I love the Harvest festivals. I love fall. I love the changing colors and how the air smells when the weather changes for the worst. The climate is semi-arid where I live, so cold days can be managable. It’s usually the wind that gets us in the winter. And September and October can still be warm months. November is really when the autumn settles in.
Needless to say then, we don’t celebrate the harvest festivals because of our harvest, though there is plenty of that around. I don’t do it, but the roadside stands offering pumpkins and squash, corn and funny-shaped gourds polkadot the main streets of my city. I have yet to purchase a nearly obligatory something, but we just had our Mabon celebration in my local community, and it was beautiful, making me want to go get one. Maybe two.
Maybe it’s my darker liking of the different Sabbats, but I find the story of the wounded and dying god much more realistic and beautiful than some of the more fluffy messages that creep out of Ostara and Imbolc. Granted, I’ll probably change my tune around February when I’m ready for warm weather again, but I’ll burn that bridge when I get there.
Happy Equinox, happy Mabon, whatever you celebrate this week, make it happy!
