As we make our way around the wheel of the year, we celebrate the three harvest festivals of Lammas, Mabon, and Samhain. Mabon is also known as Second Harvest for apparent reasons.

According to lore, Mabon denotes the birth of the Celtic Solar God and the transition of Mother Goddess to Crone Goddess. As it is told, Mabon is taken from his mother, Goddess of the Earth, three days after his birth, mirroring similar themes as the story of Demeter and Persephone. So profound was the Grecian Goddess of the Harvest’s love that when her daughter Persephone was swept away by Hades, ruler of the underworld, all of creation withered. The cycle repeated every year at the time of the Autumnal Equinox.

Second Harvest also symbolizes the God of Light falling from the sky, foiled by the God of Darkness. It is a time when we celebrate with grateful hearts the ample harvest and reflect on the balance that must be struck given winter’s dearth.

We honor present family and departed ancestors, Gaia’s resplendence, and the hidden wisdom of the Dark Goddesses because without darkness, there is no light, and without the toil of sowing, there is no joy in harvest.