Rosh Hashanah, which literally means the head of the year, commemorates the anniversary of the creation of the world, is a time for reflection and self evaluation. It is celebrated on the first and second days of the seventh Hebrew month, Tishri. The rite of the festivity starts with a period of purification & preparation.
The observance begins on nightfall the day before Rosh Hashanah. Celebrants prepare by bathing, receiving haircuts, donning special clothes and giving treats to children.
Certain types of work are forbidden, though there are some exceptions.
Food preparation and the carrying, transferring or increasing of the fire are all permitted. Women of the household light commemorative candles before sunset of the first night and a half-hour before sunset on the second night of Rosh Hashanah, reciting blessings over them.
Throughout Rosh Hashanah no bitter or sour food is eaten. People eat foods including a sweet bread called challah, pomegranates, and apples dipped in honey. Sweet food is eaten throughout this holiday, symbolizing the desire to have a new year filled with sweetness.
The people walk to flowing water, such as a creek or river, on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah and empty their pockets or throw bread crumbs into the river, symbolically casting off their sins that I prefer to call negativity.

"Kabbalists teach that Rosh Hashanah is the time during which your life for the following year is determined. This means that instead of living life according to the fickle finger of fate, you can control how your life unfolds.
The Zohar explains that every year on Rosh Hashanah, your actions of the past year are examined, and the effects of your actions from the previous year come back to you."
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Depending on the solar calendar, Rosh Hashanah occurs in September or October. Rosh Hashanah begins this year (2006) on the evening of September 22nd with the new moon in Virgo exatly the same days of Mabon.
Mabon is the name used by Wiccans for one of the eight solar holidays or sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. It is celebrated on the Autumnal Equinox, which in the northern hemisphere occurs on September 23rd (occasionally the 22nd).
The autumnal equinox was celebrated already by ancient Celts.
During the Equinox, the sun passes our planet's equator, making night and day of almost equal length all over the world.
From the moment of the September Equinox, the Sun's strength diminishes, until the moment of the Winter Solstice in December, when the Sun grows stronger and the days once again become longer than the nights
During this time Mabon, Young Son, Divine Youth, Son of Light also disappears. He is taken at birth when only three nights old.
His Mother Modron laments...
With the help of the wisdom and the memory of the most ancient of living animals - (the Blackbird , the Stag, the Eagle, the Salmon, and the Owl), Mabon is eventually found. His seeker asks the ritual question of each totem animal: "Tell me if thou knowest aught of Mabon, the son of Modron, who was taken when three nights old from between his mother and the wall?"
All along, Mabon has been dwelling, a happy captive, in his mother Modron's magical Otherworld / her womb. Modron is Gaurdian of the Otherworld, Protector, Healer, the Earth herself. Her womb is nurturing and enchanted, but also filled with challenges. Only in so powerful a place of renewable strength can Mabon be reborn as his Mother's champion, the source of joy and Son of Light.
Once reborn Mabon's light is drawn into the Earth, gathering strength and wisdom enough to become a new seed.
During this time we celebrate Mabon's death and his return to Modron's womb, where he will soon be reborn.
Mabon is a Thanksgiving, a time to appreciate and give thanks and to share in the joys of the harvest. Mabon is ruled by the Wine Moon of September and marks the completion of the fruit harvest, the wine will remind us of his power throughout the year.
The period before Mabon, should be a period of purification, reflection and self-examination, to give enough determination and direction to the new seed for the next year time, very similar to the time of preparation for Rosh Hashanah.
As kabbalist Yehuda Berg writes:
"The kabbalists explain that our souls are born anew at this time. Just as a child’s physical DNA is encoded at birth, a person’s spiritual DNA is rewritten for the year on Rosh Hashanah. And it is rewritten according to our desires."