As you already know, what we call Mabon is what represents the Autumn Equinox. The equinox is the time of year when day and night are approximately equal in length. This happens when the Sun, moving along the ecliptic as observed from Earth, crosses the celestial equator. At this time, the Sun is directly over the equator and both hemispheres receive approximately the same amount of sunlight, resulting in nearly equal hours of daylight and darkness. When this happens, we have what are known as the Spring Equinox and the Autumn Equinox.
At this time of year, the cycles of our lives, which follow an energetic flow throughout the year, can either begin (Spring Equinox) or come to an end (Autumn Equinox).
Ever since I was a child, I would be fascinated by the changing colours of the leaves on the trees, and I wondered why some lost their leaves while others remained there, imposing and unmoved. I came to understand that trees that lose their leaves may look weak, dry, almost dead. And yet, they are stronger than they seem. Every spring, they find the strength to bud again, to be reborn.
A few years ago, when I began thinking about dedicating my soul to Father Zeus, it was the beginning of summer. Every time I decided to do it, something happened that prevented me from going through with it, but being as stubborn as I am, I kept rescheduling it. Until one day I said to myself, “The whole world could come crashing down... I’m doing it on Friday.”
And, as always, I was put to the test. I was driving on the highway when suddenly a storm began unlike anything I had ever seen before, with lightning striking only a few centimetres from the car... a lightning storm.
In the end, I made it home and began preparing myself. I remember the emotion, the scent of the incense and the feeling of having returned home. I felt overwhelmed by an electric energy, by warmth, and I could hardly believe that I had finally dedicated myself.
The next day, I joined the forum and had to choose a name: Persephone. That nickname had followed me throughout my entire life, a nickname I had been given when I did not even know who she was yet. It was perfect!
Only later did I realise that I had made my dedication during Mabon, a time associated with the Goddess Persephone.
Persephone, the Goddess of the Underworld, the Goddess of the seasons. She whose journey determines whether the earth will bloom again, or whether the trees will go dormant, only to rise again in spring.
Persephone is not only the Goddess of the Seasons. She teaches us that a descent does not always mean that something is dying. We enter a phase of sleep in which introspection and inner work take centre stage. It is the right time to withdraw, to reflect on the goals we have achieved, the milestones we have reached, what went wrong and what needs to be improved. It is a time that pushes you to slow down, to calmly look at what perhaps could have gone better and understand where you can improve.
Persephone undergoes an extraordinary evolution in her life: from Kore, the Maiden, beloved daughter of the Great Mother Demeter, she becomes the Queen of the Underworld. She enters as a carefree soul and becomes a Queen with a mature and dominant personality. When she descends into the Underworld, it seems as though life itself follows her, beginning to retreat into the earth as it awaits the return of the Queen.
If you think about it, everything that descends, like the setting sun, falling leaves, retreating waves, the caterpillar becoming a chrysalis, a creative block, voluntarily stepping away from a situation that we felt was becoming too restrictive.
All of this teaches us that we do not always have to be exposed, always at our peak or always super active.
Everything that grows needs the right amount of time, the right work, patience, waiting, preservation and protection. The earth protects the seed, and this allows it to germinate when the season (time) and conditions (way) are right.
When we are in the phase of descent, we are in a moment that I define as “awareness”. At that moment, when everything seems not to be going the way we would like, in reality, the foundation is being laid for the adaptation (winter) that will lead us back to the ascent (spring) and the explosion of our potential (summer).
I will later make a post dedicated to the Goddess Persephone.
I wrote this thread simply to remind you how fundamental it is to live according to the ancient holidays, teachings and Rituals of the Gods. A Ritual is not only a moment of celebration, it creates a connection, it is a channel that allows us to know that God/Goddess and all the aspects they embody. It is a moment in which our soul comes into contact with that upon which it depends: Divine strength. The Gods are there, and never doubt it. They are there especially when you think you are not receiving answers... they know that the answer is already within you. Because they will not do the work for you, but they will guide you.
Rituals enrich the soul, and a rich soul allows you to live a life more aligned with the laws of Ma’at, with a better understanding of the laws of the universe. Every Ritual touches a part of you that you often hid so well that even you did not know it existed.
Rituals are the most direct means we have to connect with the Gods, to draw strength from them. Everything is connected, everything is part of a single pattern. It is unthinkable to believe that we can become divine when we do not know what true divinity is. When we find excuses to postpone the scheduled Ritual until tomorrow, when we think we are capable of overcoming on our own moments that we do not even understand.
Thinking you can do everything on your own without the Gods does not work. It is only a method that distances you even further from what you are destined to become. The path is difficult, sacrificial, painful, demanding, exhausting, sometimes demoralizing. It becomes demoralizing when you are confronted with a limitation that you did not believe belonged to you, and yet the Gods show you that this is precisely the obstacle you must overcome.
I really want the entire Zevist family to participate more through posts, presence in Rituals and discussions about growth that allow everyone to move forward and make their own contribution.
I know that everyday life is often difficult, and often you just want to rest because that meditation, that Ritual, that post you wrote takes energy away from you. Because that day you did not have time to rest, read a book or even take a shower, but remember, hard work always pays off. Every God has something to teach, a direction to give. How many Gods have we come to know, and how many more will we come to know? None of them focus on the same area of expertise. Each has an aspect that prevails, and the same applies to us.
May this Mabon be, for all of you, a time of reflection, knowledge and awareness that will bring only new growth and new discoveries.
Not everything that descends into darkness is dying.
Happy Mabon! 🖤🔥