We have a bittersweet announcement today. Tatjana has gotten a new job which is wonderful, however that means, at the very least, we will be on hiatus, at the worst this may be our last episode. I want to thank you all for listening and sticking with us through this curiosity provoking and magical journey. Hopefully we’ve provided some entertainment and useful information. Thanks! Mabon is one of the eight celebrated Wiccan holidays and is pagan in its nature. It is the equal time between the dark and light portions of the year and is therefore considered an equinox; it is the autumnal equinox. This year, 2023, it will fall on the 23rd of September according to my sources. Here Wiccans celebrate not only the balance of the year but also the dying of the sun and thus the God. Many believe Mabon is the end of the harvest season or the second harvest after Lughnasadh, when the chasing of the sun god and harvest season begins. On a side note the third harvest is Samhain which I would consider to be the harvesting of souls passed. Mabon is also  what we consider to be our Thanksgiving. We celebrate our harvest that will tide us over until the return of spring and new crops. Some believe this is a Celtic holiday but there may be evidence that the name Mabon originated in the 1970’s. Either way the name Mabon seems to be from the Welsh God or hero known as Modron and is the son of the Earth Mother Goddess. To celebrate this holiday apples are a common staple on the altar along with grapes, gourds, and other seasonal harvests. Colors are autumnal in nature and feasting, like with other rituals, is common. Herbs are rosemary, sage, rosehips, yarrow and mugwort. Stones would be amber, citrine, jasper, aventurine. Dried flowers are common but some are sunflowers, thistle and marigolds. Animals to think of might be the owl, stag, bear, and possibly the boar. A common symbol is the “horn of plenty” aka the cornucopia.   I thought I'd share a poem that evokes this season it’s called:   An excerpt from The Old Apple Tree by Paul Laurence Dunbar   There's a memory keeps a-runnin'     Through my weary head to-night,     An' I see a picture dancin'     In the fire-flames' ruddy light;     'Tis the picture of an orchard     Wrapped in autumn's purple haze,     With the tender light about it     That I loved in other days.     An' a-standin' in a corner     Once again I seem to see     The verdant leaves an' branches     Of an old apple-tree.       You perhaps would call it ugly,     An' I don't know but it's so,     When you look the tree all over     Unadorned by memory's glow;     For its boughs are gnarled an' crooked,     An' its leaves are gettin' thin,     An' the apples of its bearin'     Would n't fill so large a bin     As they used to. But I tell you,     When it comes to pleasin' me,     It's the dearest in the orchard,--     Is that old apple-tree.       I would hide within its shelter,     Settlin' in some cosy nook,     Where no calls nor threats could stir me     From the pages o' my book.     Oh, that quiet, sweet seclusion     In its fulness passeth words!     It was deeper than the deepest     That my sanctum now affords.     Why, the jaybirds an' the robins,     They was hand in glove with me,     As they winked at me an' warbled     In that old apple-tree.   Although I don’t have a specific memory of them, the Friendsgiving celebrations that my friend would have for me and other friends of hers are always thought of fondly. They were always small affairs and everyone pitched in. Never grand or ostentatious, just simply enjoying one another’s company and being thankful for each other. Mabon was always the darkest time of the year for me. It's when my matron Goddess was/is always at her strongest. Freya was at her fullest power in my life. If I had a boyfriend at th