Happy Mabon/Autumn Equinox
Yes, I know it was Monday. As much as I prefer to celebrate
on the actual day, we had planned our Mabon ritual for Tuesday at my
house. Then the Universe laughed. It used my boyfriend as a means to
completely change our plans and once again, my newsletter is late.
Let me tell you a story......
The Universe Laughed
I had Monday and Tuesday all planned out, after doing
my day job on Monday, I was set to come home and spend the rest of that
day and Tuesday getting my house ready for our Mabon ritual, do my own
personal ritual on Monday, and maybe even make more jewelry for the
show this weekend. The Universe laughed. My cell phone rang while I
was at work Monday and my boyfriend told me "you know how the kitchen
sink drain has been slowing up? Well I decided to plunge it to try to
open it. Now it is completely backed up and there is blackish water
all over the counter and even on the window curtains" .
Ok, this drain has been slow for months, why in the
world would he decide to do this THE DAY BEFORE I HOSTED A RITUAL!!!!
By the time I got home, he had moved everything under the kitchen sink
to various parts of the house and had thought to snake the drain. When
he took something called a j-trap off, he turned one of the nuts the
wrong way and broke it. So off to Home Depot. We bought a new j-trap
and came home. OK, I can still get this thing going if we get this done
tonight, then I have all day tomorrow to clean and be prepared. The
Universe laughed again. The part did not fit. I won't get too technical,
lets just say that mobile homes do not use standard plumbing. So off
to a place that carries those parts. Nope, it won't fit either. They
tell us of a place that sells mobile home parts, but its closed by now.
So back home to snake the drain and plan on going out tomorrow.
We both had a sense of humor, to hide the feelings of
rage (him with himself for breaking the nut and me with him for doing
this today). He started talking about some other things to be done around
the house, and I said "sure, Samhain is coming up, or you could
wait until right before Yule". Somehow we made it through the evening
without killing each other. No, I did not get my own ritual done, I
didn't get anything done that night. The next day we drove first to
New Hudson to this mobile home place (I live in Novi), and he didn't
have the part. He started telling us it was easier to redo all the plumbing
from the kitchen sink to the main drain. Yeah, that is so much easier
than driving to a few places for the right part. There was a better
fix involving cutting about an inch of pipe and gluing it, but this
guy didn't have the part to do that either. We left.
Then the Universe finally had pity and sent us to Milford/Highland
where the right piece magically appeared. We came back and he finished
it. Now all my drains work perfect and my house is a complete mess.
The ritual was moved to my sister's house. She has a
fire pit in her yard and we have done the last two holidays at her house
but this time I wasn't sure about the weather so I had planned to host
it here. So I wrote it all up, packed up what was needed, prepared myself
and drove over there. It was a beautiful night and she already had a
fire going. While we were inside getting some stuff ready, we suddenly
heard a noise. The Universe laughed again. A neighbor was mowing his
grass. At 7:30PM. The sun was setting. It was getting dark. Who mows
their grass in the dark? We sat there until 8:30 waiting for the noise
to stop. I'm serious, who mows their grass when it is dark?
Anyway, the Universe wanted us to do Mabon at my sister's
and to wait until it was dark. It used my boyfriend, a broken part,
and a neighbor's lawnmower to make us wait until the perfect time and
place.
Next time just send me a vision, OK?
Casting with Apples
Even with all this going on, I did plan a pretty cool
ritual with Demeter and Dionysus, with us giving thanks for what we
have accomplished this year and ending by toasting whatever came into
our heads. I will share the way I cast the circle as this was the first
time I did it this way and it worked great. I read in a book about using
apples to cast. Of course, I didn't like the way they did it so I changed
it to my way : )
You need apples, of course. I got a bag of Red Delicious
apples because I love the deep red color of them. You can use any apples
you want, even better if you can pick them. You need one for each quarter/direction,
and one to cast with, that makes five. Wash and consecrate them. Be
sure you have your white handled knife to cut the one you will cast
with, but do not cut it until you are ready to cast.
When you invoke north, east, south, west (I do not presume
to tell you how to call them, do what you normally do or write something
appropriate for the season), place an apple either on the ground if
outside or where you would normally place your candle. When you close
your circle and thank each direction, pick up the apple. After your
ritual, give these as offerings however it seems fit to you. If you
are outside, you could leave them where you cast. You could burn them
in your fire. I took them back to my house and threw them over a fence
into the woods for the deer, as I do often as an offering to thank the
Gods and Goddesses that help me.
Now for the casting part. Right before casting the circle,
cut the apple in half so that the star shows. I had a cloth in my hand
when I cut the apple so I wouldn't get apple juice on me (yes, I cut
it while holding it, do this carefully, or cut it on your altar). Use
one half of the apple to cast your circle, you will use the other half
to close the circle. Again, I do not presume to tell you how to cast
but I assume you walk your circle, just use the apple as you would your
athame, wand, sword, whatever you use. Once you are done casting, if
you have a fire, walk to the fire and say "as above, so below"
as you raise the apple, then drop it in the fire. If no fire, then place
it on your altar. Remember which half you cast with, and use the other
half to close your circle. This half too can be burned once the circle
is closed. If no fire, use the apple as an offering after you are done.
~~~ Laura
