The season of Mabon:
Getting in touch with our root(s)
Merry Meet, and Ah ba meri-v!
Last weekend up to Sunday 23rd of September was this years Mabon season which represents the Autumnal equinox. Traditionally, in Europe, this is the harvest time. The farmers crops have ripened to the ultimum – the suns rays are weakening, the autumn cold and rain is soon on its way and just as important, the worm will turn! The worms which have left the root vegetables up until now whilst eating other of nature’s goodies will ruin your crops!! And with that comes the worries of how the farmer will nourish the family, the animals, and the community.
Last weekend up to Sunday 23rd of September was this years Mabon season which represents the Autumnal equinox. Traditionally, in Europe, this is the harvest time. The farmers crops have ripened to the ultimum – the suns rays are weakening, the autumn cold and rain is soon on its way and just as important, the worm will turn! The worms which have left the root vegetables up until now whilst eating other of nature’s goodies will ruin your crops!! And with that comes the worries of how the farmer will nourish the family, the animals, and the community.
I had great delight in running round telling my sister, my friends, and my neighbors who have kitchen-gardens to ‘get their crops in’ which they did, and thank goodness for that – the following Monday it ‘chucked down’ with rain! (as we say in England) All was safely gathered in, as the old harvest hymn goes.
I began thinking about how important this time must have been to our slave ancestors. Over the Mabon season, up till the Harvest Moon, they would have been working hard and fast to gather in the fruits of their labours – the harvest moon shines as bright as the day, perfect for gathering in the last edible crops and ploughing the chaff into the ground to nourish the soil for the coming spring. And then the fires….fires everywhere, little fires, great big fires, burning all that was no longer needed, and the ashes ploughed back into the soil. Every able body in the community would have helped, even toddlers. And at the end, the celebrations, dancing, drinking, merrymaking, lovemaking and thanksgiving!!! What else could our ancestors have been thinking?.....as I read on another posting – more time indoors with the family and community, (perhaps more babies were conceived then?) more time to plot and plan uprisings – (perhaps this is why the slave masters were so generous at this time) More time to appreciate the little you had…….. In the Caribbean, each island still has their ‘crop over’ festival, where there is intense merrymaking, the island celebrates as one and takes great pride in itself, its roots and its culture!! but I think that this represents a strong memory of the importance of this time. For me, as a Black Khemitan, living in Europe, Mabon represents a time when we look at our ‘harvest’ what we have achieved during the year, or life itself even, and how much what we have gained can carry us through the ‘winter’. Winter can be a depressing time. We naturally draw towards hearth and home and the more stable aspect of relationship. But what if you do not have those things or fear losing one or all of them?.... I took part in a ceremony where we wrote our fears down on parchment, placed our fears in the hands of the goddess Auset (represented by the offering cup) and then burned them, thus leaving it to Her care while we meditated. It was very loving and powerful, in meditation, we were all told in different ways that we must take more interest in our local communities. A lot of us are afraid to walk the streets in our own town, but we were told, in meditation – the powers that be are deliberately trying to induce extreme fear of lack, or attack within communities– this is at the heart of a lot of the madness going on. Relationships and familes aren’t what they used to be, but if the community or ‘village’ tears itself apart the authorities will move in.
Whew!! We were left with much food for thought. As a crystal healer I meditated more on this when I got home, and I thought, but these are Root Chakra issues!! Now I’m not going to go too deep here, but the Root Chakra is mainly concerned with issues of Stability, Protection of self and family, connection to the Earth, initiating action, primal instincts etc. My point is, that if you can de-stabilize a human via the root chakra ie via fear, fear of lack, fear of attack, then they are extremely vulnerable, with a deep, possibly hysterical need for stability and safety, along with the need to stop the feelings of anxiety by using whatever they can get their hands on. They are also, of course, extremely open to suggestion as to how this condition might be stopped, be it drugs, war, religion, sex etc. And of course, a ‘slave’ to their instincts. This sad state of affairs keeps some poor souls in a perpetual psychological ‘winter’. I once met an ex-soldier who still carried a survival pack with him – every day no matter what – and slept with a gun under his pillow. Soldiers deliberately have their root chakras stimulated and de-stabilised as part of their training, and the effects are long-lasting. Personally, I’m so sick of the fear messages and other rubbish being pumped at me that I have got rid of my television, and get my news off the radio or from other human beings.
Returning to Mabon, after the harvest the winter would have been faced with some trepidation by our ancestors. Without the luxury of an extended family, their community relationships would have been vitally important in surviving a harsh winter along with the constant background fear of death, punishment and separation. I wonder what they would think of us today……Lets heed the call of Auset and rebuild our communities for the sake of those who did not/could not survive the winter of slavery and for those of us living who carry their genes. Over this season, lets try to overcome our fear of our neighbours and take even one small step out into our community – go to that meeting, the one where they are talking about what they are going to do about the violence in the neighbourhood, join the protest – the one to keep your local amenity open, teach at your local Saturday school, you’ve been thinking about it long enough – and they need you. Blessings of the season – and may all be gathered in close, to you.
Hotep.
Sothis
I began thinking about how important this time must have been to our slave ancestors. Over the Mabon season, up till the Harvest Moon, they would have been working hard and fast to gather in the fruits of their labours – the harvest moon shines as bright as the day, perfect for gathering in the last edible crops and ploughing the chaff into the ground to nourish the soil for the coming spring. And then the fires….fires everywhere, little fires, great big fires, burning all that was no longer needed, and the ashes ploughed back into the soil. Every able body in the community would have helped, even toddlers. And at the end, the celebrations, dancing, drinking, merrymaking, lovemaking and thanksgiving!!! What else could our ancestors have been thinking?.....as I read on another posting – more time indoors with the family and community, (perhaps more babies were conceived then?) more time to plot and plan uprisings – (perhaps this is why the slave masters were so generous at this time) More time to appreciate the little you had…….. In the Caribbean, each island still has their ‘crop over’ festival, where there is intense merrymaking, the island celebrates as one and takes great pride in itself, its roots and its culture!! but I think that this represents a strong memory of the importance of this time. For me, as a Black Khemitan, living in Europe, Mabon represents a time when we look at our ‘harvest’ what we have achieved during the year, or life itself even, and how much what we have gained can carry us through the ‘winter’. Winter can be a depressing time. We naturally draw towards hearth and home and the more stable aspect of relationship. But what if you do not have those things or fear losing one or all of them?.... I took part in a ceremony where we wrote our fears down on parchment, placed our fears in the hands of the goddess Auset (represented by the offering cup) and then burned them, thus leaving it to Her care while we meditated. It was very loving and powerful, in meditation, we were all told in different ways that we must take more interest in our local communities. A lot of us are afraid to walk the streets in our own town, but we were told, in meditation – the powers that be are deliberately trying to induce extreme fear of lack, or attack within communities– this is at the heart of a lot of the madness going on. Relationships and familes aren’t what they used to be, but if the community or ‘village’ tears itself apart the authorities will move in.
Whew!! We were left with much food for thought. As a crystal healer I meditated more on this when I got home, and I thought, but these are Root Chakra issues!! Now I’m not going to go too deep here, but the Root Chakra is mainly concerned with issues of Stability, Protection of self and family, connection to the Earth, initiating action, primal instincts etc. My point is, that if you can de-stabilize a human via the root chakra ie via fear, fear of lack, fear of attack, then they are extremely vulnerable, with a deep, possibly hysterical need for stability and safety, along with the need to stop the feelings of anxiety by using whatever they can get their hands on. They are also, of course, extremely open to suggestion as to how this condition might be stopped, be it drugs, war, religion, sex etc. And of course, a ‘slave’ to their instincts. This sad state of affairs keeps some poor souls in a perpetual psychological ‘winter’. I once met an ex-soldier who still carried a survival pack with him – every day no matter what – and slept with a gun under his pillow. Soldiers deliberately have their root chakras stimulated and de-stabilised as part of their training, and the effects are long-lasting. Personally, I’m so sick of the fear messages and other rubbish being pumped at me that I have got rid of my television, and get my news off the radio or from other human beings.
Returning to Mabon, after the harvest the winter would have been faced with some trepidation by our ancestors. Without the luxury of an extended family, their community relationships would have been vitally important in surviving a harsh winter along with the constant background fear of death, punishment and separation. I wonder what they would think of us today……Lets heed the call of Auset and rebuild our communities for the sake of those who did not/could not survive the winter of slavery and for those of us living who carry their genes. Over this season, lets try to overcome our fear of our neighbours and take even one small step out into our community – go to that meeting, the one where they are talking about what they are going to do about the violence in the neighbourhood, join the protest – the one to keep your local amenity open, teach at your local Saturday school, you’ve been thinking about it long enough – and they need you. Blessings of the season – and may all be gathered in close, to you.
Hotep.
Sothis
