57 Mabon: The Balance Of Light And Dark, And The Rising Of The Harvest Moon

Autumn equinox 2026 arrives September 22 at 8:05 PM Eastern — the exact moment light and dark stand in balance before the Harvest Moon rises full on September 26. This week's episode is a Mabon meditation on the second harvest, the threshold between light and dark, and hawthorn — the old hedgerow guardian of doorways — plus a folk-method walkthrough for a simple hawthorn haw cordial to carry you into the dark half of the year.

In this episode:

— The exact astronomy of the 2026 autumn equinox and why "equal night" isn't quite exact

— Mabon's roots in Welsh myth, the English harvest home, and the wider world's autumn thanksgivings

— Why the second harvest asks something different of us than the first

— Hawthorn: the folklore of a threshold tree, and its old reputation as a heart plant

— A folk-method hawthorn haw cordial, start to finish

— A simple Mabon ritual for the equinox evening and the rising Harvest Moon

Find this week's companion reflection in the newsletter and the full seasonal walk on YouTube — both linked below. And if this episode gave you something worth keeping, pass it along to a fellow gardener who might need this week's pause too.

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