Mabon marks the start of the Fall. It is the largest harvest festival of the 3 (Lughnadsadh, Mabon, and Samhain); some call it the Pagan Thanksgiving. This is the bulk of the harvest and should also represent harvesting in your life – based on the work you have been doing all year.
However, we all know that some things we plant bear fruit – and others do not. Sometimes, it can be hard to release those things that may be dear to us but will not aid us in our overall goal. I have had many such projects over the years. I wanted to complete projects because I thought that through sheer will, I could make it work. I once believed that if I enjoyed a new culinary product I had added to my local brick-and-mortar store enough, it would finally start selling, so I made it and ate it and talked about it until I was sick of it, yet it never sold. I couldn’t understand why this product was not selling. It took me 2+ years to let it go and thousands of dollars trying to make it work. Had I done it sooner, I would have saved some money and been able to dedicate that time to something else.
We all need a wake-up call once in a while. This spread provides that – whether we listen to it or not, that is another story!
The Mabon Decision-Making Spread
1) Thing 1 & Thing 2
This spread asks you to evaluate 2 things you have been working on all year. These are not small things like, “Should I go on vacation or not?”. You have been working on these big things since the start of the year. Some examples could be buying a house, starting a business or a family, getting married, changing careers, reconciling with a family member, starting a new spiritual path, etc.
Thing 1 represents the first significant thing you have been working on, and since we are humans and rarely do just one thing at a time, there is a Thing 2 for the second major thing. If you have not been working on anything significant this year, or if you have already manifested what you were working on, then things 1 and 2 could be 2 possibilities that you may be considering going forward.
2) Release and Focus
Release and focus are 2 closely related houses. I am exploring them together because you cannot have one without the other; otherwise, you may lose direction or motivation.
Release speaks to those things we are SURE will work but maybe have been shown that they can’t or won’t work, and we are reluctant to let them go. For example, if you are looking for a new house and are focused on one particular neighborhood but have been unable to find ANYTHING in your budget, this could represent letting that go and maybe expanding your search to a couple of other communities nearby. It could also mean an expectation you may have, such as waiting for a settlement that has been delayed multiple times or that may not even happen to start your new business. This can aid us in making a good decision that can be difficult when we have our hearts set on something. When we release something, it is not a matter of going back; it is a matter of simply pivoting to a new direction, and this is where focus comes into play.
Focus speaks to what you must focus on now that you have released what was holding you back. In the above example, if your chosen neighborhood is too expensive, the focus could shift to a specific school district if you have kids or a specific radius from work for a better commute. In the example of expecting a settlement, perhaps the focus will tell you to ask for a loan for that new business, start small – maybe online before a brick-and-mortar, or even approach a family member who may help.
Once we release something, it is crucial to have something else to focus on to build on the progress made thus far!
3) Groundwork
The final house talks about laying down the groundwork to move forward. What does that look like for you? This may mean Taking that first step in grabbing that URL for your new business or connecting with a new realtor to find your new home. This could be talking to Uncle Joe, who has a lot of business wisdom to impart, and asking for aid or advice on your new business idea. This could be talking to your partner about moving in together to see if you are compatible (before considering marriage).
This house will generally represent a small step that sets you on a new course of action, such as committing to a new diet plan by asking a friend to hold you accountable or seeing a new fertility specialist to help if you have trouble conceiving. This house will always represent something solid to move you forward, generally with assistance from outside yourself to keep you accountable and focused on the new course of action,
