"Who is it that laments in this house of stone? ... It is Mabon, the son of Modron who is here....and no imprisonment was ever so grievous as mine."
_____ Culhwch and Olwen, from "The Mabinogian"
In the story of Culhwach and Olwen, Mabon, son of Modron, is a primal being of innocence, abducted from his mother's side when he only three nights old. No one knows whether he is alive or dead, as the young hero Culhwch (KIL'ook) discovers when he goes to liberate the Child of Light from his long imprisonment.
The gifts of innocence are eagerly sought by those who have lost their own. Those who nhave spilled and wasted in hideous ways the hope, freshness, vigor, openness, directness, and joy of youth seek to replenish their stores, and so the cycle of the abused preying upon the innocent goes round.
How can the cycle of abuse be short-circuited in our society? Only when each of us decides to break the circle that keeps imprisoned as victim, in fear of the predator. It is only by liberating the Mabon of our innocent selves that we can find the strength to overcome abuse and violence: we need the primal help of our innocent, lost, and imprisoned soul-fragment, which was overshelmed in childhood.
"How has your innocence been abused or lost? Over a period of time, begin to create the components of your quest for the Mabon of your own lost soul-fragment. Where does the crying come from? In what circumstances do you access the memories and pathways? Follow these until you find the place in dream, meditation, and soul-flight. Envisage the innocent becoming the strong liberator."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]
Mabon, The Divine Child
Mabon is the Divine Child who becomes the Divine Youth. He is the eternally young Celtic god of music and harmonym, liberation and unity. He was kidnapped from his mother when he was three days old, and was held in a dungeon in Gloucester, England, until freed by the heroes Kai and Gwrhyr. (In the Welsh tradition Mabon was detained in Annwn, the Otherworld, and his liberator was Culhwch.) Mabon represents imprisonment of the spirit and release from captivity, and symbolizes rebirth or reincarnation in his re-emergence from Annwn.
Mabon is always charming, eloquent and musically skilled - a fine and trustworthy companion. He acts as mediator between the gods and humanity, when needed.
Mabon's attributes are intercession, negotiation, persuasion, and the ability to soothe anger. His symbol is the four-spoked wheel, representing the cycles of life, death, and rebirth, the turning of the year and the treasures that the changing seasons bring. The image combines the fluid, curling lines of the triskle and the solidity of Daghdha's shield knot, demonstrating Mabon's versatility and adaptability.
In the book "The Book of Celtic Symbols" by Joules Taylor, there is a bit of information about Mabon's relationship to the Wheel of the Year. Sometimes the Celtic year is divided into two segements, Light or Bright Year - from Beltaine (May1) to Samhain (November 1) - and Dark Year - Samhain to Beltaine. The Light Year is roughly equivalent to summer, the Dark Year to winter. One of the symbols for this is the double spiral:
Most of the work of the community took place during the Light Year, while the Dark Year was a time for surviving the harshness of the cold months. The double spiral symbolizes balance; the two halves of the year, representing the sun increasing in warmth and brightness during the Light Year and decreasing during the Dark Year.
A more complex way of dividing the year is into the four seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. As always in nature, everything flows. There are no sharply dividing lines where one season becomes another. However, the year can be divided into four in two different ways, using the quarter days or the cross-quarter days. The four-spoked solar wheel shos the sun dividing the year into four seasons. This also symbolizes Mabon, the Divine Child.
Traditionally, the quarter days were the Solstices and the Equinoxes - the longest and shortest nights and the two days in the year when the length of day and night were equal.
Yule and Midsummer mark the Solstices - usually December 22 and June 21 respectively, although the dates can vary by a day or two from year to year. The Midsummer Solstice has no well-known associated with it, although Litha has been suggested (the name comes from writings of the Venerable Bede and refers to the Anglo-Saxon names for the months of June and July).
The Spring Equinox, usually March 20, is generally considered to be the feast of Eostre (Ostara), the goddess of the spring and new growth. Hares, and eggs are her symbols, remembered today in the Easter Rabbit and Easter Eggs.
The original name for the Autumn Equinox remains undiscovered. Neo-Pagans have named it Mabon, although the association of the Divine Youth with the cooling weather, shorter days, and the bounty of the harvest seems misplaced. Modron (the all-providing Mother Goddess) or Rosmerta (the 'Good Provider') would be far more appropraite.
The cross-quarter days fall between the quarter days, and comprise the ancient Celtic festivals of Imbolc (February 1), Beltaine (May Day), Lughnasadh (August 1) and Samhain (November 1). These are the Fire Festivals, celebrations of human life and its connection to the earth - and the Otherworld, in the case of Beltaine and Samhain.
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