![]() The ancient Greek equivalent of the Great Son Mabon is Persephone, daughter of Demeter, goddess of the Earth, agriculture, grain, and harvest. In Scotland, the last sheaf harvest was called “the Maiden” because it had to be cut by the youngest female. Depending on the area, the last sheaf was kept inside until spring, when it was ploughed back into the land. These same ‘corn dollies’ were kept inside during the long winter to protect folks from bad spirits. ![]() Celts also had a ritual of dressing up the very last harvested corn sheaf or shaping it into a wicker man or woman. The Celts believed that the corn spirit was trapped in the corn and needed to be set free, so a large wicker man effigy was burned in celebration of the harvest and the ashes spread over the fields. The equinox was considered a time to honour the spirit world, so it was a common tradition to pick apples and place them on the graves of the dead because apples were symbolic of rebirth and for the wishes of the living to be reunited with their loved ones. Most Celtic equinox celebrations centred around harvest feasts, but many other rituals and traditions relating to the equinox were followed as well. ![]() In another version he is rescued by King Arthur. He is rescued by a group of animals including an owl, stag, and a salmon and reborn as the “Son of Light”. Depending on the version of this story, it is either three days or three years later that Mabon was stolen from Modron and held captive in the otherworld (Modron’s womb) where he is nurtured and faces many challenges that help him to grow stronger and wiser. Ever since, it has been known as Mabon and it is historically one of the oldest harvest festivals in Europe.Īccording to Celtic legend, the tale begins with Earth Mother Goddess and Guardian of the Otherworld Modron giving birth to the Great Son Mabon ap Modron on the autumn equinox. The name, Mabon, was adopted for this celebration in the 1970s by American poet and academic Aidan Kelly. Pronounced MAY-bone, MAY-bun, or MAH-boon, Mabon is a modern neopagan take on the celebration of the equinox. In Chinese and Vietnamese communities, the harvest moon is celebrated by the Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival. ![]() In Buddhism tradition, Higan is celebrated, and in Hindu culture, Navaratri. In Mayan and Aztec legend, the god Kukulkan/Quetzalcoatl is worshipped. In Greece, it was the celebration of Demeter and the farewell of her daughter Persephone as she left to go back to the underworld. The word itself was created in the Middle Ages and was drawn from Latin aequinoctium and old French é quinoxe.Ĭelebrations for the autumnal equinox vary depending on religion and culture. ‘Equinox’ comes from Latin origin: A equi/aequus, meaning equal and nox/noct, meaning night. Generally speaking, the equinox marks the beginning of the new season and is the time many would gather to celebrate the seasonal changes with festivities and food. It is the day in which these hemispheres get the same amount of sun rays, and we have a day and night of equal length. Scientifically speaking, the equinox marks the time and date when the sun crosses the equator and moves from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere. With the new season also comes one of the two seasonal equinoxes of the year – the autumnal equinox. Some animals store food away and thicken their coats for the coming hibernation and others prepare for winter. Everything becomes a lot less green and as the leaves fall from the trees, we find ourselves in a world of reds, oranges, browns, and yellows. ![]() So, with sweater weather just around the corner we step into the crisp autumn season. As we come into the month of March, summer slowly passes us by. ![]()
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