've grown. Did I feed and nurture them enough to have a good harvest? Or was I not good about tending to things properly?

Mabon is also a harvest festival. This is when we get our last bumper crops in of the harvest, especially apples and pumpkins. We start going into nesting mode to get ready for the upcoming winter. Harvest fairs, county fairs, corn mazes, etc, all happen at this time of the year as we look to celebrate the last of the warm fertile days.

So seeing it as a Thanksgiving isn't inappropriate. It's a good time to celebrate whatever bounty we have in our lives and share it with friends and family while everyone is still able to travel in good weather. Winter will be knocking at our doors before we know it and while Yule is a fun and festive time of year in most every culture, if you're in a Northern snowy place the weather may not be very cooperative to holiday travel plans.

Karen

[dann]

I was going to post this in the Holidays section but I guess I don't have a high enough status too. My apologies if this post is still in the wrong group.

I'm very new to the Pagan Holidays and how people celebrate. From what I hear the Autumnal Equinox is like a "witches Thanksgiving". Perhaps a bold question but, would anyone mind sharing that with me? I would love to make a dish and maybe a few of us in the area could get together and have a meal? I'm in Austin, Texas but don't mind driving a few hours. Just thought I would throw it out there.

Hope you had a blessed Monday. I'm just glad it FINALLY RAINED!!! 

I have an idea... Look it up in a book... Witches don't mind teaching but come on!!! Look it up... Your on the computer so maybe type " Autumn Equinox, then SEARCH... Just an idea!!! WITCHCRAFT REQUIRES COMMON SENSE...

[Star]

I have an idea... Look it up in a book... Witches don't mind teaching but come on!!! Look it up... Your on the computer so maybe type " Autumn Equinox, then SEARCH... Just an idea!!! WITCHCRAFT REQUIRES COMMON SENSE...

Well, yes.  But "looking it up" can also include asking around in places where you know people will be able to help you--like, say, this forum.  As well, asking people with some knowledge rather than just seeing what Google turns up can help you weed out the good sources from the bad.  After all, anyone can put up anything online; just because it's on the web doesn't mean it's accurate information.  Sometimes a little help to sort through what's accurate and what's not on a subject you're unfamiliar with can be helpful.

If someone only ever asks here for info and never looks anything up on their own and is constantly relying on us to spoon-feed them answers?  Yeah, that's a problem, and that's the point at which I start saying, "You know, you really should do a bit of your own research..."  Asking just the occasional question here, though, and questions that gets discussion (the point of the forum) going at that?  That's really a pretty standard and acceptable research tactic.

[Dark Midnight]

I have an idea... Look it up in a book... Witches don't mind teaching but come on!!! Look it up... Your on the computer so maybe type " Autumn Equinox, then SEARCH... Just an idea!!! WITCHCRAFT REQUIRES COMMON SENSE...

Witchcraft does need common sense, but that doesn't mean that you can only find what you need in a book. Getting information from people who do actually celebrate these things and finding out how they celebrate them is no bad thing. You can't only learn from books. There are plenty of other ways, too.

Personally, I find that descriptions and instructions in books can be very 'dry' and lacking that personal touch. I talk to a lot of witches (and other pagans, too) and getting first hand information and experiences is sometimes a lot more helpful. Read up on things by all means, but don't just think that this is the only way to find information.

[Asetam]

Witchcraft does need common sense, but that doesn't mean that you can only find what you need in a book. Getting information from people who do actually celebrate these things and finding out how they celebrate them is no bad thing. You can't only learn from books. There are plenty of other ways, too.

I had to giggle a bit dann, and forgive me.    But it is a bit funny to me...... a small part of my break from christianity was so that my religion didn't come from a book anymore. 

i am an ecclectic solitaire.....wished i'd of had a resource like this back when i was in my wonder years so that it hadn't of seemed so durn hard for me to get to where i am..... and unfortunately, alot of what i picked up....was from book.  Books are wonderful ways to get an initial idea of what you would like to look for, but in something as personal as to if you celebrate a kind of thanksgiving.... that is something to ask and see.

Forgive my rant this morning.... just hit a nerve in the wrong way....though i'm sure that's what happened in the first place as well.

Brightest Blessings all!!

[Star]

I have an idea... Look it up in a book... Witches don't mind teaching but come on!!! Look it up... Your on the computer so maybe type " Autumn Equinox, then SEARCH... Just an idea!!! WITCHCRAFT REQUIRES COMMON SENSE...

I should probably not have answered before I was fully awake.  Having looked again at the original post, the question asked was whether anyone would want to get together to celebrate the equinox--not "can anyone tell me anything about this".  People have been talking about what they think the equinox means and whether the original poster's interpretation of it is reasonable, which is a fine way to respond, but that wasn't actually the question asked.  I therefore fail to see how "look it up yourself" is even an applicable answer, as this is a question that by its very nature requires an answer from a person.

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