Wednesday, September 10, 2014

5 Easy Decorating Ideas for Mabon

Need some quick and affordable decorating ideas for Mabon? Here are some tips on how to bring the season into your home without breaking your bank account!

the season into your home without breaking your bank account!

Apples

AppleBasket_1500.jpg
Image by Patti Wigington 2009
At Mabon, the apple season is in full bloom. In addition to being delicious, these beautiful fruits - available in so many different colors - are perfect for Mabon divination and magic. A symbol of the goddess Pomona to the ancient Romans, apples can be used in your home for decoration during the autumn equinox season. Place baskets and bowls of them around your home, as well as on your altar.
You can also use apples in a Mabon Apple Harvest Ritual. This harvest ritual is designed with solitary Wiccans and Pagans in mind, and uses the apple and its five-pointed star as the focus.
In addition to being tasty and sweet, apples are perfect for craft projects. Try one of these to decorate your home with magical apple energy:
  • Apple Candleholders: Make a set of decorative candleholders by coring out the top of a pair of apples.
  • Apple Garlands: This easy-to-make craft not only looks pretty, but will leave your home smelling delicious and welcoming!
  • Apple Butter: Brew up a pot of delicious apple butter to celebrate the harvest.

Grapevines, Leaves and Acorns

GrapevinePent_1500.jpg
Image © Patti Wigington 2007
Much like the apple, the grape is one of those fruits that has a significant amount of magic associated with it. First and foremost, the grape harvest -- and the wine that it produces -- has been associated with fertility deities like Egypt's Hathor, the lusty Roman Bacchus and his Greek counterpart, Dionysus. By the time of Mabon, grape arbors are flourishing. Vines, leaves and fruit are all usable items -- the leaves are often used in Mediterranean cooking, the vines for craft projects, and the grapes themselves are extremely versatile.
At Mabon, the leaves are beginning to change colors for the season, and look magnificent. Collect leaves from around your neighborhood in a variety of colors, and use them to decorate your altar, or make wall hangings and table runners.
If you have oak trees nearby, collect acorns - in the absence of acorns, other nuts such as hazelnuts or buckeyes are a great option - and store them in pretty glass jars tied with ribbons, place them in bowl, or string them together to make a garland.

Scarecrows

FieldScarecrow_1500.jpg
Image by Dimitri Otis/Digital Vision/Getty Images
Although they haven't always looked the way they do now, scarecrows have been around a long time and have been used in a number of different cultures. Put one in your front yard or garden to keep the crows out of the crop, or make a smaller one to place on your altar: Scarecrow History.

Handcrafts


Image (c) Patti Wigington 2007
Mabon is a time of balance, prosperity and renewal, and it's a good time to tap into your creative talents to decorate your home. Take advantage of the season and make:
  • Mabon Incense: Make this magical blend of harvest incense to use during your Mabon rites and ceremonies.
  • Make a Mabon Cleansing Wash: Brew up a batch of this cleansing wash using herbs from your fall garden -- you can use it as a facial cleanse, or to purify your ritual space.
  • Mabon Prosperity Candles: Mabon is the second of the harvest festivals, and a great time to draw abundance into your life. Celebrate the blessings of the season with a little bit of candle magic designed to bring prosperity your way.
  • Make a God's Eye at Mabon: God's eyes are popular decorations to make in nearly every spiritual path. By using harvest colors like reds, oranges, yellows and browns, you can create one for Mabon to hang in your home or to adorn your altar.
  • How to Make Pokeberry Ink: Want to make your own ink to use in magical workings? Try the toxic but lovely pokeberry, which blooms around Mabon each year!

Pumpkins and Gourds

PumpkinCandles_1500.jpg
Image by Patti Wigington 2007
Although carved pumpkins, in the form of Jack O'Lanterns are typically associated with Samhain later in the fall, the pumpkin patches are overflowing at Mabon. These and other gourds and members of the squash family make a great addition to your equinox decorating. Place pumpkins on your porch and baskets of squash in your kitchen, or place miniature versions of them on your altar or workspace.
Also, be sure to check out some of our pumpkin and gourd themed craft ideas:
  • Easy Pumpkin Candles: Everyone loves candles, and with Mabon coming you can make your own candles out of small pumpkins and squashes.
  • Painted Pentacle Pumpkins: Paint up some festive pentacle pumpkins for your Mabon celebrations!
  • Kitchen Witch: Use a baby butternut or any other fall vegetable to make a kitchen witch to watch over your hearth and home.
Be sure to read up on some ideas for decorating your Sabbat altar here: Decorating Your Mabon Altar

1 comment: