My husband and I put together this Mabon Altar on the top of our media stand in the living room so that it can always be front and center in the house, and can be easily reached to be changed with the seasons. I was happy with how this came together since the process was so organic. We got a bee in our bonnet to set it up, so we cleared off the stand on the morning proceeding Mabon and started thinking about the elements, taking turns coming up with just the right thing! The best part was, we discovered our stand was already PERFECTLY aligned. If you look at the picture you will see our representation of earth in the upper right hand corner of the stand, which just so happened to be (as if there were coincidences!) North.

Here’s a little bit about our altar set up:

North/Earth – a plant my daughter received as a gift from a friend last year

East/Air – incense. The picture was taken after our Mabon ritual, so you see incense ash rather than the actual incense in the pic.

Fire/South – candle in a yummy harvest scent. The snuffer is in front of it to remind us not to blow away the energy while extinguishing.

Water/West – water jug. This was a gift from my in-laws a few years ago. It is painted by local Native Americans so it is the perfect energy for the Mabon sabbat!

Spirit/Deity – we decided this god/goddess statue is a perfect representation of our inner spirit. I had found this statue many years ago, I don’t even remember when or where, all I remember is that it was not what anyone would have expected me to like at the time. Yet I was somehow so drawn to it, that I just went ahead and got it. The statue sat in a little corner alcove of the living room, barely visible, for a long time. Eventually it got moved out of sight all together. When we were assembling our altar I originally planned to find an object to represent spirit, then to represent the Lord & Lady with candles in the center of the altar. All of a sudden an image of this statue enter my mind’s eye, and I knew it was just perfect! What better way to represent the spirit within us all than with deities? In all fairness I don’t know that this statue originally was meant to represent deities, but that is certainly what it came to represent to me and my family. Once we had combined our deity representation with our spirit representation, that opened up the center of the altar for something else.

In addition to representations of the elements, we also added a cornucopia (found at a Goodwill store) which we added fresh produce to (apples and avocado,) and three pine cones (one is behind the cornucopia) that my 12 year old decided would be the perfect final touch

In the evening we invited a friend over, so there were 4 of us, making a nice intimate gathering. We performed a ritual calling the corners, remembering the role of deity in our literal and metaphorical harvests, and offering thanks. We shared an apple and some apple cider to close the ritual. Then we set up a table with fresh cut veggies, yogurt based veggie dip, and banana nut muffins. I had planned on pumpkin muffins but realized I was missing a main ingredient (pumpkin!) when it came to the making of it. The night continued with laughing and merriment, some wonderful tunes by SJ Tucker (from her Sirens CD,) and a movie to close out the festivities. A very enjoyable Mabon celebration was had by all!

Some tips for your Mabon altar:

* get the whole household involved in the altar set up
* try to include things they have sentimental value and hold the energy of exchange and gratitude. We did this by including items that had been gifts from friends or family.
* include at least one natural item
* if you relax and let go of control, the altar will create itself through you and your loved ones.
* don’t worry about shoulds or shouldn’ts, this is your altar so follow your heart and follow your instincts

No worries, that's non-alcoholic apple cider she is pretending to chug!