Celebrating Madron!

Madron aka Mabon/the Autumn Equinox is nearly here! This year it's on Friday 23rd September (or Thursday 22nd Sept depending on your time zone; see below). For the past few years, I've written posts with inspiration and celebration ideas. Last year I did a round-up of my previous Madron posts. During 2022 I've been doing posts sharing some links and ideas for the sabbats, rather than doing in-depth ones, so this year's Madron post is similar. (I previously did a post called Happy Madron! in 2016, so the title for this one is different to the other 2022 posts.)

I normally post on Sunday or Monday but didn't manage to get this finished yesterday, so I'm posting on a Tuesday. :)

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it's almost time for Oestara aka Ostara/the Spring Equinox. You may like my Oestara Round-up post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/03/oestara-round-up.html

 

Madron is the 2nd harvest festival on the Wheel of the Year, coming after Lammas (around 1st August) and before Samhain (which takes place on 31st October and was the precursor for Hallowe'en). It's also the Autumn Equinox which is often thought of as the "official" start of autumn.

The Autumn Equinox is when day and night are equal (or roughly equal), the opposite to the Spring Equinox (also known as Oestara/Ostara) in March. (In the Southern Hemisphere it's reversed, so their Spring Equinox is in September and their Autumn Equinox is in March.) It also marks the astronomical start of autumn (the metrological start was on 1st September).

Saying Goodbye to Summer, Moving into Autumn

We're now in September and autumn is starting. It seems to have come around quickly again! Back in February I wrote a post called Saying Goodbye to Winter, Moving into Spring, so I thought it would be good to do one for the opposite end of the seasonal wheel. :)

I tend to find moving from winter into spring an easier transition than going from summer into autumn, because summer is my favourite season and I feel more depressed during the winter. Spring is a hopeful time for me, whereas in autumn I feel sad because things are ending. Autumn is a beautiful time of year though!

I've previously written some posts on getting ready for autumn, which you can read at the links below:

Getting Ready for Autumn: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/09/getting-ready-for-autumn.html

Celebrating Madron + Autumn: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/09/celebrating-madron-autumn.html

Summer Photos + Preparing for Autumn: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/09/summer-photos-preparing-for-autumn.html

 

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, spring is beginning. You might like my Saying Goodbye to Winter, Moving into Spring post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/02/saying-goodbye-to-winter-moving-into.html

 

I'm going to share a few thoughts on shifting into autumn, like I did with my post about moving into spring. As I've mentioned before, there are two dates which are considered the start of autumn (as with all the seasons)- meteorological autumn which is 1st September and astronomical autumn which is on the day of the Autumn Equinox (around 21st September). In the UK we tend to go by the astronomical start of the seasons.

Some of us with pagan beliefs/interests also celebrate the festival of Madron (more commonly known as Mabon) on the Autumn Equinox.  This year Madron/the Autumn Equinox is on 23rd Sept. You can read more about it here https://inews.co.uk/news/autumn-start-when-2022-why-uk-dates-first-day-season-autumnal-equinox-1826584