Mabon

Mabon is a Celtic Fire Festival celebrated on September 20, 21, or 22, depending on when the Autumn Equinox falls and the length of day and of night are once more in perfect balance. So like its polar opposite, Ostara, Mabon marks a turning point, only instead of turning outward towards the coming Summer we begin to focus inward, as we prepare for the long, dark Winter to come. Mabon is the great festival of Autumn’s end. From now on the days will get shorter and the weather colder. Astrologically, it occurs under the sign of Libra - the Balance - my own birth sign and a fitting symbol of balanced light and darkness. In Rome, this equinox marked the festival of Dionysus, the God of Wine and Revelry. In Celtic times, Mabon conceded with the festival of Harvest Home, remembered in today’s church liturgy through our own Harvest Festival services. Mabon celebrates the end of the second harvest of nuts, apples, grapes and berries, and harvest berries and drupes feature in the weft of my Mabon weaving.The dyestuffs in my Mabon weaving include Weld, Weld over dyed with madder to give me orange, Coreopsis and Dyer’s Coreopsis, Tansy, lots of different colours obtained from the French Marigolds that are currently running riot on my allotment, Yarrow, Acer Buckthorn, Flowering Currant, Elderberries, cultivated and wild Blackberries and Sloes. The weft pattern of interlocking purple and gold represents the balance between light and darkness.

Lammas

Also known as Lughnassa, Lammas, celebrated on August 1st, is the Celtic festival of the first - i.e., grain - harvest of wheat barley rye and oats. The power of the sun goes into the grain as it ripens. It is then harvested and made into the first new bread of the season, which is taken to church, laid on the altar and dedicated during the Loaf Mass, hence Lammas. At this time of year, seed grain is also saved for planting next year's crop, which lies dormant underground during the Winter and rises again in Spring, when the new green shoots sprout, as the sun also rises in the sky. So Lammas is also a time to celebrate resurrection. As well as celebrating the first fruits of the grain harvest, Lammas recognises the fruits of our labours, and seeing the desires that we had at the start of the year unfold. Colours associated with Lammas include gold, yellow and orange. My Lammas weaving is a simple plain weave ombre in tones of greenish gold, dyed from French marigolds, coreopsis, weld, dyer’s chamomile, cosmos, golden rod, St. John’s Wort flowers, alder bark, barberry bark, artichoke leaves, apple leaves, rhubarb leaves sage, domestic carrot and yarrow.