The Autumn Equinox

 The trees are changing, the weather is getting colder, harvest season is wrapping up. Now is the time for cider and donuts, apple mills and hayrides. For pagans, yesterday was Mabon, a cross quarter holiday on the wheel of the year for Wiccans. It's a sort of thanksgiving.

It’s the time of ‘second harvest,’ and it’s themes center around harvest fruits. An apt symbol of this celebration is the Horn of Plenty, but most things associated with this season - gourds, pumpkins, squash, corn, grapes, apples - are fitting. In relation to nature, it’s appropriate to go out for a walk and bid good rest to the trees which are now getting ready for winter… as are most animals.

Birds are gathering to fly south, and mammals prepare their burrows for the cold to come. It’s a time to honor our aging family and friends, and to celebrate not only the bounty of harvest but the rewards of our own personal efforts. All in all, this is the time in which we reap what we sow, and give enjoy all that is good in our lives.


  Though the American concept of Thanksgiving comes later, it’s still the same idea. Though we’ve come to associate it with football and drinking beer, the tradition overall is still very similar. Granted, we might not have the perfect Rockwell dinner - the whole family gathered, a perfect turkey, etc.

But even if it's just with friends, or just alone, this is the time to be thankful for anything good you have. Most of us do our best to put together that image though - Family and friends are gathered, and there is feasting of a sort (even if that just means nachos in front of the TV). But this isn’t just a time for celebrating those close to you - it’s a time of giving back to the community.

Lots of organizations gather food and clothing donations during the Christmas season - but it‘s also important to help out others before the cold weather comes full blast.

It doesn’t matter what religion you follow - you don’t have to spend hours at a soup kitchen or volunteer to build a house (though that would be awesome) but you can take a box of dry goods or canned foods and donate them to a local organization.

Pretty much any church you go to can accept donations and take car of distribution for you - as will Salvation Army, or Goodwill, or any number of organizations available in most places.

I shared a home cooked dinner with my boyfriend’s family, and will be bringing food and drink to share with my friends later. But I’ll also be gathering some non-perishables on the weekend to take in for donation.

At the very least, take some time to give thanks for everything you have, no matter what that may mean.