As the Mystery of the First Harvest of Lammas is bread and family, the Mystery of the Second Harvest of Mabon is fermentation and ecstasy. This is not the individual Mystery of Ecstasy of Beltane, but instead is sharedecstasy, brewed and bottled and given as the divine gift that it is: the Waters of Life, the Draught of Inspiration. As we move into the final phases of the Wheel, it is also one of the Mysteries that still challenges the queer community, that of Mentorship.

One of the secrets of the Queer Spirit is that it is rarely found where we begin. Most queer people are born and raised in heterosexual (if not necessarily heterosexist) families and we are most certainly raised currently in a heterosexist and largely patriarchal culture. Earlier in the cycle of the Wheel, we are driven by our awareness of otherness, our declaration of identity, to seek out our people, our tribe. This Mystery is the other side of that equinox of Coming Out, the role of those who stand on the other side to welcome the newcomer, extending the heady offering of knowledge, experience, and understanding.

This Mystery is also a profound opportunity to seek out and honor our elders, something queer community has not and does not always do well. For many of us, around my age and younger, a generation of our elders was decimated by plague and neglect, leaving us without the benefits of their wisdom. We should cherish those who remain that much more because of it, and seek to grow into the mentors we wish that we had in our time for the generations who come after us. This is part of the reason for establishing queer sacred spaces and communities, such as the Temple of Witchcraft’s Queer Spirit Ministry, or queer-focused festivals, traditions, and groups. It is part of the work of this and other essays: Distilling our experiences and insights so they may be shared with a new generation.