Personalizing the Sabbats to Make Them Holy

By Kevin Red Patrick

     Happy Mabon!! The Wheel of the Year turns another spoke continually taking us forward along our path. We all know this as the Autumn Equinox or the Second Harvest, but few of us know why we call it Mabon (May-bawn, Mah-bone) or how it relates to our personal tradition. What we do know is that this is the time of year that fall seems to begin and the “holidays” will soon be upon us.

     The name Mabon for this pagan Sabbat was coined by Aidan Kelly, founder of The New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn, sometime around 1970. He derived the name from the Welsh Celtic hero Mabon ap Modron. This hero’s name is interpreted as “son of the divine mother.” Modron is derived from the Gaulish goddess Matrona, the divine mother goddess. Mabon was taken from his mother’s arms three days after his birth and locked away in a dark watery prison. While imprisoned, Mabon learns various skills associated with hunting and battle. He is rescued by the legendary King Arthur and his knights on their quest to fulfill forty impossible demands of the giant Ysbaddaden and win the hand of his daughter Olwen for Arthur’s cousin Culhwch. Mabon is the only one who has the skill to hunt the dog Drudwyn, the only dog that can track the boar Twrch Trywth. The giant is slain after only a few of the tasks are completed allowing the two to marry.

     So you might be wondering, what this has to do with the second harvest. The coinage of this sabbat’s name appears to be quite arbitrary. Kelly has seemingly taken the name of a Celtic God of a favorite myth and applied it to the holiday just so it would have a specific name like the other modern pagan Sabbats instead of the mundane description of autumn equinox. This is what makes the name of this Sabbat controversial, however it has been accepted by the majority of the pagan community and has become the traditional name.

     The second harvest is the time to gather the fruits from the vine. The Roman festival of Dionysus, God of Wine, which is celebrated on this day is more closely related to the meaning of this holiday than is the tale of Mabon ap Modron whose story is about freedom, love, quests, and marriage. The myth of Persephone and Demeter is more symbolic of the turning of the Wheel of the Year. This marks the time when Persephone descends into the Underworld and the bounty of the earth begins to diminish due to Demeter’s anguish.  All of these deities give us reason to celebrate this day. We thank Dionysus for the bounty of fruits. We honor Demeter for her gifts of the harvest and support Her as she mourns, and we honor Persephone’s sacrifice to willingly go back to the Underworld each year.

     “But I’m not Greek or Roman!” you exclaim.

     One might wonder how they can celebrate this Sabbat because none of the myths associated with it include the culture that inspires their own personal path. Some may simply accept it as a “traditional” neo-pagan holiday and wonder why anyone wouldn’t celebrate an equinox; it has astrological significance. Either way I find it a more personable experience if I can relate it to My tradition through the myths of my chosen cultural influence, the Celts and my Gods. This is why it is important to learn the myths and legends of your personal path as well as those of others.

     My Celtic inspired path marks Mabon as an extension of Lughnasadh. For me, Lughnasadh marks the time when the Sun God Lugh, as the Great King of the Tuatha de Danann, defeated the king of the Fomorians, Balor and secured the grains of the harvest for his people. In addition to this, Lugh established the celebration of his adopted mother Tailtu on this day, who died as a result of her tireless work making the land good for planting, on this. This is why I honor Lugh as the God of Light (knowledge and skill), God of the Sun (as the King of the divine race is typically equated to the Sun), and the god of the harvest.  But it is the legend of Lugh’s sacrificial death that lends itself to my relation of the Sun God to the celebration of Mabon.

     My journey of research, meditation, and journey with Lugh has led me to the following description of the death of Lugh.

     Lugh, known by the Welsh as Llew, was cursed by his birth mother to never have a wife of the people who now inhabit the earth. The magicians Gwydion and Math, both protectors of Llew, used great sorcery to create the most beautiful and fairest  and graceful maiden that man ever saw, Blodeuwedd. A woman made of magic, oak, broom, and meadowsweet, her name mean “flower face.” Lugh loved Blodeuwedd. But many years after their marriage, Blodeuwedd fell in love with another. Lugh was told of Blodeuwedd’s adultery but his love for her kept him from taking actions against her. The two lovers plotted to kill Lugh but the god could not be killed in any ordinary fashion. Blodeuwedd betrayed Lugh a second time and revealed to her lover Gronw the secret to killing her husband. Lugh could not be killed on either on land or water, neither clothed nor naked, neither indoors or out, neither in the day or night, and neither in the summer or winter.  Blodeuwedd lured her husband into a garden pavilion at dusk for a bath on the autumn equinox. When Lugh was in place half in the bath with a wrap about his waist as the sun set, she called for her lover who struck Lugh with a spear. Lugh let out a screech when he received the fatal blow and immediately transformed into a raven and flew away. Gwydion searches for Lugh finally finding him at Samhain perched in an oak tree. He sings the bird down, restores Lugh to his human form and retreats to the underworld to care for his wounds. Lugh, Gwydion, and Math return to take back the kingdom form Blodeuwedd and Gronw. A battle ensues. Lugh refuses to allow Blodeuwedd to be killed. In the end Gwydion turns Blodeuwedd into an owl so she would never again have the light of the sun upon her face and Gronw escapes to the land of his people. Gronw appeals to Lugh for forgiveness but is denied. Lugh demands that Gronw stand on the bank of the river Cynfael and receive a blow from his spear. Gronw agrees after all others refuse to take his place and he secures the condition that he can place a stone between him and Lugh. Lugh of the long arm throws the spear with such force it pierces the stone and his enemy.

     This is my interpretation of the myth as I have come to know it. You may not agree with my willingness to adapt the legend but I assure you that this tale has come to me through study, meditation, and divine influence. The tales of the Celtic people, and many cultures throughout history, have been lost either in part or in entirety. There is no way to prove this true or false. But as pagans we know that each person’s journey is personal. How do you incorporate this Sabbat into your own personal belief system? Do you have a myth that you equate to this spoke in the wheel? Is it from the culture that inspires your spirituality?

     Having a myth that ties your beliefs and your gods to each Sabbat makes each Sabbat a personal holy day. As we walk the Wheel of the Year, we are encouraged to be in tune with its cyclic turning. What better way than to find a personal connection through the myths and legends as we come to know them.

Happy Mabon! 

We are all Brothers of the Sun and Daughers of the Moon!

In my neck of the woods, in my circle of friends who are Pagan that are scattered across the United States the hottest “topic” of debate was usually the role of males in Paganism.  It would make women irritable, because they felt they were defending Goddess and had come to the religion in the first place so that they could be more “empowered”.  Me, and my girlfriends felt that in the “real” workplace/political world we were “not listened too” and treated as “less than” and that if you really wanted to insult a man you called him “a girl" (or vaginistic type words a few months ago I saw this used by advertisers on a billboard to get men to buy a sportscar).  My male friends, however, would argue that the world had changed to the point where they could hardly get jobs and that the world we described was not”real” or “had leveled out” leaving them competing against minorities for everything; they did not feel that they should have that same “bias” in their religious choices.  So there was a gridlock…since the Highpriestess is what runs covens (unless you are involved in an organization that still venerates male over female) and since Goddess books there are aplenty and God books few my male Pagan friends felt they got the short end of the stick.

For years, when I was younger I would think," If you all feel this way then why come to this religion if you resent women running it?  Go somewhere else, any other religion will let you run everything if you are male and not even let females become ministers!"  However, the wheel turned and  I started to hear with spirit filled ears, and listen with a spirit filled heart and realize that maybe just maybe they (my male friends and even my young son) had a few valid points.  So, when I returned to Memphis once again I started to listen and the same points came up.  Males saw all the women rituals that excluded them, the Goddess retreats and felt that they had nothing equivalent.  They were being asked to participate and be “better” men than most of society but were not being treated “fairly”.  When questions of rites of passage for men came up they were told they were “not important” and that “why should they need them?”.  Some leaders of the organizations went as far as to say that the “separation of the two sexes” was silly anyway, and that it promoted more problems than solutions.  Yet, everywhere I listened I heard them hurt and hungry for something more and  “just for them” they wanted to also leave behind a legacy of "new Pagan men".

As a woman I understand the need for “just for me”.  I read Virginia Wolf’s “A Room of One’s Own” while in college and firmly decided from that point on in life I would make a space and time for just me because it was important.  Goddess devotional books, and companion readers emphasize over and over again how important it is for women who give so liberally to husbands, parents, children, and their bosses to make a space and time for themselves.  So women started forming little groups, or girl nights out, or pampering sessions, by now I have not met a woman my age who does not have a “just me” hobby, activity, or time that helps her get back in touch with her inner Goddess.  This is wonderful, it is liberating, it is empowering, it was not heard of in my Mamaw’s day and time unless you were rich!

But what about men who take care of their children, wives, bosses, friends, and families?  The numbers are growing on how many men raise children alone and how are young men going to learn how to be comfortable and not defensive being a "man" (and no that is not a bad word) if they do not have role models, and mentors, and become more open minded?  What if you do not think the perfect time to spend with men is in a Budweiser commercial at the Drag races? I know this is an extreme example but here in the south it is quite common…what if you like to read poetry, and play music, and paint, or just meditate and contemplate the universe?  Where do we encourage this in our modern day society?  Why is it okay for the woman to get in touch with her inner maiden with “hello kitty” houseshoes but the man cannot get in touch with his inner “rogue” playing video games or buying star wars collectibles? 

I say this because you get a group of women together and more often than not you will hear references to men…just being more immature than women.  That men, waste money on toys and don’t seem to care about childrearing like we do.  It is like we women, force men into a role that they themselves might not want to be pushed into.  If women do not like to be “cookie cuttered” then why is it okay for us to force “traditional” roles on men?  I realize that in my marriage, I have to stop and re-acquaint myself with my gentle father- husband all the time because I have pre-conceived stereotypes that were fed to me by my parents and society that told me Brian has to be XYZ.  However, he is not those things.  To add to this, I have a compassionate soft spoken artistic twenty year old son who has expressed himself through clothing and words since he could articulate his mind.  His ambiguity when it comes to sexual roles worried me at first, only to find me expanding and realizing that sexual roles are just that ”costumes” and that one size does not fit all.

Did you know that I do not hear my baby Cayden cry in the middle of the night?  My husband does, and no he does not wake me up to take care of him he gets up cuddles and swaddles his son and rocks him back to sleep.  Did you know that he has taken Cayden to the doctor alone more than me because if he does this I have time to color my hair and do my nails?  He does that so I have ME time.  Now, you can say that means I am a “less than mom” and he is a “better than dad” but I will argue with you we are doing what works for us as people and as a family unit.  We have gotten to the point where doing what we are, is more important than what others think.  My husband really has longed for a Pagan Men’s retreat for a long time now.  Last year, he finally got a “fathering ritual” at the age of forty. He has two other children from a previous marriage, one twenty one the other twenty two and he has been a practicing pagan and a Highpriest for at least twenty years. That is took him that long to get this rite of passage I found dumbfounding and sad.

This weekend, he and my oldest son are going to a Pagan Men’s retreat called Brothers of the Sun < http://templeofthesacredgift.org/bots/info.html>  our church , Temple of the Sacred Gift-ATC is co-sponsoring it with the only Pagan’s we knew in the area that celebrated the Male aspect of Paganism as much as the Female aspect, Southern Delta Church of Wicca-ATC.  Rev. Terry Michael Riley has since 1993 been a legal ordained minister of the Pagan community with a Church.  He fought for the rights of Pagans and it was documented in the March for Ft. God video < http://www.amazon.com/March-Robin-Anderson-Cuhulain-Terry/dp/B00023DEH6/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1313519927&sr=1-2 >.  He is a pioneer and courageous in ways I can only hope to become and yet for several years now in the woods he has continued to have a small men’s mysteries retreat.

Two years ago, when I met Rev. Terry Riley he told me he had a manuscript lying around that he had not gotten published but rejected everywhere he turned, and that he was ready to give up on since no one seemed interested.  I asked him the topic, and he told me men’s mysteries and the relationship of Men to the God and the Goddess energies.  I could not believe that he had such an important book tucked away and that no one wanted to publish it!  So I asked him to look at it and edit it and I would study on how to get it published, I knew in my bones it was important and like everyone I know I love helping people.  I formed a self publishing company (Heka House), took my income tax refund and published the book named aptly BROTHERS OF THE SUN: THE PAGAN MEN”S MYSTERIES (hey it is a great book you should read it and purchase it for every male pagan you know!).  We (Terry, Brian and I) felt the book was integral to the future of Paganism and addressed a common complaint that was never addressed and always ignored.  I have never been prouder than to help assist a person publish something I feel was important.  I have never felt more amazed to realize that with helping fund a Men’s Pagan retreat in a nice facility that we are starting a rock solid tradition we can leave behind to future generations.

If we, the women, do not back our men then who will?  Is the consort not just as important as the Goddess?  You bet he is!  I pray that this Brother of the Sun retreat will help heal some of the wounds caused in this community by not treating our the male energy as "equal to" not "greater than" the female energy.  I pray that it starts a legacy that teaches and instructs our men on how to be better at being themselves.  I hope that it helps each of them find a part of themselves they forgot about, that they make new friends and come home exhausted yet refreshed.  Do I believe I finally listened to the universe?  You bet you I did!  Will I ever truly understand what the men in the Pagan community are expressing…maybe not, but I am taking a baby step in the right direction.  That is all I know how to do, and I pray my Brothers give me a break and know I wish them the best! But if you are a male Pagan, and all you do is complain about the differences and do nothing to support a local festival and movement to help your own, then do not complain...hush up.  You cannot complain about the President of the United States if you do not vote!

How do you all feel about the men learning how to be more comfortable being themselves and finding themselves?  How pivotal do you feel this is to men and future men in our Pagan communities?