Madron 2021

The other week it was Madron, (more commonly known as Mabon and the Autumn Equinox). It was Wednesday 22nd September this year. I was going to do a post last weekend, but was a bit busy, so I'm doing it today instead. :)

As I mentioned in the Madron Round-up + Autumn Baking post, my usual celebration for this sabbat is baking. This year I made some gingerbread muffins. You can see the recipe here: https://simplybeautifuleating.com/2020/10/05/super-moist-gingerbread-muffins/

They are kind of like some I made in 2019. As with those, I substituted the banana for apple sauce, since I don't like bananas. I also used treacle because it's easier to get here in the UK than molasses and it's similar. I made a few other substitutions too- mixed spices rather than cloves and nutmeg, "ordinary" milk instead of cocount or nut and sea salt rather than kosher. If you don't have or don't want to use kosher salt, here is a guide about what type you can use instead: https://www.acouplecooks.com/kosher-salt-substitute/

I made cream cheese frosting, using the one from the James Martin White chocolate Easter cake I like. I've used that frosting in the past and it goes well with ginger things. Here's a direct link to the cake and frosting recipe: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/frosted-white-chocolate-easter-cake

The muffins were quite nice and the substitutions worked ok. They were a bit heavy when first done but "settled" the next day. Here's a picture: 

 

Madron Round-up + Autumn Baking

Madron (aka Mabon and the Autumn Equinox) is coming up. This year it is on Wednesday 22nd September. 

For the past few years, I've written celebration ideas and inspiration posts for Madron. For 2021 I'm doing a round-up post, like I have for the last few sabbats this year. I also thought it would be good to include an autumn baking section, so see below for that! :)

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it's nearly time for Oestara aka Ostara/the Spring Equinox. You may like these posts with ideas for celebrating:

Oestara/Spring Equinox Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/03/oestaraspring-equinox-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Oestara + Spring: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/03/celebrating-oestara-spring.html

Oestara Celebration Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/03/oestara-celebration-inspiration.html

Oestara + Spring Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/03/oestara-spring-inspiration.html

Happy Oestara!: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/03/happy-oestara.html

 

Madron (more commonly known as Mabon, but I first heard of it as Madron) is the 2nd harvest festival on the Wheel of the Year. It comes after Lammas (around 1st August) and before Samhain (on 31st October). It's also the Autumn Equinox which marks the "official" start of autumn. On this date day and night are roughly equal. This year the scientific time of the Autumn Equinox will be 3.20pm EDT/7.20pm UTC/ 8.20pm BST/UK time. You can work out your local time compared to universal here: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/universal-time/

Themes of this sabbat include balance, letting go, gratitude and of course, harvest.

 

Lammas 2021

Last weekend it was Lammas (Sunday 1st August, although some people may celebrate on 31st July or 2nd Aug). As I mentioned in the Lammas Round-up post, I baked my usual gingerbread this year and also bread. 

I used the BBC Food recipe for the gingerbread, which I've used for the past couple of years (since they stopped putting a recipe on the back of the Tesco light brown soft sugar packet!). You can see it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gingerbread_men_99096

At the last minute I couldn't find the medium sized gingerbread cutter, so I ended up making mini gingerbread men/people and some round ones! I iced them as usual. Here's a pic:

 

 

Lammas Round-up

 

Lammas is coming up once again! It's my favourite sabbat apart from Samhain, so I'm looking forward to it. :) This year's it's on Sunday 1st August, or Saturday if you celebrate on 31st July. (Some people celebrate from sundown to sundown on both days, and others may have their celebration on 2nd August, which corresponds to Imbolg, its opposite on the Wheel.) The astrological time of Lammas is Saturday 7th August this year.

For the past few years, I've written posts with ideas for celebrating Lammas. This year I'm doing a round-up like I previously did for Beltane and Litha/the Summer Solstice. I'm sharing my past Lammas posts as well as links from other sites. :)

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it's almost Imbolg/Imbolc! Check out my Imbolg celebration ideas here:

Imbolg Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/01/imbolg-celebration-ideas.html

Imbolg Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/01/imbolg-inspiration.html

More Imbolg Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/01/more-imbolg-inspiration.html

Ideas for Imbolg: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/01/ideas-for-imbolg.html

 

 

 

Lammas, also known as Lughnasadh, is the first harvest festival on the Wheel of the Year (the others are Madron in September and Samhain in October) and the last one associated with summer. It marks the transition from summer to autumn, although the "official" start of autumn won't be until Madron (more commonly known as Mabon) aka the Autumn Equinox.

 

It is also called Lughnasadh since it is the festival of the Celtic God Lugh, (described as a Sun and Corn God, among other things) whose power is waning at this time. In some beliefs the God is sacrificed at Lammas  and re-born at Yule aka the Winter Solstice in December.  He is also known as the Green Man/John Barleycorn in some traditions. You can read more about Lugh here: https://www.otsnews.co.uk/lughnasadh-ancient-time-of-the-harvest/

 

Spring-Summer Update

It's already July, so it's time for my Spring-Summer update! I decided that this year I would do quarterly "season to season" update posts. You can see my Winter-Spring Update here (also a Beltane post): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/04/winter-spring-update-beltane-round-up.html

 

Easter was on 4th April this year. I didn't write a separate Easter post, but as I said in the Winter-Spring Update, I will cover it in this post. :)

This Easter I made an ice cream cake for a change. The recipe is from Apply To Face Blog and you can see it here: https://applytofaceblog.com/easy-ice-cream-birthday-cake/

This was a birthday cake for the blogger Jenny's son but it's good for any occasion. It's simple to make, although it does it have to be frozen overnight before decorating. It was quite nice. I wasn't sure about the cream on top because I'm not keen on it, but it does blend well with the ice cream! I put Cadbury Mini Eggs on top like I usually do with my Easter cakes. Here's a pic:

 

 

Litha 2021

Last Monday (21st June) it was Litha aka Midsummer/the Summer Solstice. (Or if you're in North America it was Sunday the 20th for you.) :) As I mentioned in the Litha Round-up post, I usually celebrate by having salad and lemonade. This year I made my usual tomato and onion salad and "Hello Kitty" lemonade.

The tomato and onion salad is a recipe from The Kitchen Witch book by Soraya. This year I used red onion, like I did for Litha 2019. I decided to use red onion after I made Kachumbari (Kenyan tomato and onion salad) for Beltane that year. 

I had my salad with some food from the shops- chicken drumsticks, ciabatta bread (I wanted that for Beltane but couldn't find any), potato salad and coleslaw. I had the lemonade with my lunch too. The lemonade is a recipe from a Hello Kitty book! You can see it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2013/08/summer-drinks.html

Here are a couple of pictures:

Sorry the picture isn't the best light!

Litha Round-up

                             

Litha aka Midsummer/the Summer Solstice is coming up! In 2021 it's on Monday 21st June (or Sunday 20th North American time). For the past few years, I've written posts with celebration and inspiration ideas. This year I'm doing a round-up post, like the one I did for Beltane 2021. I'm sharing my previous Litha posts and linking to some from other people. :) 

 

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it's nearly Yule  so you may like these posts:

Yule Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/yule-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Yule + Christmas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/12/celebrating-yulechristmas.html
 

Yule Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/06/litha-inspiration_17.html

 

More Yule Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/12/more-yule-inspiration.html 

Litha is the 2nd festival associated with summer on the Wheel of the Year. It comes after Beltane in late April/early May, (although Beltane is a spring festival that also marks the shift towards summer) and precedes Lammas in late July/early August, (which is an end of summer sabbat and the first harvest festival) and is always around 21st June. Its themes include the celebration of light, summer, fire and abundance. Litha is also a water festival in some traditions.

This sabbat represents possibility to me as well. It's also called the Summer Solstice since it takes place on the longest day of the year. The June solstice is an astrological event though, when in the Northern Hemisphere we get the most amount of light. Litha is a pagan festival celebrated on the same day.