Tomorrow is Mabon, the Fall Equinox, and I'm celebrating in a few different ways this year. I wanted this to be the subject of my special post this week and post it earlier so you can actually do some of these things if you wish.

I'm mentally and physically exhausted. When my depression and CPTSD symptoms get worse, cooking and baking are two things that really help me. Unfortunately, spending too much time doing either can also cause my physical symptoms to flare up, so it's a constant game of finding a balance between doing things that make me happy and not completely exhausting myself in the process.

Me being a Libra definitely fits. ♎

I'm getting a head start today by making the pie dough and filling for my apple galette and prepping the vegetables for tomorrow's stew. That way, I can still enjoy cooking and baking without spending the entire day in the kitchen.

I wanted to share a few of the ways I'm celebrating Mabon this year, especially since not all of them require much energy or even leaving the house.

🍎 Baking an apple galette. Apples are one of my favorite parts of fall, and I've been looking forward to making this. I make one every season. I made an incredible blueberry almond one this summer.

🥧 Cooking beef stew with a puff pastry topping. A big pot of stew, a flaky pastry crust. A great way to incorporate seasonal vegetables.

🍊 Making a simmer pot. Cinnamon, apple, orange, and star anise. I love filling the house with the smell of fall, and this is such an easy way to make everything feel a little more cozy.

🕯️ Changing my altar from summer to fall. Putting away my summer decorations and bringing out the things that remind me of autumn. It's one of my favorite little seasonal rituals. Not that my entire home isn't filled with fall and Halloween decor year round.

🍁 Collecting a few fallen leaves and pressing them in a book. Something simple that gets me outside for a little while without requiring too much energy. Plus, I'll have a few pieces of this autumn to keep.

🌰 Carrying an acorn in my pocket all day. A little token of gratitude and a reminder to appreciate what I have, even when things are difficult.

📱 Harvesting the photos and videos off my phone. This one might sound a little strange, but I'm treating it as a different kind of harvest. I'll be going through my camera roll, organizing photos and videos, and setting aside things I can use for future social media posts. I've been trying to find ways to make creating content less exhausting, and having everything organized should help me spend less time on my phone and more time actually enjoying my life.

Why Mabon?

I don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Mabon is my harvest celebration. We decorate our bar with candles, flowers, and then put on a relaxing YouTube fall background too with calming music.

For those unfamiliar with it, Mabon is a modern Pagan celebration associated with the Autumn Equinox, when day and night are approximately equal in length. It's a time to recognize the changing seasons, reflect on what we've harvested throughout the year, practice gratitude, and prepare for the darker, quieter months ahead.

I love that it falls at a time of balance. Light and dark, activity and rest, holding on to what matters and letting go of what doesn't.

And this year, that feels especially relevant.

I'm trying to appreciate the things that bring me happiness while also recognizing that my body and mind need rest. Sometimes that means spending an afternoon baking something delicious. Other times, it means putting a few leaves in a book, curling up with my cats, and calling that enough for the day.

I don't need to do everything on my list to have a meaningful Mabon.

I'm sharing these little rituals in case anyone else is looking for ways to welcome fall, whether you celebrate Mabon or just really love this time of year.

Do you have any fall traditions or little rituals you look forward to every year?

We're back and settled, past the jet lag and catching up on work (kinda), and ready to read some doggone books this week so let me know what you're reading in the comments and I'll give the rundown of everything I got goin' on!

READING

REVIEW

EAST OF EDEN by JOHN STEINBECK (literary fiction)

Progress: Finished

Just finished this morning and need to sit with my thoughts before saying anything major about it or slapping a definitive rating on it, which should tell you that it's not a slam dunk 5* for me but it still may be 5*. I will say that I loved slowly working through it felt totally immersed in the world Steinbeck crafted for these excellent characters. Cathy was my favorite of the bunch and I support all of her wrongs. More thoughts on this coming soon but yeah, pretty solid pick by the Fiction Sickos Book Club and I'm hyped for the Netflix adaptation.

FIFTH SUN: A NEW HISTORY OF THE AZTECS by CAMILLA TOWNSEND (narrative history)

Progress: Finished

I've already done a full review for this and mentioned it multiple times over the past few years but seriously, read it and join the discussion with the History Sickos Book Club! One aspect I really appreciated was how far after 1521 Townsend goes as she details the fight to keep the Aztec/Mexica/Nahua history alive from their perspective, which made this book possible.

A FIRE AMONG CLOUDS by CAMILO MONCADA LOZANO [Book 1, Codex Black] (graphic novel)

Progress: Finished

Gorgeous artwork, a fun and action-packed story, and I loved the historical context bit at the end of this. If you're reading Fifth Sun you should definitely read this alongside.

BERSERK: VOL 22-24 by KENTARO MIURA [Deluxe Edition Vol. 8] (manga/grimdark fantasy)

Progress: Finished

It took football coming back for me to realize why I haven't read as much manga lately, and it's basically I typically read it during football Sunday, as it's easier to look up from. I just put up a video explaining my thoughts on the stretch that begins the Falcon of the Milenium Empire arc but the TL;DR is WE ARE SO BACK!

PREVIEW

On Wednesday I'll be putting up votes for both book clubs so that may alter how I go about picking my next books but what I do know for sure is that I'll be reading The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert in the interim. And yeah I'll hit up Berserk Deluxe Vol. 9 on Sunday.

IT'S SCOUNDRELS RELEASE WEEK!

I can't believe it's finally here! A Complement of Scoundrels by S.V. Lockwood, our publishing imprint's first fantasy book release, is out tomorrow! I'll be taking a trip to my local bookstores to see who has it in stock (it looks like a few do!) and I'll be shooting an unboxing video for the Influencer Box that I just received today.

I would love to see pics if any of you spot it in the wild as well. And if you missed the news, yes, there's an audiobook and it's also available for pre-order. Pre-orders and first week sales are massive for a new release so if you haven't got your order in, please consider picking it up this week!

EVERYTHING ELSE

• Game of the Week: I'm trying to get a win with every civilization in Civilization VI and have 24 to go. That's only about 240 hours or so of gameplay (more if I turn off Science victories like I have for some as a change-up), nbd.

• Show of the Week: Gotta catch up on Ted Lasso and I'm watching Physical 100: Mexico, which had a bizarre moment where a luchador unironically did a flying headscissors in one of the competitions, which, cool?

• Movie of the Week: Hoping I have time to see the theatrical release of the old school Ghost in the Shell.

Our October theme is SEASON OF THE WITCH. We never get tired of reading witch stories, and 'tis the season! Leave your suggestions below and we'll vote on our October book of the month next week!