Mabon is the name given to the festival of the Autumn Equinox that falls mid-way between the Summer and Winter solstices. The name, Mabon, is taken from a figure in Welsh mythology called Mabon ap Modron – “the divine son of the divine mother”.
In the Arthurian legends, Mabon ap Modron, is a knight who hunts the enchanted wild boar Twrch Trwth. This mythical hero is based on a far older Celtic deity, Mapanos.
The Old North [Yr Hen Ogledd – my patch . see map above]
Much of Welsh heroic bardic poetry refers to the kings that ruled and to events that took place in “The Old North”, an area of Britain that extended across the north of England and into southern Scotland.
[Inevitably Saxon and Norse mythology will have crept in over the years]
In the 6th and 7th centuries, the Old North was divided into four Celtic kingdoms : Elmet, Rheged, Gododdin, and Ystred Clud. This roughly corresponds to the area occupied by Celtic Confederation of the Brigantes, the Parisii, and the Calvetii previously.
In the epic poems of the Welsh bard, Taliesin, the “Land of Mabon” is part of the Old North associated with Owain mab Urien, son of Urien, king of the kingdom of Rheged – thought to have been centered around Cumbria [Calvetii territory] and extending into Lancashire and Scotland. Oft forgotten now is the fact that England was the largest of the Celtic territories in Britain at that time.
Inscriptions to the Celtic god Mapanos are also found in northern England, indicating an historical link between Maponos and Mabon.
Maponos.
A Celtic god known to have been worshipped in the north of England and Gaul during the period of Roman rule and is often associated with the Greek-Roman god Apollo. He is also equated with the Irish mythical figure, Aengus Og, probably because of the Brigantes who held south-east Ireland in addition to part of the Old North. This addition to Mabon ap Modron. Note the Roman connection may have been through the Roman custom of incorporating local gods into their own pantheon e.g. many Roman soldiers took Mithras as their deity [a Persian god].
Mabon’s divine mother Modron in the Welsh tradition has a counterpart in Gaul, Dea Matrona [the Divine Mother Goddess], a diety associated with the river Marne in France. Dea Matrona may therefore be considered as the mother of Maponos.
An evocation to Maponos is preserved in a magical text written on a lead tablet found in Chamalieres [France] dated to 50 AD.
The Parisii [above] were Gaulish Celts from the Paris basin [hence the name] were found in the Old North in pre-Roman times. The Parisii may therefore provide the direct link by which Maponos came to be worshipped in both England and France.
Now to provide a link to the second half on this history. In the Old North was a henge aged similar to Stonehenge [ about 3500 BC] which was the spiritual centre of the Old North. In later Celtic times, this henge – Thornborough – came be the centre of the deity Brigantia, patron goddess of The North and who is still evoked to this day in our festivals.
Festival of Mabon, Thornborough.
Mabon, also known as Herfest, is the autumn equinox, a harvest festival and represents twilight, completion of the harvest, and the decline of summer towards winter. There are elements which would be very familiar to a Christian Harvest Festival, which is not surprising since Mabon comes from a earlier time.
