Ostara Mabon is a celebration of the vernal equinox commemorated by Pagans and Wiccans.
Mabon is the second harvest celebrated in Gaelic, Pagan, and Wiccan traditions. It is the first day of fall and celebration of the vernal equinox. The holiday is about gathering wisdom and honoring elders.
Mabon is a time of balance, equality and harmony. If you're in the Northern hemisphere, the days will begin getting shorter after the autumn equinox and the nights will grow longer—in the Southern hemisphere, the reverse is true.
Many cultures see the second harvest (after the first harvest Lammas or Lughnasadh) and equinox as a time for giving thanks.
At this time, farmers know how well their summer crops did, and how well fed their animals have become. This determines whether you and your family would have enough food for the winter. That is why people used to give thanks around this time, thanks for their crops, and animals, and food.
The name Mabon comes from the Welsh God (Mabon ap Modron), who was the son of the Earth Mother Goddess. However, there is evidence that the name was adopted in the 1970s, and the holiday was not originally a Celtic celebration.
Although the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving falls in November, many cultures see the second harvest time of the fall equinox as a time of giving thanks. After all, it's when you figure out how well your crops did, how fat your animals have gotten, and whether or not your family will be able to eat during the coming winter. However, by the end of November, there's not a whole lot left to harvest.
The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World between late September and mid-November in 1621, and was considered a harvest celebration. This feast lasted three days and was attended by 90 Wampanoag Native American people and 53 Pilgrims (survivors of the Mayflower)
The idea of Harvest Festival is nothing new
In the 1700s, the Bavarians (part of present day Germany) began a festival that starts in the last week of September. They called this festival Oktoberfest. The festival had lots of feasting and celebrating.
In ancient Greece, Oschophoria was a festival held in the fall to celebrate the harvesting of grapes for wine.
China's Mid-Autumn festival is celebrated on the night of the Harvest Moon, and is a festival of honoring family unity.
The Cornucopia (from Latin cornu - horn and copia - abundance) is a traditional symbol for Mabon. It symbolizes abundance, a bountiful harvest, and, by extension, an appreciation for both of those things.
Similar baskets were traditionally used in western Asia and Europe to hold and carry newly harvested food products, worn on the back or slung around the torso, leaving the harvester's hands free for picking.