Mabon Pagan Traditions and Tarot Spread Fall Equinox 2023

The days of sunshine, outdoor swimming, and barbeque parties are ending, and the days of cooler, crisp air, falling colorful leaves, hoodies, apple cider, and visiting pumpkin patches are coming. The fall or autumn equinox is coming on September 22nd (in the Northern Hemisphere, as in the Southern Hemisphere, it is the vernal equinox) when the sun enters Libra.

It is also a time of Mabon celebrations, which is one of the eight pagan Sabbats, as there is a fascinating history that comes with this sabbat. Let’s discuss that briefly, along with the customs, and end the article with a collective Mabon tarot reading.

What Is Mabon, and When Did It Originate?

Mabon is a harvest festival where pagans celebrate the autumn equinox, and the name Mabon originates from the Welsh God, the son of the Earth Mother Goddess. The God Mabon was also the god of light. In addition, Mabon is also associated with Herne the Hunter, which is the commencement of deer hunting in British Folklore. However, the name of the festivity was not used until the 1970s. Before that, the ancient Celts honored the seasons and observed the changes from summer to fall. After that, it became common for many cultures to celebrate the harvest around the autumn equinox, especially the Bavarians.

The festivals began during the last week of September, and it was known as Oktoberfest and included celebrations and feasting. Oktoberfest still happens in many parts of the world, as it is known to be a German festivity, but it stems from the pagan celebrations of the autumn equinox.

Mabon is the second harvest, as the first is Lammas, on August 1st. The second harvest is when many cultures gave thanks to their crops and animals for providing food. American Thanksgiving was around October 3rd, coinciding with Mabon, and Canadian Thanksgiving is always the first Monday of the month.

Many pagans celebrate Mabon in honor of “the Dark Mother” or the Crone during this sabbat, as this goddess represents the shadow side. Your shadow side is the side of you that you do not want to acknowledge because it means your dark side, the side that society shuns. The side of you that brings out anger, jealousy, resentment, and even dark thoughts and feelings is that you do not want anyone to see and don’t want to acknowledge it. However, it would be best if you embraced it because it is a component of you that makes you human. Now, let’s talk about the Mabon celebrations and how you can celebrate the sabbat, whether pagan or not.

How You Can Celebrate Mabon

Mabon is the time to pick apples, which symbolize the second harvest. Pagans do an apple harvest ritual to thank the gods for the abundant harvest. They may also set up an altar with other harvested fruits and apples, such as grapes, corn, oats, pomegranate, squash, pumpkin, potatoes, and other root vegetables. There is always a Mabon feast with friends and family, as pagans also perform a ritual to help create balance in their lives as this is a time of equal day and night, hence, the Libra season.

Therefore, if you want to celebrate Mabon, even if you are not pagan, you can utilize apples, whether you juice them, make cider, make apple pies or pastries, or even get apple-scented candles. It is also a great time to declutter and to give up something that is no longer serving you as Mabon is a great time to set intentions.

Since it is getting dark earlier than it did during the summer months, you can choose to go to bed earlier if that is what you decide to do. Since giving thanks is associated with the sabbat, it is also an excellent time to begin a gratitude journal if you have not yet already done that. It is also a great time to acknowledge your shadow side and do some shadow work. One of the ways to do that is to do a tarot reading for yourself for the Sabbat to gain some clarity.

Now that you know about Mabon and its festivities, let’s do a collective tarot reading for the sabbat and see what the cards bring out for you.

Mabon Tarot Reading for 2023

Doing shadow work is something to do during Mabon, and doing a tarot reading for yourself is one way. However, I want to do a collective Mabon tarot reading for you. Here is a four-card Mabon tarot spread, which makes it simple and concise. I got this spread from New Age Hipster, and you place four cards from left to right, as card one is on the left, and the last card, card four, is on the right. You place the cards horizontally (or you can place them in any way you choose, as there is no rule for how you position these cards).

The first card represents what has grown over the summer. The second card indicates what you want to keep, the third indicates what you want to give, and the fourth represents what you want to receive. That is pretty easy! So, I will do a spread now:

Card one: What has grown over the summer – Ace of Swords

Card two: What you want to keep: Lovers

Card three: What you want to give: Six of Pentacles

Card four: What you…