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
