Review: Wicca Moon's Equinox / Mabon Ritual Kit

The photo at the top shows just some of the lovely things in the latest Wheel of the Year ritual kit from Wicca Moon, for the Autumn Equinox or Mabon. I picked up the boxed set when I visited Wicca Moon last weekend to do a reading from my book on poppets.

This set of goodies includes an oil burner with a tea light, a bottle of handcrafted ritual oil, four coloured candles to represent the elements, a packet of handcrafted incense, two blocks of charcoal, an altar cloth, a long strip of ribbon, a picture of the Goddess, a ritual to perform and details about this seasonal festival.

On the information sheet, it explains that there are many names for this Sabbat, including Autumn Equinox, Michaelmas and Alban Elfed. Mabon is its newest name, coined by modern pagans who wanted to honour a God of the British Isles at this time of year.

I tend to just use the term Autumn Equinox as for me the important thing is to celebrate all things being in balance when the day and night are of equal length. Or, if my life is a bit out of kilter, to spend time thinking about how I can get things onto an even keel again. It doesn't really matter what you call it though - use the name that seems most appropriate to you in your own celebration.

Even though I won't be honouring the festival until closer to the actual equinox, on 23 September, I do love to set out my altar in advance, see how everything looks and work out what extra bits I might need to get. In this case, the ritual requires an apple. Usually at this time of year I have a glut of apples from the tree in my garden, but sadly this year the heatwave must have got to it as it didn't produce a single one. On my altar you can see a nice big Bramley apple I bought to go in a crumble with some blackberries I foraged.

A few other things on the altar came from earlier Wicca Moon ritual kits, including the chalice, wand, offering plate and one of the candle holders. The twig tree at the back is one I crafted earlier this year, which I will by tying my ribbon on when I do the ritual.

I do like tying ribbons to branches as part of seasonal celebrations, but these days the practise is a bit controversial. It is obviously fine to tie something to a dead branch you have brought indoors for the purpose, like I have, or to tie natural materials to trees in your own garden. Otherwise, always get permission of whoever owns the land you are on before leaving anything there at all, including candles, offerings and ribbons tied to trees.

My favourite part of the Mabon/Autumn Equinox kit is the oil burner. It is decorated with a cut-out stag head design, through which the candlelight glows. It is  perfect for use on an altar, but I think I'll be using it to scent my room in everyday life as well. A little aromatherapy can help beat the autumn blues.

I'm really looking forward to performing my ritual later this month - and once again I'm delighted with all the wonderful things inside the Wheel of the Year box. I do recommend these kits for busy witches like me and for anyone wanting to learn about the seasons and build up their own set of ritual tools.

You can visit Wicca Moon at 50 Well Hall Road, London SE9 6SH or order from the online store. For further details contact Shirlee@wiccamoon.org.uk, call 0208 850 7803, visit www.facebook.com/WiccaMoonEltham/or www.wiccamoon.co.uk

Links and previous related posts
https://www.wiccamoon.co.uk/ourshop/prod_6502710-Mabon-Ritual-Subscription-Box.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/09/a-magical-afternoon-with-witches-at.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/06/summer-solstice-review-wicca-moon-litha.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/01/review-wicca-moon-imbolc-ritual-box.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/03/review-wicca-moons-ostara-ritual-kit.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/04/pagan-shopping-wicca-moon-beltane.html