Modern Day Autumnal Equinox - Why some won't call it Mabon

Modern Day Mabon

Okay, so Modern Day Mabon came about during the Neo-Pagan movement of the 70's by a man named Aiden Kelly. It's largely celebrated by the Wiccan community and got it's foothold in the United States, but as said in the previous post, it can be found in almost any tradition. In America, September has always had a very holy feel, so it makes sense that we would accept something like the celebration of a harvest during the equinox.

The term was coined after a Welsh, or maybe even Saxon, deity or hero who is the god of the light, Mabon ap Modron. However, this is highly debated to even true among many historians as no one can find any proof that people even worshiped someone named Mabon, however, his name does worship to "Son of the Mothers", so it's possible, but loose. Some believe it was just Kelly's attempt to find a "Pagan" name for this holiday since there really isn't anything known about the history of the Autumn Equinox  and what it was really called. This may come as a surprise to many in the community who fiercely stick to the Yearly Wheel, but that's a more recent invention.

The biggest issue are similar holiday's that have been practiced for century's like the British Harvest Home. The thing that seems to keep Mabon alive as a name is more that it just SOUNDS Pagan, Midsummer and others don't/

Now, the Autumnal Equinox does trace back to the 16th century, so we do know that this practice was real and what it stood for, but it's time varied from tradition to tradition was really just a Harvest Celebration. Which was celebrated whenever they harvested their fall crops. It being on the actual Autumnal Equinox was, again, a more modern improvement and mainly due to a the invention of the calendar.

It's simply a rose by any other name scenario. So whatever you choose to call it, enjoy it. Have a slice of pumpkin pie for me.

So who is Mabon ap Modron?

As I said above he could either be a Welsh or a Saxon king that was represented as more god-like than human and highly coveted by his people and losing his name to what is only now known as The Mothers. The Mothers are a very, very old and long forgotten part of Saxon history which is really only described as the Great Mother archetype we see in almost any religion, including Christianity.

1Now there is only one myth that includes Mabon's name and that involves King Arthur and The Wooing of Olwen. He was taken from his mother's bedside and then rescued only to be imprisoned by his uncle until he was let out to participate in this Wooing.

However, in this article that I'm siting below, it seems we may have found out who this Mabon may actually be, where he came from, and what kind of a Mother he was born of. Click the link below for more interesting lore on the Man who gave his Name for this holiday.

1 : Mabon Lore Revealed.

© 2016, Copyright The Devil & The Dame - Writer Shannon Hinojos, Dame Hexe

The History of Mabon

What is Mabon?

Mabon is the Celtic Pagan holiday that celebrates the Autumn Equinox on September 21-22, or wherever your Autumn becomes officially Autumn. Many of our current calenders go off of these same dates to mark the changes in seasons. Mabon is mainly used to commentate the harvest we have and how thankful we are before the coming winter months.

The name Mabon was only coined the in 1970's and is known by other names such as Harvest Home, Feast of the Ingathering, and Meán Fómhair. The pumpkin is especially sacred to this holiday. It was what kept many families alive to throughout the winter months because it could be kept up to 90 days without rotting and could be added to many different dishes as well as being extremely healthy and having a high concentration of iron.

The history :

The tradition is as old as time, but the name has been made only recently. The name dates back mainly to Celtic traditions, however, almost any tradition will most likely have a celebration centered around their harvest. You may have to run far back as many modern day and even ancient sects of paganism don't, such as Santeria, Palo Mayombe, and other Afro-Cuban practices. The celebrations also differ from area to area as they had different seasons at different times and even different kinds of harvests. So for the sake of this section, we'll settle on many more the European practices and those that were influenced by them.

The early Germanic Tribes would bless herbs, flowers, and foods for healing at this time. Later traditions used this time to make Mead and wines.

Anglo Saxons would sacrifice horses to Freyr and make a God bread to eat as a celebration of the wheat harvest. They also often called this time Lammas, though this is more at the beginning of August than the end of September and now has Christian ties.

England took it a little further by creating corn dolls, dunking them in water, and burning them to represent the death of the grain god. This then adapted into the Wicker Men that were constructed for vegetation sprits and burned. This was reconstructed in the Americas with the Neo-Pagan movement of the 70s.

Even the Japanese took part in these kinds of traditions by visiting their ancestors, cleaning their graves, giving offerings, and burning incense. Much similar to the Mexican Dia de los Muertos, however that takes place after Halloween.

We will go into the modern reconstruction of Mabon in our next post. Stay tuned.

Basics of Tarot - Determining the Spreads

There are many different spreads, some are three card draws, other are 12 or more.

If you read the last blog post, I said that sometimes your reading can come out wrong because you chose the wrong spread. You should get as much information around the question as possible, but you don't need to know their entire story or the entire situation around the question.

Stick to the 5 'W' & How Questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.
Who is this reading for? - Especially necessary for choosing a signifgator.
What is the question? - Is it a Yes or No? Is it Advice? Is it career, romance, etc.
When? - Is this Past, Present, or Future? Are you wanting to do a reading about something that already happened? Is it a current issue? Are you trying to accomplish something sooner or later?
Where? - Probably an odd question for a lot of people, but it does have it's place. For instance, if the person you're reading for wants to move or get a new job. Maybe a vacation. Lots of reasons to ask where.
Why? - Why do you need this answer? Why do you need this job? Why do you want this romance.
How? - How do you feel about the situation? How will this help you? How will this change you? How will this - whatever. How much information are you wanting. You get the gist by now.

By asking these questions you and your client will form an understanding on what is being asked and, therefore, what is being answered. If it's a general reading, then obviously, not all of these will be used, but you can still narrow down your spreads like this:

Career. Money. Love. Ill-luck. Moving. Family. Yes or No. Past, Present, Future. Advice. Spiritual. Physical. Everything can have it's own spread. Make sure you understand what you're looking for to choose the best.

Here are some spreads and their uses. We'll get more into the layout and understanding what the card placement means in other posts as well as discussing how the cards relate to each other and how to identify a "theme" and signifgator.

A

A Spread for Any Situation:
Tells you what it is and how to deal with it.

Annual :
Looks at your year ahead in general.

Anxiety :
What's causing it and how to overcome.

Astrological Spread 
Doesn't need a question to be asked. It's just a general self spread


B

Birthday Spread :
Helps you set goals to achieve by your next birthday and what could or couldn't work your way.

Balancing and Clearing Your Third Eye :
How and result of doing so.

C

Celtic Cross :
Looks at multiple aspects of your life and question, and is best for complicated problems.

Cross and Triangle Spread :
The Direction of your life

Career Path :
Helps you understand current problems or obstacles in the work place.

Career - 3 Card
To determine if you chose the correct career path.

Chakra :
Examines your chakras and their current state, if they need balanced or whatnot.

Challenging Children :
Helps parents deal with a child that gives them problems and insight as to why.

Child :
What a persons child was born to do and learn. Their mission in life.

Connecting to Your Spirit Guides :
Who your guide is, what they've been trying to say, and how to open up more to them.

D

Dearly Departed :
Used to contact the dead, learn from them, and how to contact them again.

Dreams

Doubts and Fears:
What is holding you back and how to overcome.

E

Empath Tarot Spread:
What's affecting you and how to clear it up, protect yourself, and all that.

Evaluating a Relationship :
Issues, challenges, strengths and that.

Expanding Your Business :
If it's a good time to expand your business. what they need to know and if its a good idea.

Ex - Lover:
If the querent has the chance to get back with an ex.

F

Finance :
Looks at your financial concerns and how to improve them.

G

God/Goddess Wisdom :
How to find your inner God/Goddess and what she wants you to do.

H

Heartache :
What is causing problems in a relationship and how to overcome them.

He She It :
A general relationship from the point of view of each partner

I

Is Love Looking For You?
self-explanatory.

J

K

L

Law of Attraction :
What kind of energy you are emitting, how to change it or make it better.

Life Direction:
Just give you an idea of where your life is currently going and tips to help.

Let Go :
Should you let go of a relationship

M

Mandala Spread:
For your spiritual side

Manifest Your Desires :
self-explanatory

Magical Love :
The One reading or to find love.

Mirror Mirror :
Looks at the relationship needs of both partners to improve it.

Missing Pet :
To find a missing pet.

Money : 
Explores current finical situation and if money will be coming their way.

Money Problems :
What is causing the problem and if help is coming.

Mountains and Molehills
Spiritual, emotional, and mental challenges being faced.

Moving :
Is it a good place to be.

Mini Rainbow :
Uses your spirit animal guide for past, present, and future

N

Never Too Late:
For an older person looking for love.

New Relationship:
If it will last and what each person brings.

O

One Question Spread :
Answers a question in general

Ongoing Relationship :
Where a current relationship is heading.

Open My Eyes :
Use if you think there is something going on that you don't know about.

Opportunities and Obstacles :
Used to answer a specific question. Looks at the past, present, and future of the situation.


P

Planetary Spread :
A general Life spread that explores multiple aspects. Can be question specific

Past Life :
How your past lives are effecting your current life.

Partnership :
Used to look at what will make the most out of a relationship and how each person can make it happen.

Past Life :
Pretty self explanatory


Q

R

Ready For Love :
For people who have been looking for a long time and haven't had luck finding love.

Reconciliation :
Is it too late to reconcile with your ex.

Relationship Spread :
Your relationship with another person

Relationship Cross :
In a relationship, but unsure of where it's going.

Relationship Problems :
What's causing the problem and possible ways to fix them.

Right Path :
Spiritual, to determine if you're on the right path in life.


S

Self Care:
What is going on and if you should do anything about it.

Seven Card Horseshoe :
answers a specific question and considers the attitudes of those involved.

Should I Stay :
relationship.

Should You? Shouldn't You?
Answers if they should or not make a specific change.

Single Card :
Used for Daily Tarot. Tells you how your day will be.

Snapshot :
Mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of your past, present, and future and how they are effecting your life cycle, or lessons.

Spiritual Guidance :
Similar to the success spread, but gives you a much broader look.

Spiritual Progress :
Looks at your current spiritual cycle and what is preventing further progression.

Soulmates :
Are they your soulmate? Relationships.

Star Guide:
This is used for a very specific question

Starting Up:
Is it a good time to start a business?

Stuck in a Rut : 
Looks at all of life's aspects and considers if anything can be done to improve the situation.

Success :
Helps you overcome an obstacle or challenge.

Suitability:
If two people are good for each other on a mental, spiritual, and emotional level.



T

Tetraktys : 
Used for general snapshot of your spiritual and physical self.

The One :

Relationship. Are they the one. 

This Month :

A look at the month in a weekly form.

This Month Expanded :

Just a broader look at the next month.

This Week :
A weekly draw with a card for each day.

Three Card Spread :

Especially great for a past, present, and future kind of question.

Tree of Life :

This analyzes your mind, body and spirit, plus your life path and psychic abilities

True Calling :

What is your life purpose 

True Friends :

Same as a true love, just with friendship.

True Love :

Evaluates your connection with your current partner on all levels.

U

Unlock Yourself :
how to find your real potential and unlock happiness and such.

V

W

Which Job :
The pros and cons of two job choices and which would be better for the querent.

Which Love :
Pros and cons of two relationship choices and which one would be best to spend time on.

X

Y

Young Love : 
Looks into a querent's child's relationship and it's love or lust.

Z

Final Notes:
This is a modpoge of different layouts I've come across. I haven't even used all of them and there are most likely DOZENS more. The best advice, pick some and try them. If they don't speak to you, then don't worry about using them.



 © 2016, Copyright Maybe It's Magic Business Blog - Writer Shannon Hinojos

Basics of Tarot - Thoth vs Raider

In the last post we talked about how Tarot readings work and how changing your life path can alter the outcome of the reading by avoiding it or by making it come true.

To further this thought, I believe this is why people struggle to trust in the cards. However, there are other ways your reading may not have met their needs or their question's needs. You could've used the wrong layout or placed the cards down incorrectly, so always make sure you understand he situation around the question as much as possible.

If it's overly broad, you can do a larger general reading such as a Celtic cross or a 6 Month Spread. Then ask them if they wanted a particular place to be read again for more information. Ask them why they are wanting a reading. Get a little background on the situation to make an informed choice on the question at hand. They, themselves, may be asking the wrong question anyway.

With that being said, let's talk about the different types of spreads and layouts available to you.

There are basically two types of tarot readers; Crowly-Thoth and Raider-Waite. Both of these come from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Crowly-Thoth:
This deck was delivered second, but don't think it's worse off for that. Thoth is a rather complex deck and comes with many, many books for reading and learning about it. This deck is more for those who are advanced. It's truly made for a student of the occult. This deck uses elemental dignity to determine the well- or ill- dignified cards in a reading. You must look too the neighbors and see if they are part of the suit or element as the others and use this to decide how each cards will be read.

Raider-Waite:
The RWS decks are mainly for beginners since it's a simple set with simple uses. You can study them and learn then quickly. It typically only comes with the one book to learn the interpretations. The RWS simplifies readings by adding in the idea of reversed cards, making it wick and easy to determine if it's ill-dignified.

The real obvious differences between the two are that the Thoth deck uses Aeon instead of the RWS' Judgement and RWS switched the placement of Justice and Strength. While the reasoning of why these cards have changed are rumored, no one for sure really knows, but choosing which deck to work with will also help which layouts work best for you as a reader.

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