A time of deep reflection, sacred preparation, and the ancient dance between light and shadow
As September’s wheel turns toward perfect balance, we stand at one of the year’s most profound thresholds, the Autumn Equinox. This moment, when day and night embrace in perfect equilibrium, calls to something ancient within us. It whispers of harvest’s end, & of preparing for the inward journey. It whispers of honoring the sacred dance between light and shadow that has captivated human consciousness across cultures and centuries.
The harvest is gathered. The wheel turns. The descent begins..
Mabon: A Modern Name for an Ancient Calling
While the celebration we know as Mabon, is a relatively recent addition to the neopagan calendar, the energies it honors are as old as human awareness itself. It was established in the 1970s and named after the Welsh divine child from the Mabinogion. This modern framework gives us language for what our ancestors have always known: that this time of year demands our full presence, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually.
The autumn equinox invites us to pause, to acknowledge what we’ve cultivated through the growing season, and to begin the sacred preparation for a time of going deeper. As the light retreats, we too are called inward, to tend our inner fires, to honor our shadow work, and to nurture the seeds of wisdom that will sustain us through the dark months ahead.
Ancient Echoes: Sacred Observations from Around the World
Celtic Wisdom: The Light of the Water
The Celtic Druids called this time Alban Elfed, “The Light of the Water”, recognizing the reflective, contemplative quality of autumn’s approach. They honored the Green Man, the forest deity whose presence reminded them that death and rebirth are part of one continuous sacred cycle. The second harvest was celebrated with offerings and acknowledgment of the delicate balance between abundance and scarcity, light and darkness.
In Irish tradition, this was Cónocht an Fhómhair, the final harvest, when communities gathered not just grain but the deeper wisdom of transformation. The mystical hare, creature of liminality and connection to the Otherworld, was particularly honored during this season. It is a reminder that the veil grows thin as we approach the darker months.
The Mabinogion’s tale of Mabon ap Modron, is the divine son stolen from his mother and imprisoned in the underworld until his rescue. This speaks to the profound themes of this season. Like Mabon, we too must journey into the darkness before emerging renewed. The myth reflects humanity’s understanding that sometimes what appears lost is simply being transformed in hidden places.
Chinese Lunar Wisdom: Chang’e and the Mid-Autumn Moon
In ancient China, the autumn equinox birthed the Mid-Autumn Festival, is one of the most significant celebrations in Chinese culture. Rooted in rituals honoring the moon goddess Chang’e, who resides in the lunar palace after consuming the elixir of immortality. This festival acknowledges the feminine divine’s role in the cosmic cycle.
The Detailed Records of the Spring and Autumn Period captures the essence perfectly: “It is on the Autumn Equinox day that the Yin and Yang are in a balance of power. Thus the day and night are of equal length, and so are the cold and hot weather.” This ancient understanding recognizes what mystics across time have known, that balance is not static but dynamic. It is a momentary pause in the eternal dance of opposing forces.
Zoroastrian Fire: Mehregan and the Covenant of Light
The Zoroastrian tradition offers us Mehregan, a festival dedicated to Mithra, the deity of contracts, friendship, and the light that appears before dawn. The Avesta, ancient Zoroastrian texts, describe this celebration as honoring the sacred agreements that bind communities together. This is particularly important as people prepared to support each other through winter’s challenges.
The Bundahishn, detailing cosmic creation in the form of a year, places the equinoxes as pivotal points in the sacred calendar. This understanding sees the cosmos itself as a living calendar, with constellations and seasonal shifts as divine instruction for how to live in harmony with natural rhythms.
Greco-Roman Mysteries: Demeter’s Sorrow and Return
The Eleusinian Mysteries, though shrouded in sacred secrecy, were celebrated during the autumn equinox in honor of Demeter. She was the grain goddess whose daughter Persephone’s abduction to the underworld explained the changing seasons. These rites promised initiates understanding of death and rebirth, teaching that what appears to end is simply transforming.
The mystery traditions understood that autumn’s equinox was not just about agricultural cycles but about the soul’s journey. The initiates learned that Demeter’s sorrow and Persephone’s return were metaphors for the human experience of loss, transformation, and eventual renewal.
The Roman cult of Mithras, too, honored this season in underground temples designed as cosmic models. Their understanding connected the equinoxes to the movement of heavens. Seeing these balance points as opportunities to align earthly consciousness with cosmic intelligence.
Preparing for the Inward Journey: How We Use This Sacred Time
The autumn equinox offers us a profound opportunity to shift our focus from the outward expansion of summer to the inward cultivation of wisdom. This is a time for:
Sacred Reflection: What have we grown this year, not just in our gardens, but in our hearts and consciousness? What seeds of insight have taken root?
Shadow Preparation: As the light diminishes, we’re invited to examine what we’ve been avoiding. The shadows aren’t enemies to be conquered but teachers to be acknowledged and integrated.
Community Gathering: Like our ancestors, we can use this time to strengthen bonds with our spiritual community, sharing resources and wisdom before winter’s solitude.
Ritual Cleansing: This balance point is perfect for releasing what no longer serves while honoring what we wish to carry forward into the dark months.
Inner Altar Tending: As the outer world prepares for dormancy, our inner temples require extra attention. This is when we stock our spiritual pantries with practices that will sustain us.
The Eternal Return: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Souls
Whether we call it Mabon, Alban Elfed, Mehregan, or simply autumn equinox, this sacred time reminds us that we are part of something far greater than our individual lives. We are participants in an ancient dance of balance, members of a cosmic community that includes not just humans but all of nature’s intelligence.
The myths and sacred writings of our ancestors weren’t just stories, they were instructions, maps for navigating the soul’s journey through the seasons of existence. They remind us that balance is not about finding a middle ground and staying there, but about honoring the dynamic tension between opposing forces that creates all life.
As we stand at this threshold, we carry forward the wisdom of countless generations who have faced this same turning point. We harvest not just the fruits of our labor, but the deeper understanding that comes from aligning our lives with the sacred rhythms that govern all existence.
The light retreats. The veil thins. The real work begins.
In this sacred pause between light and dark, we remember: We are not separate from the cycles of nature, we are their living expression.
May your autumn equinox be filled with the deep peace that comes from aligning with ancient rhythms and the profound joy of preparing your soul for the transformative journey ahead.
High Priestess Agape Covens
Let our Blessed Mabon – Sabbat Planner & Journals help you begin the sacred preparation for a time of going deeper. Divine your copy at AgapeCovens.Etsy.Com.