Mabon!

[SatSekhem]

I want to start celebrating the Wheel of the Year, as well.

I've been enjoying reading this thread, I'm getting an idea of how people observe it so I can copy and modify to suit my tastes.

I get the urge for a bonfire (no surprise there, I love bonfires) - but I may leave that until Guy Fawkes Night instead. Or should I keep the bonfire until Yule or Samahin?

 
Samhain would be the more appropriate as it is a 'sun festival' if I'm not mistaken. It would probably be appropriate with Yule, but only if you want to stay warm while outside. :

[SunflowerP]

Samhain would be the more appropriate as it is a 'sun festival' if I'm not mistaken.

 
It's one of the Celtic fire festivals, if that's what you were trying to get at.  I'm not sure any of the Celtic ones could really be described as a "sun festival" - Lughnasadh, maybe, but "solar god" isn't a very good description of Lugh.

If I were going to apply "sun festival" to any of the eight sabbats of the Wiccish/NeoDruidic Wheel of the Year, it'd be the solstices and equinoxes.

My own take on it is that, if Valdi has the wood for it, and ready enough access to a suitable place for a bonfire, and if weather permits, there's nothing wrong with having a bonfire on all four occasions.

Sunflower

[Fier]

Or should I keep the bonfire until Yule or Samahin?

 
My personal opinion is the more bonfires the better.

[Valdi]

It would probably be appropriate with Yule, but only if you want to stay warm while outside. :

Being in Britain, a bonfire to stay warm would be pretty much all year round.

My own take on it is that, if Valdi has the wood for it, and ready enough access to a suitable place for a bonfire, and if weather permits, there's nothing wrong with having a bonfire on all four occasions.

Which four occasions? Yule, Ostara, Litha, Mabon?
What about the other four?

Yeah, I seem to end up plenty of wood to burn for regular bonfires. I swear people drop it off in my garden in the night. :
 

My personal opinion is the more bonfires the better.

Awesome!

[Adrianne Boudreau]

Well, well, here it is that the Fall Equinox is nearly upon us. (In my nook of the hemisphere, that is.) I didn't really start celebrating these traditional (may I use this word here? I can't think of anything else to describe it...) wiccan/pagan/insert word here holidays until like, Ostara this year, and therefore I don't have much of a clue what I want to do for Mabon. =/

So, I've decided to do some research. =) How do you celebrate this holiday, if you celebrate it at all? What themes come to mind? Do you celebrate it as much as you would Samhain or Imbolc, or do you keep it simple?

I thank you in advance for your replies and advice.=)

I like to go outside and greet the holiday with a statement. Just to acknowledge the day. And maybe go outside, maybe to a park, or in my own backyard and pay attention to the changes in nature. I might also harvest and dry some herbs in my mother's garden. All in all, I'm not a formal ritual kinda witch. I like to keep my rituals simple, and low key.

[VickyRose]

How do you celebrate this holiday, if you celebrate it at all? What themes come to mind? Do you celebrate it as much as you would Samhain or Imbolc, or do you keep it simple?

To me, this is like Thanksgiving. So I'm thinking a nice walk at the park to enjoy the changing scenery, maybe pick up a few leaves or other tidbits to take home and make a display with, and have a really big homecooked dinner while with friends and family and giving thanks for what I have. A little decoration would be lovely. And then I'd like to enjoy a nice quiet evening afterwards with my lover. A really easy, pleasent day overall with lots of downtime for a bit of thought and reflection.

[SunflowerP]

Which four occasions? Yule, Ostara, Litha, Mabon?
What about the other four?

When I said "four", I meant the four you'd mentioned (Fall Equinox, Samhain, Guy Fawkes Day, and Yule).  Not to the exclusion of Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltane, Midsummer, or any other day, though!  Bonfires are wonderful; no need to ration them - you could have one every week, or even every night, if you so desired.

My main point was, no need to "save" them - I don't think I've ever heard, in any pagan religion, anything about "you can't have a fire on such-and-such a holiday" or "you can only have this many fires per year, so don't have them all at once".

Sunflower

[GreentreeTarot]

Well, well, here it is that the Fall Equinox is nearly upon us. (In my nook of the hemisphere, that is.) I didn't really start celebrating these traditional (may I use this word here? I can't think of anything else to describe it...) wiccan/pagan/insert word here holidays until like, Ostara this year, and therefore I don't have much of a clue what I want to do for Mabon. =/

So, I've decided to do some research. =) How do you celebrate this holiday, if you celebrate it at all? What themes come to mind? Do you celebrate it as much as you would Samhain or Imbolc, or do you keep it simple?

 
I really love the Autumnal Equinox.  Like someone above posted, I treat it as a second Thanksgiving (or I guess third?, since Lughnasadh is also Thanksgiving-y, and we celebrate the other Thanksgiving too).  I concentrate on fruits and veggies for the meal, so there's a lot more focus on appetizers than for other feasts throughout the year.  This year we're doing a vegetable stew with zucchini bread, a fresh fruit and veggie plate, and pumpkin pie for dessert.  Everyone gets wine, and we do a quick prayer thanking the earth for the abundance of the harvest.

I try to celebrate all the sabbats equally, as I treat them mostly as the turning of the seasons; we usually just make a big homemade dinner and take a walk, talking about the changing seasons.  Sometimes we make decorations, and this year I had my daughter pick out a fall decoration for her own altar from the dollar store; but that was the only present.  Big extended family celebrations with huge dinners and lots of presents are Christian and Muslim holidays, with my parents and my in-laws, respectively.

Besides the dinner, I also do a personal ritual, since I'm the only one in my family that's specifically Pagan.  This involves placing some found 'fall' items on my altar, and symbolic offerings to the Earth in thanks for the fertile abundance it has given over the summer.