Origins of the Word Mabon

In Welsh folklore, there is a figure known as Mabon ap Modron, or Mabon son of Modron. He appears in some of the Arthurian legends, as one of Uther Pendragon’s loyal servants, and as a follower of Arthur himself.

Also of note, there was a female Cornish saint named Mabyn, to whom the founding of St. Mabyn’s Church is dedicated, although there is speculation that the church was actually started by the Welshman, Mabon, rather than the female martyred saint. Mabyn’s festival is celebrated on November 18, approximately halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice.

There is much discussion in the Pagan community as to whether one of these figures provide the name of the autumn equinox holiday, Mabon. Interestingly, it appears that the tradition of calling the autumn equinox by the name Mabon goes back only to around 1970, when author Aidan Kelley wrote was gathering information for his 1991 book, Crafting the Art of Magic, and assigned new names to the Sabbats, most of which were rooted in Celtic lore. The purpose, Kelly has said, was to conceptualize modern Pagan religious ceremonies.

Historian Ronald Hutton has pointed out that there is no academic evidence indicating that ancient Celts called their equinox celebration Mabon.

In Druidic traditions, the autumn equinox was referred to as Alban Elfed, meaning the light of the water. This name refers to a time of year in which the balance of light and dark shifts, so that the darkness begins to take over.

Celtic Tree Month Of Hazel Begins Today

The Hazel Moon was known to the Celts as Coll, which translates to "the life force inside you". This is the time of year when Hazelnuts are appearing on the trees, and are an early part of the harvest. Hazelnuts are also associated with wisdom and protection. Hazel is often associated in Celtic lore with sacred wells and magical springs containing the salmon of knowledge. This is a good month to do workings related to wisdom and knowledge, dowsing and divination, and dream journeys. If you're a creative type, such as an artist, writer, or musician, this is a good month to get your muse back, and find inspiration for your talents. Even if you normally don't do so, write a poem or song this month.

Legends and Lore of Bees

In the middle of spring, a magical thing begins to happen outside. In addition to the greening of the earth, we notice a change in the local wildlife. Suddenly, squirrels and chipmunks are everywhere.

Birds are twittering away madly in the trees, worms are popping up right and left in the soil, and everywhere you look, life has returned. In particular, you'll see bees buzzing around your garden, partaking of the rich pollen in your flowers and herbs. The plants are in full bloom at this time of the spring, and the bees take full advantage, buzzing back and forth, carrying pollen from one blossom to another.

In addition to providing us with honey and wax, bees are known to have magical properties, and they feature extensively in folklore from many different cultures. These are just a few of the legends about bees:

• In some areas of New England and Appalachia, it was believed that once someone died, it was important for the family to "go tell the bees" of the death. Whoever kept the bees for the family would make sure the bees got the news, so that they could spread it around.
• Ancient Egyptian pharaohs used the honeybee as the royal symbol, during the period between 3000 b.c.e. and 350 b.c.e.
• The Greeks believed that a baby whose lips were touched by a bee would become a great poet or speaker.
• If a bee flies into your house, it means that someone is coming to visit. If you kill the bee, the visitor will bring you bad news.
• Several deities are associated with bees and honey - Aphrodite, Vishnu, Pan, Cybele, and Ra, just to name a few.
• Ever hear the phrase "busy as a bee"? Bees in a hive work repetitively a the same task all day long. A bee who goes out foraging may fly as many as ten miles a day, gathering pollen and nectar to bring back to the hive, over and over again. According to the National Honey Board, a bee may visit more than two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just one pound of honey. Thus, bees are associated with hard work and diligence.
• If a bee lands on your hand, it means money is coming your way.
• Bees are, in some cultures, associated with purity. This is because the worker bees that produce honey never mate.
• Author J.K. Rowling named Professor Albus Dumbledore for an archaic English word related to bees. She says that when writing, she imagined the headmaster of Hogwarts "wandering around the castle humming to himself," and so chose to associate his name with bees.
• In Celtic mythology, the bee is a messenger between our world and the spirit realm. Bees are also associated with wisdom.
• Bees and honey appear in the Norse eddas, often connected with Yggdrasil, the World Tree.

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Rabbit Magic and Lore

Spring equinox is a time for fertility and sowing seeds, and so nature's fertility goes a little crazy. The rabbit -- for good reason -- is often associated with fertility magic and sexual energy.

So how did we get the notion that a rabbit comes around and lays colored eggs in the spring? The character of the "Easter bunny" first appeared in 16th-century German writings, which said that if well-behaved children built a nest out of their caps or bonnets, they would be rewarded with colored eggs. This legend became part of American folklore in the 18th century, when German immigrants settled in the eastern U.S.

In medieval societies in Europe, the March hare was viewed as a major fertility symbol -- this is a specific species of rabbit that is nocturnal most of the year, but in March when mating season begins, there are bunnies everywhere all day long. The female of the species is superfecund and can conceive a second litter while still pregnant with a first. As if that wasn't enough, the males tend to get frustrated when rebuffed by their mates (go figure) and bounce around erratically when discouraged.

Ever hear the phrase "mad as a March hare"? There's a reason for that -- this is the time of year when rabbits tend to go a bit bonkers. Although the phrase itself is often attributed to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland adventures, it actually appears much earlier. A similar expression is found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in the Friar's Tale:

For though this man were wild as is a hare,
To tell his evil deeds I will not spare.

Later, it appears in both the writings of Sir Thomas More, and in a 16th-century book of proverbs.
So how can you channel this frantic, fertile energy into a magical working? Let's look at some possible uses for some of that "mad March hare" energy in magic.

• Fertility rituals: place a rabbit skin under your bed to bring fertility and abundance to your sexual activities. If you're opposed to the use of real fur, use some other symbol of the rabbit that you're more comfortable with.
• The obvious one -- a rabbit's foot is said to bring good luck to those who carry it, although one might argue that it's not so lucky for the rabbit.
• To bring yourself boundless energy, carry a talisman engraved or painted with a rabbit's image.
• If you have wild rabbits or hares that live in your yard, leave them an offering of lettuce, shredded carrots, cabbage, or other fresh greens. In some magical traditions, the wild rabbit is associated with the deities of spring.
• Rabbits and hares are able to go to ground quickly if in danger. Add a few rabbit hairs to a witch bottle for protection magic.
• In some legends, rabbits and hares are the messengers of the underworld -- after all, they come and go out of the earth as they please. If you're doing a meditation that involves an underworld journey, call upon the rabbit to be your guide.

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Legend and Lore Of Owls

Owls are a bird that features prominently in the myths and legends of a variety of cultures. These mysterious creatures are known far and wide as symbols of wisdom, omens of death, and bringers of prophecy. In some countries, they are seen as good and wise, in others they are a sign of evil and doom to come. There are numerous species of owls, and each seems to have its own legends and lore. Let's look at some of the best-known bits of owl folklore and mythology.

Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom, and is often portrayed with an owl as companion. Homer relates a story in which Athena gets fed up with the crow, who is a total prankster. She banishes the crow as her sidekick, and instead seeks out a new companion. Impressed with the owl’s wisdom, and levels of seriousness, Athena chooses the owl to be her mascot instead. The specific owl that represented Athena was called the Little Owl, Athene noctua, and it was a species found in great numbers inside places like the Acropolis. Coins were minted with Athena’s face on one side, and an owl on the reverse.

There are a number of Native American stories about owls, most of which related to their association with prophecy and divination. The Hopi tribe held the Burrowing Owl as sacred, believing it to be a symbol of their god of the dead. As such, the Burrowing Owl, called Ko’ko, was a protector of the underworld, and things that grew in the earth, such as seeds and plants. This species of owl actually nests in the ground, and so was associated with the earth itself.

The Inuit people of Alaska have a legend about the Snowy Owl, in which Owl and Raven are making each other new clothes. Raven made Owl a pretty dress of black and white feathers. Owl decided to make Raven a lovely white dress to wear. However, when Owl asked Raven to allow her to fit the dress, Raven was so excited that she couldn’t hold still. In fact, she jumped around so much that Owl got fed up and threw a pot of lamp oil at Raven. The lamp oil soaked through the white dress, and so Raven has been black ever since.

In many African countries, the owl is associated with sorcery and baneful magic. A large owl hanging around a house is believed to indicate that a powerful shaman lives within. Many people also believe that the owl carries messages back and forth between the shaman and the spirit world.
In some places, nailing an owl to the door of a house was considered a way to keep evil at bay. The tradition actually began in ancient Rome, after owls foretold the deaths of Julius Caesar and several other Emperors. The custom persisted in some areas, including Great Britain, up through the eighteenth century, where an owl nailed to a barn door protected the livestock within from fire or lightning.

The owl was known as a harbinger of bad tidings and doom throughout Europe, and put in appearances as a symbol of death and destruction in a number of popular plays and poems. For instance, Sir Walter Scott wrote:

Birds of omen dark and foul,
Night-crow, raven, bat, and owl,
Leave the sick man to his dream --
All night long he heard your scream.

Even before Scott, William Shakespeare wrote of the owl’s premonition of death in both MacBeth and Julius Caesar.

Much of Appalachian tradition can be traced back to the Scottish Highlands (where the owl was associated with the cailleach) and English villages that were the original homes of mountain settlers. Because of this, there is still a good deal of superstition surrounding the owl in the Appalachian region, most of which are related to death. According to mountain legends, an owl hooting at midnight signifies death is coming. Likewise, if you see an owl circling during the day, it means bad news for someone nearby. In some areas, it is believed that owls flew down on Samhain night to eat the souls of the dead.

If you find an owl feather, it can be used for a variety of purposes. The Zuni tribe believed that an owl feather placed in a baby’s crib kept evil spirits away from the infant. Other tribes saw owls as bringers of healing, so a feather could be hung in the doorway of a home to keep illness out. Likewise, in the British Isles, owls were associated with death and negative energy, so feathers can be used to repel those same unpleasant influences.

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Happy Halloween/Samhain History

Samhain -- The fields are bare, the leaves have fallen from the trees, and the skies are going gray and cold. It is the time of year when the earth has died and gone dormant. Every year on October 31 (or May 1, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere) the Sabbat we call Samhain presents us with the opportunity to once more celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth. For many Pagan and Wiccan traditions, Samhain is a time to reconnect with our ancestors, and honor those who have died. This is the time when the veil between our world and the spirit realm is thin, so it's the perfect time of year to make contact with the dead. You may want to take a moment to read up on:

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Rituals and Ceremonies

Depending on your individual spiritual path, there are many different ways you can celebrate Samhain, but typically the focus is on either honoring our ancestors, or the cycle of death and rebirth. This is the time of year when the gardens and fields are brown and dead. The nights are getting longer, there's a chill in the air, and winter is looming. We may choose to honor our ancestors, celebrating those who have died, and even try to communicate with them. Here are a few rituals you may want to think about trying for Samhain -- and remember, any of them can be adapted for either a solitary practitioner or a small group, with just a little planning ahead.

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Lore

Samhain is the third and final harvest, the harvest of meat. The Old King is dead, and the Crone Goddess mourns him greatly during the next six weeks. The sun is at its lowest point on the horizon as measured by the ancient standing stones of Britain and Ireland, the reason the Celts chose this sabbat rather than Yule as their new year. To the ancient Celts, this holiday divided the year into two seasons, Winter and Summer. Samhain is the day on which the Celtic New Year and winter begin together, so it is a time for both beginnings and endings.

It is also the day we honor our dead. Now, while the veil between the worlds is thinnest, those who have died in the past year and those who are to be reincarnated pass through. The doors of the sidhe-mounds are open, and neither human nor faery need any magickal passwords to come and go. Our ancestors, the blessed dead, are more accessible, more approachable during the time of the dying of the land. Samhain is a day to commune with the dead and a celebration of the eternal cycle of reincarnation.

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Altar

Altar candles should be orange (represents magick of fire and remainder of fire in autumn leaves), black (collects and absorbs light and keeps you warm), white (sends out energy), silver, and gold (represents Moon and Sun).

Incense may be myrrh or patchouli

Decorate with autumn flowers, small pumpkins, Indian corn, and gourds

Cauldron with black votive candle for petition magick (for writing resolutions on a strip of paper and burning in the candle flame)

Divination or scrying devises -- tarot, obsidian ball, pendulum, runes, oghams, Ouija boards, black cauldron or bowl filled with black ink or water, or magick mirror, to name a few

An animal horn, feather or talon as a power symbol (Samhain is tradtionally the meat harvest)

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Herbs

Rosemary (for remembrance of our ancestors)

Mullein seeds (a projection for abundance) 

Mugwort (to aid in divination)

rue, calendula, sunflower petals and seeds, pumpkin seeds, turnip seeds, apple leaf, sage, mushrooms, wild ginseng, wormwood, tarragon, bay leaf, almond, hazelnut, passionflower, pine needles, nettle, garlic, hemlock cones, mandrake root

At Samhain, witches once gave one another acorns as gifts. During the Burning Times, giving someone an acorn was a secret means of telling that person you were a witch. Acorns are fruits of the oak, one of the most sacred trees to the ancient Celts. They are symbols of protection, fertility, growth, values, and friendship.

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Stones

Black obsidian, smoky quartz, jet, amber, pyrite, garnet, granite, clear quartz, marble, sandstone, gold, diamond, iron, steel, ruby, hematite, brass

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Spells

At Samhain, witches cast spells to keep anything negative from the past -- evil, harm, corruption, greed -- out of the future. Cast spells to psychically contact our deceased forebears and retrieve ancient knowledge, thus preserving the great Web that stretches through many generations of human families.

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Happy Halloween from the Crafty Witch family to yours!

-The Crafty Witch