20 Ways to celebrate Mabon/Autumn Equinox for all the family

Hold a Mabon feast. Invite family and friends round and enjoy food and drink that is in season at the moment. Bread made from wheat is traditional now compared to the cornbread at Lammas. Apples are ripening now along with blackberries, cranberries (original name crane-berries - named for the cranes in the marshes where cranberries grow), and fen-berries (the American cranberries English cousin) Apple juice, cider and blackberry wine are ideal drinks to accompany the feast. Squashes and pumpkins are of course ideal vegetables to have at this Mabon feast.

Practise a ‘cup of gratitude’. Fill a wine glass of chalice with a drink of your choosing. The drink is blessed and then passed around all the visitors at your gathering. As each person takes the cup they speak about what they are grateful for and then they take a small mouthful of the liquid or pour an amount into a smaller cup to drink, before passing on to the next person to give their blessing.

Follow the Chinese custom and make a mooncake to honour the lunar Goddess.  I shall be searching for a recipe for you to try!

Make Mabon hot apple cider.  Again recipe to follow! As detailed in my previous post apples are seen as sacred fruit.  Slice an apple in half and you will see the obvious sign of the pentacle, apples bring happiness and love.

Making a shaker from natual seeds and gourds at Mabon is a lovely activity that all the family can join in. Rattles or shakers are great at purifying a space and warding off negativity, they are also brilliant at raising energy. Children will love to help make the shaker and help decorate the outside with colourful ribbons.

Collect milkweed pods that you can use to attract the faeries and also save to use as a lovely Yule decoration.

Decorate your home with wheat sheaves and red and golden ribbons. Place seasonal fruits, squashes and pumpkins to add to your wonderful Mabon harvest display.

Leave an apple on the grave of an ancestor just as our ancestors did before us. Cut an

apple in half to show your children the pentacle inside. This is a reminder that all life is renewed in some way.

Bake cored apples filled with butter and cinnamon. This simple desert is a wonderful use of the sacred apple.

Go blackberry picking, this is a wonderful activity for all the family- just watch out for those thorns!

With the blackberries you have picked you can then have lots of fun making blackberry and apple crumble!

Make some homemade blackberry jam from those left over blackberries!

Make your own corn dolly or corn spirit.

Plant some winter bulbs, sending your hopes and intentions down into the bulbs that they may flower with all your hopes, dreams and happiness.

Spend some time in reflection and meditation. As the earth is slowing down and the fields lying in fallow so should you. Allow yourself a little down time now and then. Perhaps take a little time to look at your life and any changes that you would like to make in the future.

Collect autumn leaves and make a beautiful collage out of their gorgeous different shapes sizes and colours. Children will enjoy taking part in this activity so it can be a lovely family occasion.

Clear the garden and cut back any flowers and shrubs that need it. Give thanks to the nature spirits that are around.

Space clear your home. As this is a season for withdrawing and reflecting it is important that you let go of all that clutter in your home as well as your mind that you no longer need. So have a good clear out, your local charity shop will be very grateful! Cleanse your space with some white sage or frankinsence. You will be spending more time indoors now so it is important that your space feels clear and the energy flows.

Go for a walk in your local park and find some leaves to kick and jump up and down in! Remember how this used to make you feel so happy when you were a child and take yourself back to that happy carefree feeling. Children may like to join in this activity too and encourage you! Keep this joy in your heart whenever you may feel a little down in the shorter darker days of the winter.

Watch the sun going down on the eve of the equinox. Say goodbye to any birds who may soon be migrating and any animals that may soon be entering into hibernation. Wish them well and good luck that they survive the winter to return again in the spring.