NMR ISSUE 33

An Urban Wicca
Ancestors Calling
Astrological Forecast 33
Communion of With the Dead
Editorial 33
Esoteric Symbology of the Tarot
Fighting Abuse in Our Community
Gathers
Letters 33
Parrot
Prayer to the Rain Father
Samhain - An Offering to the Ancestors
The Cremation
The High Holy Day of Samhain
The Magical Flute
The Seven Faces of the Soul, Part I
The Sin of Guilt
The Spirit World
The Stealing of Wicca
The Two C's of Dark Seduction
Turtle

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An Urban Wicca: Mabon

By Alex Miller-Mignone

Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox, falls on or about September 22 and is the celebration of the second of the three Harvest Festivals. It follows Lammas, the Feast of the Harvest of Grains, and precedes Samhain, the Final Harvest of Fruits and Nuts. The harvest at Mabon is of the grape. The Eleusinian Mysteries, sacred in part to Dionysos, God of Ecstasy and the Vine, were celebrated about this time.

Mabon represents the Waning Quarter phase of the year; a period of energies focused on completion before the final release that precedes the death of the old year at Samhain and the birth of the new year at Yule. The Autumn Equinox marks the point of perfect balance between daylight and darkness, with the night poised to reclaim its ascendancy.

Astrologically the day is marked by the ingress of the sun into the tropical zodiac sign of Libra, highlighting themes of balance and relating to others. This is an especially potent moment in the turning of the Wheel of the Year—the day following the Equinox, the sun conjoins the zodiacal degree marking the position of black hole Adonis, the supermassive astrophysical anomaly at the heart of galaxy M87 which was just recently imaged by NASA. The entrance of this point (also known as the supergalactic center) into full human consciousness with the release of the Hubble Space Telescope images marks an important watershed in the awakening of cosmic consciousness in the species.

In the urban garden, as September wanes, potted sunflowers sport their final blooms. The older flowers have already gone to seed, which the birds will claim this winter. Lush stands of mint have sent up spikes of pink, white and lilac blossoms. Hyssop's slender stems show delicate dried blossoms of the palest pink. And lobelia still thrusts neon bursts of blue from withered stems burnt out by August's swelter. Gone are the balloonflowers and lantana of High Summer, replaced now with fall-blooming crocus and sedum. Mums are heading up to bloom, while impatien and caladium drowse in the late summer warmth, waiting for the first tinge of frost to wilt their broadly splayed limbs. Seemingly indestructible lemon balm still thrives in the herb garden, and sage, rosemary and thyme are entering their flavorful winter phases while basil bolts and fades away.

As the Equinox approaches we set the scene for the feast: we place huge pots of amber, rust and purple chrysanthemums at the four corners of the outside altar, which we adorn in the center with the first pumpkins and dried Indian corn of the season. We hang more clusters of corn on the front door and the garden gate in groups of three—one palest yellow, one red and one blue-black—for the Triple Goddess.

Although we need to buy pumpkins and dried corn at the local farmer's market, there is much we gather from the urban landscape. Goldenrod sends its brilliant yellow spikes skyward in the narrow fields by the railroad tracks. Close by there are stands of native aster and Michaelmas daisy, and dried spikes of cattails from the marshy vacant lots near the piers. Oaks from the parks provide a wealth of acorns, sweet gum drops its strange, unearthly-looking pods, which resemble miniature medieval maces, and chestnuts litter the sidewalks with their attractive, mahogany-red fruits. The Wiccan who is wise to the ways of the city will never lack for natural emblems of the season!

For the Equinox ritual, the garden is a blaze of light: green glass votives hang from the wooden fence and illumine the statues of Pan and Cernunnos beneath the birch; cobalt blue votives hang from porch and tree, shedding their eerie cold blue spirit light; amber votives ring the altar, where the sentinels of Samhain, a quaternary of lanky 6 tall porcelain skeletons, have made an early appearance. The revelers gather at dusk, the ritual invokes the power of balance and harmony within us, and asks it to align itself with the natural world around us, keeping us attuned in perfect rhythm.

The Feast, as always, incorporates the best the season has to offer: appetizers of baked garlic served with crusty black bread complement the first course, a smooth and delicate pumpkin ginger soup served with roasted chestnuts. The main course may be a roast of veal or a sauté of fresh sage sausage, served with potatoes and yams baked to a crispy crunch and seasoned with rosemary from the garden, Brussels sprouts with browned butter and candied carrots. Of course the meal is accompanied with fine red wine, fruity and aromatic, and special toasts made to the magick of the grape. There is a lengthy two-part dessert course, the first half consisting of an assortment of grapes, pears, apples, nuts and cheeses, before we top off the meal with a sweet blueberry buckle or apple dumpling and good hazelnut coffee.

As the Mabon season deepens, trees begin to color and drop their leaves—willow first, followed by maple, birch and oak—the Sun is noticeably lower in the sky, the nights begin to lengthen, and frosty windows greet us on occasional mornings. Slowly, as the cold increases, the garden dies back—daylilies, annuals, tender perennials—till only the hardiest sages, woodruff and thyme persist. The Harvest Moon waxes to full and rides high and gloriously in the crisp, clear nights, bathing the landscape in a spectral light that reminds us Samhain and Hallowe'en are almost here!

Alex Miller-Mignone, Urban Wicca at large, is a professional writer and astrologer, and past president of Philadelphia Astrological Society. His specialty is Galactic Astrology, which uses Deep Space points in addition to the planets and asteroids of our own solar system. His work appears frequently in The Mountain Astrologer and Welcome To Planet Earth, and he publishes a newsletter, The Galactic Calendar, eight times yearly. He can be reached for information or consultation at 627 S. 26th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19146 or (215) 735-1872.