Around this time of the year many people wish one another a “Happy Mabon”. It would seem that “Mabon” has become a word which some believe to be an alternative name for the Autumn Equinox, a modern myth which has become very popular in contemporary Pagan spiritual circles.
I do not share the belief that names and words don’t matter if you have the right intention behind it. It makes no sense whatsoever! [But if you insist, please could you contact me about putting your house, car and bank accounts in my name please, because we could use it as an example to see if names matter if your intentions are pure!].
So, if like me you think it matters to know why you are wishing someone a “Happy Mabon” – rather than the conventional, old fashioned “Happy Equinox” then the following extract from the book The Isles of the Many Gods which I co-authored with David Rankine should shed light on the God whose name has been borrowed for this festival. Ongoing historical research into the matter has not provided me with any reason why the name of this Welsh God / Folk Legend should have become an alternative name for the festival of the Autumn Equinox. In fact one could more readily make an argument, if absolutely necessary, for the use of the name Modron (the name of the mother of Mabon) as a more appropriate name for this time of the year!
But if you, like many others, continue to wish friends a “Happy Mabon” please make sure that you at least know a little about the God you are wishing you happiness with!
And if you are one of the people who do honour the Son of Welsh mythology, the Oldest of men and beasts on Earth — I hope you have a wondrous celebration!
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Mabon
Name Son Place of Origin Wales Place of Worship Wales Literary References Black Book of Carmarthen, Red Book of Hergest, Stanzas of theGraves, White Book of Rhydderch
Mabon is a Welsh god mentioned in the White Book of Rhydderch. His name means “Son”, and he is described as the son of the goddess Modron. He was stolen from his mother when he was three days old, and curiously is known as the oldest of men or beasts living on earth. He is rescued after his location is revealed by the Salmon of Llyn Llyw.
His aid is required by Kilhwch in the tale of Kilhwch and Olwen as he is the only huntsman who can handle the dog Drudwyn, and he retrieves the razor and comb needed by Kilhwch from between the ears of the magic boar Twrch Trwyth. He is also described as one of King Arthur’s counselors in The Dream of Rhonabwy.
A passing reference is also made to Mabon in the poem “What man is the Gatekeeper?” in the Black Book of Carmarthen,[1] where he is described as a wizard.
A reference to Mabon in the Stanzas of the Graves makes clear one of the obvious points about him, that little is actually known:
“The grave in the upland of Nanllau;
His story no one knows.
Mabon the son of Modron the sincere.“[2]
There is also a place name associated with Mabon, that of Ruabon in Denbighshire. Ruabon is a corruption of Rhiw Fabon, meaning “Hillside of Mabon”.
[1] Ch. 31 of The Black Book of Carmarthen.
[2] Englynion y Beddau.
[Above extract taken from The Isles of the Many Gods, by Sorita d'Este and David Rankine, Avalonia, (c) 2007. All rights reserved.]
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In response to a discussion on my personal facebook profile, the Wiccan author Aiden Kelly confirmed the theory that he first attributed the use of the name of the God Mabon to the festival of Autumn Equinox. The discussion is in response to the reposting of a link to this blog in 2011, and the full discussion can be read at:
https://www.facebook.com/sorcery/posts/274693939221990
Aiden Kelly wrote:
“Aidan Kelly Well, I did devise Mabon as the name for the fall equinox, in the Pagan-Craft calendar I pit out from 1973 to1975. It was esthetically unpleasing that there were no names for the summer solsticew and fall equinox. Finding Litha for the former was easy. Examining the Saxcalendar included in Bede, one can deduce that Litha was their name for the summer summer solstice; I later discovered that Tolkien had figured that out also.”
AND
“The fall equinox was harder, but. In one of Fred Hoyle’s books on Stonehenge, which I had the huge honor and pleasure of editing when I was with Scientific American books, in the midst of his proof that Stonehenge did and still does predict eclipses of both sun and moon, he found that a small secondary circle pinpoimted the date of the fall equinox, so it was very important thousands of years ago. Michaelmas near the equinox has long been an English festive day, perhaps because Michael had been equated with Lugh, after whom London was originally named. And given the story of Kore, it seemed logical that the parallel story of a young fertility god who was rescued from the underworld , as in the Mabinogion tale, could have been the myth associated with that date. Not certain, but also not invented arbitrarily.”
The entire discussion would be of interest to those trying to understand the continued use of this term.