Mabon:
It may be helpful to think of Mabon
as “the Witches’ Thanksgiving.” It is our Autumn harvest and feasting holiday.
Our agrarian, pagan ancestors were vastly grateful for a harvest which, for
them, literally meant the difference between life and death in the face of the
approaching winter. The cool thing about the witch Thanksgiving is that it has
zero to do with European colonization of the Americas or the subjugation of
Native peoples. It doesn’t have to be connected to eating turkeys either!
In the story of the Goddess and God,
the Oak/Corn King is now completely consumed. He “dies” in the sense that he
gives way completely to his other aspect, the now reigning Holly King. The
Holly King is a death god, since he reigns over the time of decay, darkness,
and dormancy. The Goddess progresses toward her identity as the Crone as she
and the Holly King lead the way through autumn and towards winter. Yet the
holiday of Mabon is a feast of thanks to the Summer God for his loving
sacrifice and the bounty it provides.
Other ideas for Mabon:
This one’s easy: have a vegan potluck! If you already have a vegan
meetup group, this can be a great time of year to try out some Thanksgiving
type recipes in preparation for the mainstream holiday. If you do not have such
a group, maybe you can create one! The site www.meetup.com is great for making
these kinds of connections.
If it is a brand new group you may want to meet at a restaurant
rather than give a bunch of strangers your address. In this case you could do a
recipe swap and try them out on each other if a potluck develops later on.
If you start thinking about mainstream Thanksgiving at Mabon, you
have more time to plan some vegan activism, alone or in a group. You could:
·
Prepare your group to pool resources
and “adopt a turkey” for a rescue group like www.farmsanctuary.org.
·
Plan a vegan food drive to give to
food pantries when the mainstream Thanksgiving dinner drive starts. You can
raise popular fall veggies or even have a tofurkey drive!
·
Make a donation yourself or in the
name of your group to a local food pantry at Thanksgiving. Possibly attach some
information, like the address of your website or a vegan website you like
(PETA, Compassion Over Killing, Vegan Outreach, a local animal rights or vegan
group, etc.)
·
If you have a farm animal sanctuary
as a local resource, see if they are having a Thanksgiving event, like a “feed
the turkeys” (a popular Farm Sanctuary idea). Maybe with your support, they
could start one!
·
Have a harvest bake sale for your group,
perhaps by joining a mainstream harvest bazaar or event. In this way even your
small table could introduce consumers to tasty vegan treats, and perhaps raise
money for a vegan organization of your choice (or animal shelter, etc.)
On a holiday that is so focused on
the blessing of a full pantry and tummy, it is perhaps a good time to
contemplate what veganism has to offer to food equality issues both locally and
globally.
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