MABON (BOGUS NAME) EQUINOX DATES (BOGUS DATES)

 

1.) Calling the September Equinox "MABON" is totally BOGUS...

Just in case you haven’t already heard, the word / name "Mabon" has nothing to do with the Autumnal Equinox, or Autumn, or any calendar date whatsoever. It has never, ever, been related to the Autumnal Equinox or any other Pagan calendar date before a point in the 1970's when it was first erroneously associated with it by one (one) Wiccan group on the West Coast of the US. Not even one good mythic or lore-related reason for them pinning the character's name to the date ever seems to surface. So, for those of us who care about such things, it's just plain stupid, but we're stuck with it. If you've always used it because your old Wiccan high priestess called it that, or because of your early reliance on Llewellyn books, for the sake of ADF's reputation and your own, please consider ditching the usage and tell your friends.

2.) What IS the primary date of the SEPTEMBER EQUINOX ?

(...Not what you’ll read in Pagan books!)

Well, if you happen to have your cheat sheet (see fig.1,) you are in for some big surprises...

Yes, I don't know if I've found one 'pagan' reference book yet that lists the correct general date for the September Equinox !!! Even if they include it in a range of possible dates, rarely does ANY source infer that the 23rd of September is the principal date for the Autumnal Equinox and the other is an occasional variant.

It simply does NOT FALL ON THE 20th, 
nor the 21st, or 25th - - those are just plain wrong:

it usually falls on September 23rd and occasionally on the 22nd.

The year to year variance in the date and time of the equinoxes and solstices is actually due to our wonderfully efficient Gregorian Calendar correcting itself. Bobbing around the natural year's fixing points like a puppy pacing from one extreme to the other on a very short leash, the corrections are achieved through the application of an extra day every four years or so ("leap years") and the occasional extra day thrown-in on certain century-turning years.

ALSO, OF RELATED INTEREST: 

EXHIBIT 1:              THE EXISTING WORDING FOUND IN THE ADF CONSTITUTION:

“ Article 4: Calendar

1.)     The High Days of the ADF calendar are the eight Neopagan High Days which are the solstices, equinoxes, and points equally between them. For legal purposes, these High Days occur on:

a. Cross-Quarter =                 November 1st

b. Solstice =                             December 21st

c. Cross-Quarter =                 February 1st

d. Equinox =                             March 21st

e. Cross-Quarter =                 May 1st

f.  Solstice =                             June 21st

g. Cross-Quarter =                 August 1st

h. Equinox =                             September 21st

2.) For ceremonial purposes, local congregations shall celebrate each of the eight High Days within one week prior to or after the aforementioned dates, or at some other time determined by Board-established policy.

3.) The ceremonial year of ADF shall begin on the first day of November and end on the thirty-first day of October in each civil year. ”

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More September Equinox fun HERE... 

 REFERENCES: 

USNO Website 
- the US official standard data site for astronomers and calendar makers.

- "Fig.1" which I created for an article in the mid 1990's, was derived from a sample of 22 years' data from both the USNO and the Observers' Handbook from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

- Text and table & images originally are from The Druids Almanac and docs linked to it, (c) Earrach.