Here are some articles from the eHOW pages on "How to Celebrate Mabon"

How to Celebrate Mabon

By Laura Gyre, eHow Contributor

In many modern pagan traditions, Mabon is the name given to the autumnal equinox, which is celebrated as one of the eight major sabbaths, or holidays. This holiday occurs in late September in the northern hemisphere, and is the second of the three harvest festivals, which begin with Lughnasadh and end with Samhain or Halloween. Traditionally, festivals celebrated at this time of year were also known as Harvest Home or Thanksgiving.

Difficulty: Easy

Celebrate Mabon with arts, crafts, games and other skilled activities. The second harvest festival marks the time when the focus on outdoor summer activities begins to decrease, and the focus on indoor activities increases. Also, many modern people have associations with this season as the beginning of the school year. It's a great time to start some new projects to work on through the winter.
Spend some time thinking about your career or calling at this time of year. Is your job satisfying to you? Are there any steps you could take to commemorate the occasion by moving ahead in your work, beginning a course or study or switching to a more fulfilling profession? It's an auspicious holiday for new directions in education and work.
Have a harvest meal. Many people like to celebrate Mabon with a Thanksgiving-like meal, since it is the most abundant time of year for late summer and autumn foods. On the other hand, a simple meal can also go well with the contemplative nature of this time of year. Serve seasonal foods like breads, soups, herbs and apples.
Preserve fresh foods. Celebrate Mabon with the seasonal tradition of stocking up your pantry with the summer foods that will soon be gone. It's a great time of year for canning, freezing, drying, and making jams, soup stocks, and herbal blends. Preparing these foods for winter is a visceral way to get involved in the turning of the seasons, even though food is now available throughout the winter.
Spend time outside. The focus may be shifting to indoor activities, but the nice weather isn't over yet! Enjoy the cooler days and the bright fall colors. Pick up some red and yellow leaves and other seasonal items for decorating your home or altar, or incorporating in craft projects.

How to celebrate the Harvest Festival Mabon

By homeschoolwitch, eHow Member

User-Submitted Article

Mabon or Autumn Equinox is celebrated by many pagans each year around September 22nd. As a Harvest Festival, this Sabbath acknowledges the equal length of night and day.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You'll Need:

varies upon interest

Decorate your home and altar in autumn colors, such as gold, orange-red, copper and bronze.
Typical altar cloth colors for this season is gold, but varies by tradition.
Celebrate with a simple ritual. Possible ritual themes are harvest and thanksgiving, the changing of the season, and the preparation for the dark part of the year.
Using special incenses and oils associated with the season is also a great aspect to incorporate into your celebration. Sage, rosemary, marigolds, and apples can be used here.
The Equinox Feast, similar to the traditional Thanksgiving of the US, can make use of the now harvested foods and herbs, for example by preparing dishes with apple, squash and pumpkins and meat dishes that are made with the robust flavors of the seasons herbs.
Activities such as making wreaths decorated with ribbons, accorns and cinamon sticks are fun, and can beautify your home, quickly and inexpensively.

Herb of the Month

Frankincense

(from Book of Shadows: Journey of a Solitary Witch Blog )

This is an aromatic resin from any of the four main species of deciduous trees in the Boswellia genus. They come in the form of small bushes and trees of moderate size with compound leaves and grow in a wide variety of environments, though the most aromatic varieties come from more arid regions. The flowers are yellowish-white with five petals. The resin comes from cuts in the tree which allow the sap to bubble out and harden . This is done when they are about 8 to 10 years of age. It has been a valuable trade item for thousands of years and used in rituals for just as long.

Latin Name:
Boswellia Carterii

Folk Names: Olibanum, Olibanus, Olibans

Element: Fire

Gender: Masculine

Planet: The Sun

Deities: Ra, Baal

Magical Uses:

Frankincense is often added to other magical mixtures in order to increase their potency due to the powerful vibrations of energy that are released from it when it is burned. These intense energies drive away negative energies and evil so it has been used throughout the ages for purification and exorcism. With this in mind we can see that it also an excellent choice for preventative measures such as that of protection. The strong vibrations produced by frankincense make it an excellent choice in meditation incenses and also in mixtures used to promote spiritual growth as well as to induce visions.

Medicinal Uses:

The resin has long been used in the Ayurvedic medicine of India and the bark has been used in Africa to treat fever, gastrointestinal distress and rheumatism. Studies are currently under way to test the resin, and its chemical derivatives, for treating chronic inflammatory diseases and one study claims the incense may work similarly to a psychoactive drug to reduce depression and anxiety, a correlation to its magical uses that cannot be easily ignored.

Folklore:

The resin was once burned as an offering to the sun god Ra in ancient Egypt on a daily basis at sunrise. As many people know, this was one of two magical resins presented to Jesus in the story of his birth by the Magi or “wise men”, who were traditionally wizards from the east. It has also been in use by the Catholic church as an incense, probably for this reason. It is also used in the Jewish tradition. Its appearance in these stories, and its current use by the church, is obviously influenced by its extensive use for thousands of years before they were written.

Spell - A - Week

Blowing Darts

(from Gypsy Magic Blog)

This is a spell to break and remove all the bad energy, negativity, bad luck, hexes, and etc. that others have put on you, or that you have inadvertently collected or allowed.

You will need:

1 white candle
1 smudge stick OR 1 generous handful of dried sage leaves (not the powder)
1 lemon (lemon essential oil - or pure lemon juice will also work)
1 paper plate
black marker or pen
13 straight pins
1 black cloth - the size of a large handkerchief
1 egg
1 potato

Making the spell:

Gather your supplies
Get centered
Draw an "eye of protection" on the paper plate with the black marker or pen.
Cut the lemon in half and rub it briskly over the candle until the candle is coated with the juice, wipe your hands on the black cloth.
Now, light the candle.
Next light the smudge stick, OR if you are using dried sage, place the leaves into a fireproof container and light them so that they begin to smolder and smoke.

Once you have some good smoke, take the potato and submerge it in the smoke using a circular, counterclockwise motion.
When the potato seems well fumigated, set it down on the paper plate and cover it with the black cloth.
Insert the 13 stick pins through the cloth into the potato.
Crack the egg over the cloth covered pinned potato and let the egg slide off of it and onto the plate.
Blow on each stick pin and into the potato. As you do this, recite the incantation, saying it louder each time, until you feel the negative energy has left you and transferred into the potato.

The Incantation:

Thirteen pins in the poppet,
Hex be broken. Now I stop it.
Curse be over. Curse be done.
I succeed. I have won.
Bad luck stays within the black.
I am not under attack.
Curse be buried and destroyed.
My life it is now filled with joy!

Dispersing the bad energy:

Unwrap the cloth, being careful to keep the pins intact. If a pin does not come out with the cloth, but stays embedded in the potato, you'll have to re-do the spell.

This is important. The potato and the black cloth with the pins in it must be disposed of separately, far from your home. The paper plate should be burned, along with whatever remains of the sage. It's also important to dispose of the lemon (if you used one) and the shell from the egg.

Ideally, the black cloth with the pins will be dropped at a crossroads NOT near your home; the paper plate and the sage burned - their ashes scattered to the four winds; and the potato tossed into a river or sent out with the tide.

Alternatively, the items could be buried near a crossroads (just be sure that the potato and the black cloth are buried separately and at a good distance from one another). Do not bury any of the items in your own back yard!

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