Story and Photos by Sunshine D. Sheltray

“This is for all the men out there who refuse to take responsibility for their actions,” I said as I ripped a chunk off the large loaf of penis-shaped bread.

Walking into the room, I had a small idea of what was about to happen. I entered my friend’s apartment with mixed feelings: happy to be seeing friends again, and nervous about interviewing them. Hugging my friend Pauline Carter, a Wiccan woman who portrays the older aspect of the goddess known as the Crone, a part of the weight I was carrying lifted from my shoulders. I was here to write an article about the Wiccan holiday of Mabon, also known as the Lesser Sabbat. This holiday typically falls on the autumnal equinox and is used to celebrate the second of the three harvests.

“At this time of the year, the earth transforms from female energies—fertility, growth, and birth—to male energies of rest and recovery.”

“Mabon is a time for the change of seasons, a change of energy. It’s a time of fertility and growth changing to a time of darkness and rest,” explains Carter. “At this time of the year, the earth transforms from female energies—fertility, growth, and birth—to male energies of rest and recovery.”

As I helped set up the altar we would be using for that night’s ritualistic celebration, I noticed the small, football-sized cornucopia, also known as a horn of abundance and prosperity. On the altar were many symbols of the god and goddess as well as many objects to represent the autumn season, such as the altar cloth, which featured a design of fall leaves and the golden flowers. Incense was left burning, as well.

“Mabon is a time of harvest. This is a time to pull crops, to can, and to dry and preserve meat,” said Pauline, with her daughter Krystal filling in at times. “Herds are strengthened with the thinning or weeding out. Keep the ones who have a better chance of producing young.”

“Mabon is a time of harvest. This is a time to pull crops, to can, and to dry and preserve meat.”

This gives people food throughout the long winter, as they preserve meat and crops throughout the three harvests. During the ritual, members thanked the gods and goddesses for the harvests, and for the enthusiasm that we had to cultivate the crops during the long summer months.

The transformation from summer to fall and finally into winter represents a time of growing darkness and hibernation. “It’s a time to cut back on energy as the days get shorter and the nights longer. This gives us more time to rest and recuperate during the long winter,” Carter said.

Finally we started the ritual. First, Carter picked up a ritual dagger known as an athame and stirred the sea salt in one of the bowls on the table in a clockwise motion. The sea salt represents the earth; she spreads it into a bowl of water. The saltwater was then sprinkled on the table and used to enclose the energy in a circle around the group. Each person received a sprinkling of saltwater to cleanse their energy.

Fall-themed Altar: Scroll over the different items on the table to see what some of them are and what they mean.

Next, a feather and incense are used to smudge the room and the members. The incense burning represents fire and the feather represents air. Once the room and the people were smudged with earth, air, fire and water, three women called the guardians of the elements began lighting the four candles in the room.

Then began the next stage of the Women’s Gathering: the releasing of negative energy and the absorbing of positive. This was symbolized at the gathering by a loaf of bread in the shape of a penis. We passed the loaf of bread clockwise around the circle. Each of us said something that a man in their lives, or men in general, had done to upset them and, while saying it, they would tear off a piece of the bread. This represented the release of negative energy.

After we passed the bread around enough times that we could think of nothing more to say, the bread was set-aside for a moment. Pauline and her daughter stood up and performed a ritual showing the balance between male and female energies using a goblet of cider and an athame.

To absorb the positive energy, the bread started circling the table again. Each woman took a piece of bread and ate it after saying something that a man had done to make her happy or pleased. My first one was “For treating me with the respect that I deserve and letting me make my own decisions even though it causes you pain to see me falter at times.”

As the bread continued around the circle, I could feel a heaviness being lifted from my shoulders. Mentally, I was more at peace than I had been in weeks and I knew that the male-induced negative feelings I had been holding were released.

Have you ever participated in a Wiccan Holiday?

Sabbat: holidays on which Wiccans celebrate the male energy of the universe, represented by the God and the Sun

Major Sabbats occur at the midpoints between the solstices and equinoxes:

Lesser Sabbats are festivals that occur at the quarters of the year:

To increase tolerance in yourself and people around you, try saying this:

"We should learn from the Earth’s
Most patient teachers
That religious tolerance
Be one of our features.
In all human hearts,
Have this light shine.
Let us all welcome it
Through spirit, body and mind.
Water it and nurture it.
Let it continue to grow.
So suffering and loneliness
No longer will know.
For what you send out
Returns to tee times three
This is my will
So mote it be.
To add more power to this, buy a seedling plant. Nurture it, water it and read it these words. As the plant grows, so will the tolerance around and within you."

— The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft