THE INNER HARVEST: A Mabon Ritual & Autumn Equinox Journaling Practice

for gratitude, reflection, balance & release 🍂

September has arrived and I am, unsurprisingly, very excited about it.

Virgo season. Cooler evenings. Warmer clothes, warmer drinks, warmer colors, warmer heart, warmer everything, at least on the inside, while everything on the outside turns cooler and crisper. The first hints of autumn. The feeling that the whole world is getting ready to move forward and turn back inward.

I have always felt like September is a kind of second spring. Maybe I am biased, because I am in fact a Virgo, or maybe it's because September has that delicious fresh start feeling after that liminal space that summer is. There’s something about this month that makes me want to clear all my decks, declutter my drawers, deep-clean every nook and cranny of my home, reorganize my life top-down, light approximately 47 candles per room and completely reset who I am at my core.

That might be an exaggeration, but it also might not. It truly is that serious!

September sits at such a beautiful threshold. Summer is not quite fully gone, autumn is beginning to make itself known undeniably. The days are slowly shortening and the earth is moving from outward growth towards gathering, preserving, replenishing and resting. It’s a time of change, of transition, of shifts, it’s the time where the wheel’s turning starts gaining momentum and the energy picks up again.

Even though Fall is technically associated with death, and the journey into the underworld, it has never felt quite like death or endings to me, but much rather like a second spring, a second chance at a fresh start.

And this is where Mabon comes in.

🍂 A LITTLE MABON LORE

Before we get into the ritual, a little Mabon lore, because I think knowing where these traditions come from makes them even more meaningful.

First, an important little distinction: Mabon is the modern Pagan name for the Autumn Equinox, but the seasonal turning point it honours is anything but modern.

The word Mabon itself was coined in 1974 by American Pagan writer Aidan Kelly, who was looking for names for the solar festivals of the Wheel of the Year. He chose the name from Mabon ap Modron, a figure from medieval Welsh mythology who appears in the tale Culhwch and Olwen.

And this is where things get really interesting.

The eightfold Wheel of the Year that many Pagans and witches work with today (aka the cycle of Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh (Lammas) and Mabon) is itself a rather modern Pagan synthesis, developing largely during the mid-20th century. It brought together older seasonal traditions, the Celtic fire festivals and the astronomical turning points of the solstices and equinoxes.

Long before the word “Mabon” existed, humans were watching the skies and living intimately with the changing seasons.

The Autumn Equinox marks a moment when day and night are approximately equal, before the balance begins tipping towards longer nights. For agricultural societies, this happened at a hugely significant time of year: crops were being gathered, food was being preserved and stored, and communities were beginning to prepare for the colder months ahead.

Across Europe, harvest traditions took many different forms, feasting, communal gatherings, giving thanks for the harvest, celebrating the fruits of months of labour and preparing provisions for winter. There was no single universal “ancient Pagan Mabon ritual”; customs varied enormously between cultures, regions and time periods.

And some places show us just how long humans have been paying attention to these celestial turning points.

In Ireland, for example, prehistoric monuments such as the Loughcrew cairns were deliberately aligned with the sun, with sunlight entering the chambers around the equinoxes. We can't say exactly what ceremonies took place there, archaeology rarely gives us that neat of an answer, but it does show that the movement of the sun and the changing seasons were being observed and incorporated into sacred landscapes thousands of years ago.

The Celtic world also gives us a much more clearly documented harvest festival in Lughnasadh (also known as Lammas in modern days), traditionally associated with the beginning of the harvest season, communal gatherings, games, feasting and offerings. It forms one of the four ancient Irish seasonal festivals alongside Imbolc, Beltane and Samhain.

So when we celebrate Mabon today, we're not necessarily recreating one ancient ceremony, but we're participating in something a little bit more fluid: a modern echoing of more ancient rituals, in a very old human relationship with the seasons.

Either way, historically and spiritually, harvest season isn't just about what is growing in the fields. The Autumn Equinox became a natural symbolic threshold: light and darkness meet.

And from here comes one of the central modern themes of Mabon:

⚖️ Balance.

Not perfect balance, or having every area of your life beautifully colour-coded and under control, but rather the acknowledgement that everything moves in cycles. The acceptance that what goes up must come down, and what goes down must eventually go up again. The necessity for rain even when we think we crave sunshine all year long. Truth, is only sunshine makes a desert. We need rain, we need darkness, we need rest, we need death.

Growth and rest. Expansion and contraction. Beginning and ending. Holding on and letting go.

The harvest itself becomes a perfect metaphor for our own lives and our own inner landscapes.

What have you planted?

What has grown?

What has come to fruition?

What have you learned?

What is worth gathering and carrying with you?

And what has simply finished its season?

Mabon is therefore a beautiful moment to pause before we rush into whatever comes next.

To look around at the life we've cultivated and actually notice the harvest.

THE INNER HARVEST RITUAL

For this month's ritual, we're bringing those ancient seasonal themes into a simple modern practice of reflection, gratitude, release and intention-setting.

You don't need to do this on the exact Autumn Equinox, either. The whole month of September is a beautiful time to work with this energy. This works too at any time during a waning moon.

You will need:

For this month's ritual, I've put together the Mabon Ritual Gift Box with everything I wanted to have on hand for a little autumn equinox ceremony. So if you have the box, you've already got almost everything you need. 🍂

Inside you'll find:

• Orange taper candle — for warmth, the returning darkness and the golden abundance of the harvest.

• Seasons of the Witch: Mabon Oracle Deck — created specifically around the themes and energies of this season.

• Resin & botanical-dipped palo santo by SofiAroma — for creating a beautiful, fragrant ritual atmosphere.

• Sage & flower bundle smudge stick — for cleansing your space and creating a clear energetic beginning.

• A surprise crystal in its little pouch

• A journal + pen (not included in the Mabon ritual gift box, but there ARE some journaling gift boxes available on the shop) — this month's ritual is very much about slowing down, reflecting and gathering your inner harvest. And because journaling during Virgo season is so on brand.

• Optional but very delicious: a warm cup of Mushroom Golden Latte — a warming and grounding blend of turmeric, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, reishi and chaga mushrooms. The perfect cozy companion for journaling, reflecting and settling into the slower energy of this season. 🍂✨

And of course, as always, you absolutely do not need these specific items.

This is something I really want to emphasise whenever we do these rituals: The magic is never in the tool.

It is not hiding inside the expensive crystal. It is not contained in the particular oracle deck. You don't need the “right” candle color, the “correct” incense or some mystical herb that only grows under a full moon on the third Tuesday of October. You could burn a cinnamon stick, or any incense you have at hand, or an old bay leaf you found in your cabinet, you can pull a card from your favourite or only deck and write your reflections on toilet paper.

It. Really. Does. Not. Matter.

The power of a spiritual practice comes from your presence, your energy and your intention.

The objects are simply there to help you enter the space. So use what you have. Make it yours. You are the only unmissable, key element.

1. CREATE YOUR HARVEST SPACE

Find somewhere quiet where you can sit comfortably. Place your candle in front of you, along with your crystal, deck and journal, and any other items you plan on utilizing for your session.

Light your candle.

If you're using smoke, light your incense or cleansing bundle and let the scent move gently around your space.

Smoke cleanse your space with the botanical sage bundle, you can let it smolder above your candle.

As you do, imagine yourself crossing a little threshold.

You are leaving behind the noise of everyday life for a moment.

Take a few slow breaths.

Feel your body in the room.

Feel your feet on the floor.

Let yourself arrive.

Take a moment to watch and be present as you gaze into the flame of your candle.

Say out loud or in your head this phrase, or any personal variation that feels more alive for you at this moment:

“I dedicate this time and space to honor the places I have grown, and the parts of me that need to shed like old skin”

You can now light your incense if you choose to use it, set your intention as you light it and imagine its energy being imbued into the stick.

2. GATHER THE HARVEST

This is the heart of the ritual. Before we start thinking about what needs fixing, changing or improving, (very Virgo season of us, indeed) we're going to take inventory of all that has grown and bore its fruits.

Think back over the past six months, or back to the very start of this year.

Do not only focus on the big achievements, if there were any, because your days are made up of the small moments, which all piled up make up your entire life.

The difficult conversations that shifted something important. The hard lessons and risks you took. The moments you survived. The things you learned how to do, the boundaries you created and upheld, the relationships that deepened and the ones that left the scene because they ran their course. The things you finally stopped tolerating, and the things you integrated. The little dreams that started becoming real.

Grab your cards deck.

Ask: What have I cultivated that is ready to be recognised?

Pull your card and sit with it. Write in your journal or piece of paper whatever comes up, sit with it and let anything that needs to come up make itself known. Go as deep and as far as you see fit. Don't overthink it.

3. GIVE THANKS FOR THE HARVEST

Historically, harvest celebrations were deeply connected with thanksgiving for what the land had provided and with sharing the fruits of the harvest. So now, rather than rushing immediately into what we want next, we sit with what we already have and what has been given to us by life, people or ourselves, effortlessly.

Write down 10 things you are grateful for right now.

And I mean right now. Not what you hope you'll have or what you think you should be grateful for. These excercises can be tricky if we are not fully truthful with ourselves, as it can turn into a game of “I should be more grateful” when we are in the midst of feeling like everything sucks. You do not need to, or even more so, you should not force it or make it a reach.

Just be exactly where you are, and take note of the things that have brought you joy, or comfort, or a valuable lesson.

What is actually here?

Maybe it's your home, your morning coffee, or maybe your favourite journal or a new deck. A gift you gave or received recently, a beautiful sunset you saw. A person who makes you laugh. Your body carrying you through another year. Your dog dog who insists on waking you up at 6am.

The fact that you finally figured out how to do something that used to terrify you. The smell of autumn. The fact that you're still here. The cookie you ate yesterday.

Let gratitude be specific, and real, and as small or big as it truly is, anywhere you can truly feel it, without forcing it.

4. FIND THE BALANCE

The Equinox gives us the beautiful image of light and darkness meeting.

So ask yourself: Where in my life am I out of balance?

Where am I giving more than I'm receiving?

Where am I doing too much?

Where am I holding back when I actually want to move forward?

Where have I been neglecting rest?

Where have I been neglecting joy?

Pick one or two that feel most relevant to you, you do not need to overdo it.

And perhaps most importantly:

What would balance actually look like for me?

Not someone else's version of balance.

Yours.

Write freely.

5. RELEASE WHAT HAS FINISHED ITS SEASON

This is where we turn towards the darker half of the year. And I don't think release needs to be dramatic. Sometimes something doesn't need to be destroyed, but it just needs to be completed.

Maybe it was useful once, or it taught you something. Maybe you loved or needed it, but perhaps it has simply reached the end of its season.

This can be a certain relationship, a coping mechanism, a habit or a fear, a subconscious behavioral pattern, a protective mechanism, a certain reactivity that is more automated than actual response. Anything that you carry that might have been part of your identity or habits, that is now more there by inertia rather than because of any true value.

Write down:

What am I ready to stop carrying with me, just because it’s been there for a while?

Write it down.

You don't have to hate it to release it.

If it feels meaningful, safely tear the piece of paper up or burn it above your candle in a fire-safe vessel.

Or simply fold it away, turning it leftwards and away from you as you do so.

6. CHOOSE WHAT YOU WILL CARRY FORWARD

Now is the time we turn towards the coming season. The harvest isn't just about reflection and cultivating what we have sown, it is also about deciding what we want to preserve.

This is also the moment to grab your crystal. This step is optional but a valuable addition as it will allow you to carry with you a token of remembrance of this specific ritual and the energy you’re creating inside of it, for the remainder of the year and as long as you need it.

Hold your crystal or place it on top of your journal, or put it somewhere near you. Like inside your bra, or you can sit on it, do as you see fit! And ask yourself:

What from this season is worth carrying into the next?

What do you want more of, what qualites are becoming important and you want to nurture?

What lesson do you want to remember and consolidate within your psyche?

What relationship do you want to tendto?

What part of yourself deserves more attention, more expression, more acknowledgement?

Pull one final card.

Ask:

What energy will support me as I enter this next season?

Write down whatever comes through.

Then choose one simple intention for autumn. You can write as many as you’d like, but it can be as few as just one. Keep it realistic, keep it doable for where you are at right now. But also don’t dream too small ;)

7. CLOSE THE RITUAL

Place your hands over your heart or simply rest them in your lap.

Gaze once more at your candle, letting everything that you just held and processed set into its new place.

Take one final breath.

And say your closing words, or anything that feels more aligned with you right now:

“I honour what has grown.
I give thanks for what I have sown and reaped, I give thanks for what has been given to me freely.
What has completed its season may be released, and I carry forward with care what nourishes and sustains me.
I trust the turning of the wheel.”

Sit with that for a moment.

Then blow out your candle.

And that's it.

THE MABON RITUAL GIFT BOX

If you'd like to create this ritual with a little seasonal magic around you, the Mabon Ritual Gift Box was created specifically for this time of year.

Inside you'll find:

• Seasons of the Witch: Mabon Oracle Deck

• Orange taper candle

• A surprise crystal in a little pouch

• Sage & flower bundle smudge stick

• Resin & botanical-dipped palo santo by SofiAroma

And if you're anything like me and believe that everything is improved by a cosy drink, you can also select the Mushroom Golden Latte as an add-on, a warming autumnal blend of turmeric, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, reishi and chaga.

🍂

September is our invitation to gather and discern, reorganize our inner and outer lives.

It is the time to step gently but decidedly across the threshold into a new season.

Welcome, autumn.

I've been waiting for you. 🧡