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MYTH*ING LINKS An Annotated & Illustrated Collection of Worldwide
Links to Mythologies, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Sacred Arts & Sacred
Traditions by Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.
AUTUMN greetings, CUSTOMS & LORE
September - December 2008
I did start a new page this year with wonderful
new art, but the tree-theme I wanted to use was too painful to write (for
many reasons), I had no non-tree text that fit, my time was limited, the
luminous blues and golds of this glorious, fiery, confident rooster from
two yeas ago still enthrall me -- so I am again keeping this page.
25 August 2007 Author's Note:
This has been a scorched, flooded, heavy, dismal
summer, both literally and emotionally, for many people around the globe.
I have no heart to write a new autumn equinox message this year. Hope seems
in short supply. But I just re-read what I wrote last year and, despite
everything, it cheered me up. Perhaps it'll do the same for you <smile>.
So I'm keeping it "current" for another year. . . . . . .
8-9 August 2006 Author's Note:
A rooster doesn't watch the news on TV nor read newspapers and blogs.
He has no idea how dismal and disturbing things are on his planet. He just
awakens each morning and sings. Well, perhaps we shouldn't exactly refer
to it as "singing" -- it's usually called "crowing." But the rooster doesn't
know this. It's his destined, glorious "songline," his sacred
way of greeting the dawn, of thanking life, of celebrating his chi,
of marking his cosmic, eternal territory.
In these difficult times, may we all find the rooster within us and
both survive and
thrive -- happily, healthfully, magically, wisely,
and well. And may our planet feel that energy and do what is needful to
protect all her endangered species, human and otherwise, from those forces
that would destroy us from within.
<><><><><><><><><><>
Let me conclude, as I do each autumn, with my prayer written
some years ago for these pages and carried forward each year....
As autumn returns to earth's northern hemisphere, and day and night are briefly, but perfectly, balanced at the equinox, may we remember anew how fragile life is ---- human life, surely, but also the lives of all other creatures, trees and plants, waters and winds.
May we make wise choices in how and what we harvest, may earth's weather turn kinder, may there be enough food for all creatures, may the diminishing light in our daytime skies be met by an increasing compassion and tolerance in our hearts.
Warmly,
Kathleen
Note: artist, Melanie Renn, has created a
free online photoshow around this prayer, "As Autumn Returns," that I wrote
a handful of years ago for this autumn equinox page. Her work has
a Native American focus and is truly beautiful -- music, art, and words
all blend together. It's at: http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/uQ4iC2zy
2004 Note: When I began this
seasonal page in 1999, its focus was solely on the autumnal equinox --
many of the page's links still reflect that focus. But over the past
five years I have added so many other autumn harvest festivals (e.g., Greek,
Slavic, Japanese, Native American, Thanksgiving, etc) that the page has
really become about the season of autumn as a whole. I hope you'll
enjoy the links related to this larger perspective as well as those focused
on the equinox.
(Note: separate pages still exist
for October's
Halloween and November's Dia
de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.)
Relevant Autumnal Dates and Times for the year
2008: This year, the annual month ofRamadhan
begins Monday or Tuesday at sundown, 1 or 2 September 2008 (the actual date may vary by one or two days depending
upon when the crescent moon is sighted -- see the Ramadhan section on my Islam
page). Autumn Equinox arrives
when the sun enters Libra on Monday, 22 September 2008 at 11:44am (EDT). Rosh
Hashanah begins at sundown Monday, 29 September 2008. Yom
Kippur begins at sundown Wednesday, 8 October 2008. The Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot
begins at sundown on Monday, 13 October 2008. The five-day South Asian festival of lights,
Diwali,
begins Tuesday, 28 October 2008 (scoll down for links).
Maybe the Middle East could replace
those wretched, death-magnet oil fields with huge solar panel "farms" and
birth an entirely new and healthy epoch in the "Cradle of Civilization"?
Do we really need all that dwindling oil when we have the sun above,
and the winds and mighty seas all around us?
Maybe the super-wealthy among all
of us, East & West, could grow up and practice kindness instead of
unrelenting greed? Maybe we could finally find a way to be worthy of the
beauty and wonder of the planet we share with so many other remarkable
species?
Sig Lonegren gives an overview of times & science
for autumn equinox. He includes significant September dates along with
a great image of Michael the Archangel for Michelmas on 29 September.
[Note: his equinox times are not always accurate -- e.g., they are off
by 12 hours for 2004, but other data seems fine.] Here is his
link [updated 9/19/08]: http://www.geomancy.org/astronomy/quarter-cross-quarter/autumn-equinox/index.html For moon astrology, charts,
etc, see: http://www.lunarliving.org/moon/index.shtml
[Added 8/26/02]: This
is a plain-text page on ancient Greek festivals from c. 13 September through
13 October.
...Many of the Greek and Roman festivals
of this season celebrate the end of the military campaigning season.
At the end of September and beginning of October, however, the emphasis
shifts to the Corn Mothers and other agricultural deities. In many
Greek states the month beginning mid-September was called Demetrion
after
Demeter....
The page beings with the "Great (Eleusinian) Mysteries" of Demeter
and Persephone (c. Sept. 29-Oct. 5), since these are, of course, the highlight
of the season. Then it backtracks to 13 September (for the Roman
feast of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva) and continues forward to 13 October,
the Roman Fontinalia,
a festival for Fons, the god of springs.
[Added 8/26-27/02]:
This is a continuation of the above plain-text data: ancient Greek festivals
from 22 October to 15 December.
...In the Greek and Roman worlds,
there are comparatively few festivals in October and November, which is
the seed-time (Gr. sporetos), a season of ploughing and sowing.
Women figure prominently in these festivals since in neolithic times they
were responsible for crops raising (by the Bronze Age it became a male
occupation)....
The details are wonderful and more information is given on the above-mentioned
feasts of Apollo, Dionysus, and Theseus. There is also fine data
for the Thesmophoria (see below).
[Added 8/26-27/02]:
From
N.S. Gill, the ancient history guide at about.com, comes a fine
page on the Greek harvest (or "Thanksgiving") festival, Thesmophoria,
which
falls during October-November (also see above link):
"It is called Thesmophoria,
because Demeter is called Thesmophoros in respect of her establishing
laws or thesmoiin accordance with which men must provide nourishment
and work the land...."
Since the fall harvest must usually take an
agricultural society through winter, it is vitally important for survival.
Whatever power provides that bounty deserves praise.... [This festival
was]...in honor of the goddess who taught mankind to tend the soil, during
a month known as Pyanopsion (Puanepsion), according to the
lunisolar calendar of the Athenians. Since our calendar is solar, the month
doesn't exactly match, but Pyanopsion would be, more or less, October into
November....
[Added 8/26/02]: This
is a very interesting page by John Opsopaus on three autumn festivals of
ancient Greece -- these fall after the equinox but contain themes relevant
to the entire season:
...Because Ancient Greek festivals
were held according to a lunar calendar, which was often out of step with
the solar year, it is difficult to say what festivals would correspond
to Samhain.
In Homer's time the cosmical setting (first
visible setting on western horizon at sunrise) of Orion, the Pleiades and
the Hyades, which marked the beginning of the winter, herding season, occurred
at the beginning of November (Nov. 5-10, by various computations). (Orion
was the son of Poseidon and Euruale, daughter of Minos and sister of Ariadne,
about whom more later.). Significantly, these constellations, which mark
the seasons, are at the center of the Shield of Achilles (Iliad
XVIII), that famous mandala of the Homeric Universe.
In classical Greek times there were several
important festivals that nominally occur at the end of October and beginning
of November. Two of these, which occur on the same day (7 Puanepsion),
are especially interesting; they are followed on the next day by the Theseia
(for
Theseus), which is intimately connected with the first two....
Two of these festivals honor Apollo and Dionysus and are held on the
same day.
...The Oskhophoria, in honor
of Dionysos, occurs on the same day as the Puanepsia. It may seem
odd to honor Apollo and Dionysos, so often taken as polar opposites, on
the same day, but we must remember that They share Delphi, and this is
the time of year when the changing of the guard occurs. An ancient pot
shows Them shaking hands over the Omphalos (World Naval) at Delphi....
The third, Theseia, commemorates Theseus. The author retells
the story: "Ariadne and Theseus' Descent into the Labyrinth and Return."
The details are fascinating although it should be mentioned that the author
has excluded other important ancient variants of the myth. Nevertheless,
the story includes the mysterious desertion of Ariadne by Theseus, followed
by her marriage to Dionysus himself -- whose festival was celebrated only
the day before.
[Added 8/26/02]:This
is an engrossing, contemporary re-visioning of what might have been the
ancient "Greek Ritual of the Labyrinth" (Ta Hiera Laburinthou) by
John Opsopaus:
...This ritual is an initiation and
celebration of new beginnings structured around the myth of Theseus, Ariadne
and the Minotaur and associated Greek midautumn celebrations, which take
place when Apollo yields Delphi to Dionysos for the winter months....
I have not had time to read the entire ritual (it's lengthy) but what
impresses me is its mythopoetic quality and the deep psychological nuances.
Also, I appreciate the careful footnoting that links the Cretan labyrinth
to displaced, but related themes, in Mesopotamian myths.
India's autumnal Diwali Festival (BBC article: see below)
[Added 15 September
2006]: Moving from Greece to South Asia, Diwali is
a major autumnal five-day festival celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains
around the world. The above link offers a calendar of future dates -- this
"Festival of Lights" always falls in October or November but dates vary
from year to year. In 2007, it will begin Friday, November 9th; in
2008, Tuesday, October 28th.
[Added
15 September 2006]: This is an entry level article
from the BBC with small but lovely photos (see above). There are
many subsections but information is brief in each of them. Here is how
it opens:
Diwali, the Hindu festival
of lights, is the most popular of all the festivals from South Asia, and
is also the occasion for celebrations by Jains and Sikhs as well as Hindus.
The festival of Diwali extends over five days.
Because of the lights, fireworks, and sweets involved, it's a great favourite
with children.
The festival celebrates the victory of good
over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance, although
the actual legends that go with the festival are different in different
parts of India....
[Added 15 September
2006]: This site looks at the festival's origins,
regional traditions, the five days, and other aspects of the celebration.
For example, here is an excerpt about what happens in Krishna temples:
In many Krishna temples, Diwali is
celebrated as a day of feeding and venerating cows. In Nathdwar, for instance,
there is a day-long feast for cattle called Annakoot. The reason
for this special place given to the cow lies deep in the religious consciousness
of Indians. The sacredness of the cow goes back to the myth of the churning
of the cosmic ocean by the gods. Of the 14 `jewels' which the ocean gave
to the gods, Kamadhenu ,the celestial cow, was one. She was venerated as
the mother of the universe. The celestial cow is also called Surabhi or
Nandini, the giver of joy and plenty. A cow is the constant companion of
Krishna.
I like the site's conclusion:
...However, in all this frenzy of
shopping and eating, the steady, burning lamp is a constant symbol of an
illuminated mind .
[Added 15 September
2006]: This is a very, very brief page but I like the
way it describes the little lamps:
... It is colloquially known as the
"festival of lights," for the common practice is to light small oil lamps
(called diyas) and place them around the home, in courtyards, verandahs,
and gardens, as well as on roof-tops and outer walls....
[Added 15 September
2006]: This page on the history and origin of Diwali
looks at a series of relevant myths. My favorite involves a variant of
the famous "Churning of the Ocean" myth:
...The history and origin of worshipping
Lakshmi on the day of Diwali [the
third of the five days] and
on Dhanteras [the first
of the five days] tells a different
story. According to Hindu mythology, on this auspicious new moon day in
the Hindu calendar, Lakshmi or the Goddess of wealth and prosperity was
incarnated. Lakshmi emerged from the ‘ocean of milk’ when Gods and demons
were churning the ocean in search of ‘Amrit’ or nectar. Hence, worshipping
Lakshmi on the day of Diwali became a tradition....
Disclaimer: this webpage and the two
following ones come from a freebee greeting card company -- I normally
do not include these firms among my links but I find their informative
pages enjoyable and some of the cards on one of their Diwali
greeting card pages come with a musical background which, on a recent
dismal day, cheered me up <smile> -- so I'm adding several of their
background pages to my own page.
[Added 17 September
2006]: This page looks at Dhanteras, the first
day of the festival, a time when Lakshmi, goddess of riches, is honored.
Here's an excerpt:
To indicate the long awaited arrival
of Goddess Lakshmi, entrances are decorated beautifully with traditional
motifs and bright colors. Small footprints, signifying the steps of Goddess
Lakshmi, are drawn on the floor by using rice flour and vermilion powder.
But then another legend is explored, again concerned with riches, but
this time a clever wife uses them to dazzle the God of Death. Although
the myths are quite different, in ancient Greece there is also a connection
between wealth and Pluto/Hades, Lord of Death. The use of music is also
intriguing.
Another fascinating legend behind
Dhanteras
tells the story of young son of King Hima. He was destined to die by a
snake-bite on the fourth day of his marriage. His wife determined to save
her husband, laid all the ornaments, gold and silver coins at the entrance
of their room and lighted innumerable lamps all over the place. She also
kept on singing songs all through the night to keep her husband awake.
When Yam, the God of Death, arrived there in the form of a serpent, he
was dazzled by those innumerable lights and glittering ornaments. So he
listened to the melodious songs, sitting on the hip ["heap"]
of ornaments and coins and left quietly in the morning. Since that day
lights are kept burning all through the night on Dhanteras and on
Diwali as an expression to convey reverence to Yam, the God of Death.
[Added 17 September
2006]:This page offers an overview of each
of the five days of the diwali festival. Here is the entry for the third
and most important day:
Diwali: The third day of Diwali
or Deepavali is the big day and central to the festival of lights.
It is known as Badi Diwali (big Diwali), or more commonly just Diwali.
This falls on the last day of the lunar calendar year and is the most important
day of the five-day long Diwali celebrations. Falling on a no-moon day,
this day is the darkest day of the year.
This day of Diwali witnesses the prime of Deepavali
celebrations when the festive fervor reaches its peak with firecrackers
bursting everywhere, people rejoicing with friends and family, every Hindu
family performing the Lakshmi-puja (worship of Goddess Lakshmi)
with the traditional ‘aarti’ (a Hindu ritual of waving lamps in
front of the deities) and diyas glowing in and around every house....
[Added 17 September
2006]: Written by Malini Bisen, this is a handsomely
presented and eloquent pair of pages giving an excellent overview of the
five days. Many other sites have obviously "borrowed" portions of
their own pages from here -- but this is the mother-lode. Read the foregoing
abbreviated versions from other sites and then enjoy the pleasure of reading
what this site offers. Here is what the author writes about the third
day, for example -- it gives one a strong sense of the mystical dimension
omitted on other sites:
...The strains of joyous sounds of
bells and drums float from the temples as man is invoking Goddess Lakshmi
in a wondrous holy "pouring-in" of his heart. All of a sudden that impenetrable
darkness is pierced by innumerable rays of light for just a moment and
the next moment a blaze of light descends down to earth from heaven as
golden-footed Deep-Lakshmi alights on earth in all her celestial glory
amidst chantings of Vedic hymns. A living luminance of Universal Motherhood
envelopes the entire world in that blessed moment of fulfillment of a long-awaited
dream of the mortal. A sublime light of knowledge dawns upon humanity and
devotion of man finally conquers ignorance. This self enlightenment is
expressed through the twinkling lamps that illuminate the palaces of the
wealthy as well as the lowly abodes of the poor. It is believed that on
this day Lakshmi walks through the green fields and loiters through the
bye-lanes and showers her blessings on man for plenty and prosperity....
On the fifth and final day, we again meet the theme of death and riches
mentioned elsewhere but in a very warm, familial context involving the
God of Death and his sister:
...As the legend goes Yamraj, the
God of Death visited his sister Yami on this particular day. She put the
auspicious tilak on his forehead, garlanded him and led him with
special dishes and both of them together ate the sweets, talked and enjoyed
themselves to their heart's content, while parting Yamraj gave her a special
gift as a token of his love and in return Yami also gave him a lovely gift
which she had made with her own hands. That day Yamraj announced that anyone
who receives tilak from his sister will never be thrown [see
next link for a better explanation of not being "thrown"].
That is why this day of Bhayyaduj is also known by the name of "YAMA-DWITIYA"
Since then this day is being observed as a symbol of love between sisters
and brothers. It became also imperative for the brother to go to his sister's
house to celebrate Bhayyaduj.
[Added 17 September
2006]: This is "Rumela's Web." It offers its own "take"
on the five days of Diwali and is clearer than the above site on the enormous
spiritual gift brothers receive when visiting their sisters on Day Five:
...It is a day dedicated to sisters.
We have heard about Raksha Bandhan (brothers day). Well this is
sisters day. Many moons ago, in the Vedic era, Yama (Yamraj, the
Lord of death) visited His sister Yamuna on this day. He gave his sister
a Vardhan (a boon) that whosoever visits her on this day shall be
liberated from all sins. They will achieve Moksha or final emancipation.
From then on, brothers visit their sisters on this day to enquire of their
welfare....
[Added 15 September
2000]:This charming site looks at autumn
and the autumnal equinox in Japan. There are many (usually clickable)
photos connected with the months of September, October, and November.
Text is fairly minimal but very useful to those unacquainted with Japan's
seasonal customs.
[Annotation revised
8/16/01]:
I first grokked Waverly Fitzgerald's
School of the Seasons for my
1999 debut of the Autumn Equinox page. Since then, her jewel of a
site has become a favorite of mine and appears on all my seasonal pages.
The overall design is unusually tasteful and elegant. Even more important,
Fitzgerald has well-researched content on monthly celebrations, feasts,
and cross-cultural holy days (with hypertext links to further information
on many of these). Her opening page also includes fascinating
"Special Features" for each season. Fitzgerald's command of lore
is exceptional.
For each current month, she begins with a large number of
names from various cross-cultural traditions. Then a calendar follows.
If you click on hyperlinks for a particular day, you'll be linked to more
detail on another page. The September feasts, for example, include
the Nativity of the Virgin on the 8th; Rosh Hashana; England's Day of the
Holy Nut; the remembrance of the Virgin's Seven Sorrows; the God Pan; Yom
Kippur; Autumn Equinox; the 9-day Eleusinian Mysteries; the Harvest Moon;
Sukkoth; the Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival; and Michaelmas on
the 29th.
NOTE: a new month's calendar appears on the first of each month (sometimes
a night or two beforehand).
[Annotation revised
18 August 2001]: This is the portfolio page of artist/professor
Mary B. Kelly, whose vibrant painting (see above) of Hungary's "Black
Goddess," the Harvest Goddess, Dordona, is not to be missed:
...Like her counterpart in Russia,
her arms are raised. She is crowned by both the sun and the moon.
(Note: the larger version of Dordona, with text, is no
longer available on this site, but you might e-mail Dr. Kelly if you wish
to see it. If you click on the menu buttons on her Portfolio
page, you'll also find information on her groundbreaking books on goddess
embroideries, etc. On her Home
Page, there's a large version of Dordona, by the way, but no text.)
The page offers links to paintings of many other goddesses, some
of whom (e.g., Persephone
& Demeter -- don't miss that one!) are also connected to
autumnal harvest festivals.
From "Slavic Pagan Holidays" comes fine data on harvest
festivals from early August to early November. Autumn in Russia's
cold Ukraine begins early -- it's celebrated on August 2nd, the feast known
as St. Ilia's Day. The entire autumn season is a time of music, apples,
honey, and grain sheaves:
...Sometimes the last sheaf ceremony
was merged with the ritual surrounding a small patch of field that was
left uncut. The spirit of the harvest was said to precede the reapers and
hide in the uncut grain. This small patch was referred to as the "beard"
of Volos, the God of animals and wealth. The uncut sheaves of wheat in
"Volos' beard" were decorated with ribbons and the heads were bent toward
the ground in a ritual called "The curling of the beard". This was believed
to send the spirit of the harvest back to the Earth. Salt and bread, traditional
symbols of hospitality were left as offerings to Volos' beard....
[Added 20 August 2000]:...Mike
Nichols' series of detailed, well written essays on earth-based pagan celebrations
are always worth reading. This is his page on the history and lore
of autumn equinox, or "harvest home" (he prefers not to use the Welsh term,
Mabon):
...Mythically, this is the day of
the year when the god of light is defeated by his twin and alter-ego, the
god of darkness. It is the time of the year when night conquers day....the
only day of the whole year when Llew (light) is vulnerable and it is possible
to defeat him. Llew now stands on the balance (Libra/autumnal equinox),
with one foot on the cauldron (Cancer/summer solstice) and his other foot
on the goat (Capricorn/winter solstice). Thus he is betrayed by Blodeuwedd,
the Virgin (Virgo) and transformed into an Eagle (Scorpio)....
Nichols touches on many themes. For example, Celtic Druids have
long been accused of practicing human sacrifice at this time of the year.
Nichols looks at the lack of solid evidence and argues convincingly that
what these ancient celebrations had instead was the "mock sacrifice" of
seasonal sacred theatre. It was a metaphoric sacrifice, in other
words -- not a literal one. He writes:
...Jesse Weston, in her brilliant
study of the Four Hallows of British myth, 'From Ritual to Romance', points
out that British folk tradition is...full of mock sacrifices. In
the case of the wicker-man, such figures were referred to in very personified
terms, dressed in clothes, addressed by name, etc. In such a religious
ritual drama, everybody played along....
[Added 20 August 2000]:
Again
from Mike Nichols comes this carefully researched essay examining the Celtic
deities of light and dark and their role in both equinoxes. If you're
looking for fine mythology, don't miss this one. For example:
[After Llew is slain]...The Welsh
myth concludes with Gwydion pursuing the faithless Blodeuwedd through the
night sky, and a path of white flowers springs up in the wake of her passing,
which we today know as the Milky Way. When Gwydion catches her, he transforms
her into an owl, a fitting symbol of autumn, just as her earlier association
with flowers (she was made from them) equates her with spring. Thus, while
Llew and Goronwy represent summer and winter, Blodeuwedd herself represents
both spring and fall, as patron goddess of flowers and owls, respectively....
For the Celtic Connection comes Akasha's lively page
on Mabon, the Celtic celebration of September's autumnal equinox:
...The Druids call this celebration,
Mea'n Fo'mhair, and honor the Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering
libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are
appropriate at this time....Mabon is considered a time of the Mysteries.
It is a time to honor Aging Deities and the Spirit World....
Akasha looks at Mabon's themes, symbols, herbs, foods, incense,
colors, gems, spells, and deities. If you click on the Holiday Index
at the bottom of the page, you'll be given access to recipes, activities
(for children and teens), and ritual (see below for a direct link to
the autumn ritual...).
[This link from my original
1999 page has been expanded 8/21/04 for my 2004 page]:...This
is a powerful, eloquent, lyrical harvest ritual from Akasha
(see above).
I
love her sense of sacred theatre. Here, for example, is one of the
wonderful items included in the ritual:
Find a fallen tree branch. It need
not be a large one, for it will adorn your altar, then go on display in
your home. The more smaller offshoots from the main branch, the better.
Mine has four, which I think is awesome! Next, take a couple of pine cones,
small shells, dried flowers, or any other item that reminds you of the
late spring-summer months. With some string, tie each to the offshoots.
Also take yarn or ribbon of yellows, oranges, reds, and gold and tie one
end to the offshoots. Then, on very thin strips of (colored) paper, write
down some projects to work on during the upcoming ' dark ' months. Wrap
these around the offshoots (like little cocoons) and tie closed with silver
thread. These you will open over the next couple of months when you start
feeling lethargic or without a sense of direction. I tie on a couple of
small bells, to add some ambiance to my ritual....
[Added 7/23/02 &
annotated 8/21/04]:...This is
a 1987 "Harvest Home Ritual" by Michael Fix. I enjoy the poetic imagery
in many of the invocations. In casting the circle, for example, here
is the invocation to the west:
...Facing West: Guardians of the watchtower
of the west, we do summon, stir, and call thee up to protect us in our
rite. Come forth from the rainbow hued morning dew that covers the
fields, and is soon to be frost. Asperge us with your diadems and
water our deepest roots that we may find peace of mind. So mote it
be!...
And this is the element of Air speaking:
...I am everywhere. I fill the
fleshy pouches of your lungs, I stir all things from the smallest blade
of grass to the tallest tree. I cool you with my breezes and destroy you
with my storms. Without me you would die. Am I not holy and
worthy of praise?...
[9/2/03 -- the Celtic Connection
link is now dead but I'm keeping the original annotation; Update 8/31/04: a kind and observant reader
tracked down a new link -- see above -- and my thanks to Michaela]:
Also from the Celtic Connection comes this lovely and evocative
little essay by C. Austin on the "in between" nature of the Celts' autumn:
. . . . We have bid farewell to summer,
but the sun's light has not yet faded. Such is the style of in between.
. . . Night is falling on the year. The equinox grants us a moment of reverie,
before we rush on to year's end at Samhain.
[FYI: the above excerpt was written in the late 1990's
and has since been replaced by new material for 2000; I assume the page
will now be updated annually -- if not, just ignore the date and times
of the autumnal equinox here.]
[Added 16 August 2001;
expanded 20 August 2002]: From the Worldwide Wheat Weavers
comes an attractively illustrated and informative little site on wheat-weaving
and corn dollies:
...Objects made from dried straw are
known to have been made in the earliest civilizations, practiced throughout
Europe, Asia and South America. Harvest rituals occurred in every country
where grain is grown in order to please the spirits of the crop. Abstract
shapes or religious symbols made from straw were believed to insure prosperity
and good luck in the next growing season. Objects made with the heads
of grain still on the stem were hung on inside walls where they safely
made it through the winter. These sacred grains were then planted
the next season to assure the fertility of the entire crop....
This is "The Elders Speak: About Autumn," a page
of wonderfully chosen, evocative, cross-cultural quotes about the fall
season. The page comes from the "Weather Doctor," Dr. Keith Heidorn,
whose entire website on all aspects of weather (from science to philosophy
to art) is a richly mulled pleasure where I love to browse. Here
is one selection from this page:
The wind that makes music in November
corn is in a hurry. The stalks hum, the loose husks whisk skyward in half-playing
swirls, and the wind hurries on.... A tree tries to argue, bare limbs waving,
but there is no detaining the wind. [Aldo Leopold]
[Added 8/21/04]:...This
is another page of autumn quotes with excellent selections. This
one caught my eye tonight:
But now in September the garden has
cooled, and with it my possessiveness. The sun warms my back instead
of beating on my head ... The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown
apart from the intense midsummer relationship that brought it on. [Robert
Finch]
autumnequinox_LanceEssay.html:
[21
September 2007: lost essay has now been rescued and put on a Myth*ing
Links page]
[Added 15 September
2000]: This is a fine
little essay on Mabon by "Lance" -- he looks at the season's Wine Moon,
Harvest Moon, Corn Man, Wicker Man, and also offers some wonderful suggestions
for celebrating the season - for example:
...go through your garden, tending
it, thanking the plants and flowers for their abundance, harvesting whatever
is ready, collecting seeds; make a mandala of seeds and grains on the ground,
an offering of the Mother's gifts to the animals and birds; infuse it with
specific magick that will be released as the seeds are consumed or scattered;
honor the elders in your circle or your life in some special way....
[Added 8/22/02; annotated
8/21/04]:...This is a nice introduction
to Mabon from Lady Bridget. Along the way, she touches on America's
Thanksgiving celebration:
...The reasons the American Thanksgiving
is so late in November are twofold: firstly, the Pilgrim's were ignorant
of the growing season and had the Indians not gone and brought in the harvest,
they all would have died during that first bitter winter; secondly, the
United States government changed the date of Thanksgiving to always be
the fourth Thursday of the month, so that more shopping days could be added
for Christmas shopping, thus improving our economy at that time. (But that's
another story for another holiday!)...
She also looks at the autumn season's "Wine Moon":
...The Harvest Moon was also referred
to as the Wine Moon, because the grapes also ripen now in the wine making
countries. The first wine dieties were female, and wine is one of the oldest
libations known to us; it symbolizes the blood of the Sacrificed God in
many religions....
[Added 8/25/02]:This
is an engaging essay, "Lore and Magick of the Harvest," by Asherah, who
belongs to Widdershins, a wiccan group in the Pacific Northwest.
She begins with her childhood Thanksgiving celebrations:
As a child, I found the only harvest
celebration I knew about, Thanksgiving, pretty pallid. It didn't involve
the provocative personae of Halloween; you could dress up, but you had
to be an Indian or a Pilgrim, and you only dressed up at school, and that
only if there were a pageant. There, it was more socially acceptable to
be a Pilgrim than an Indian; the Indians provided the food, but the Pilgrims
ran things. But the Pilgrims wore boring outfits. I had no use for the
affair....
Then she broadens her framework to include a wide cross-cultural range
of more interesting, vibrant harvest festivities found from the Old World
to the New World. Here are some samples:
...Often pagan harvest celebrations
involved a whole series of festivities, of which I still generally approve,
starting with a rite offering up the first fruits and culminating with
a ritual centering around the final harvest. The Iroquois of the northeastern
United States have a typical succession, beginning in June and lasting
through early November, including feasts for the spirits of the strawberry,
raspberry, bean, green corn and ripe corn and a final thanksgiving for
all types of food.
The pinnacle of the harvest celebration depends
on the nature of the local produce. The South American Mataco and Choroti
Indians' rituals center around the algarroba harvest; Native Americans
from the Andes to the northeastern United States build rituals around corn;
Mediterranean peoples celebrate the vintage; Lithuanians celebrate the
rye harvest. The timing of harvest celebrations also depends on geographical
location. Corn ripens for the Native Americans of Mexico in June, for the
Iroquois around September, and the corn harvest celebration follows accordingly....
The author doesn't provide a bibliography, but I was nonetheless struck
by her passage on Slavic grain-dolls as Babas, or "Grandmothers":
...People in early European societies
saw the Harvest Queen or harvest doll as the embodiment of the spirit of
the crop. Keeping her safe over the winter ensured fertility for the following
harvest, provided that some part of her was given to cattle or horses to
eat, strewn on the fields or mixed with the next crop's seeds. However,
over time, the belief in the doll as the spirit of the growing grain incarnate
gave way to its being merely a symbol of abundance.
In their heyday, harvest dolls popped up all
over Europe.... In Poland, the harvest doll was Baba, or Grandmother; in
some localities, the woman who bound the last sheaf was herself called
Baba. She was dressed in the last sheaf, carried home on the last wagon,
drenched with water and generally treated as a representation of the grain
spirit.
This gives an intriguingly different nuance to interpretations of the
famous Russian story of Vasilisa and the usually frightening crone known
as the Baba Yaga. In that fairy tale, Vasilisa's mother leaves her
daughter with a doll before she dies -- the doll provides the young
girl with crucial advice that saves her life when she meets the Baba Yaga.
But from the perspective of Asherah's essay, the doll may be a representation
of the Baba Yaga herself, which means that the child's dead mother is herself
a Harvest Queen, which is to say, a variant of Baba Yaga, and the child
is her divine daughter, a Persephone figure, perhaps from a very early
pre-Hades stratum. In Baba's grain-world, no man alive has any power
over the Maiden.
[Added 8/20/02, annotated
8/21/04]:...From
The
Witches' Voice comes a page on Mabon, or autumn equinox. Two
Mabon essays are offered here -- both are well written but fairly general
so I am not quoting any passages. Connected to the first essay, there
are also many links to relevant topics (including great-sounding recipes)
-- you might wish to browse among these.
[Updated 9/16/05]:This
page has now changed -- there's a brief Mabon intro of little interest
but if you scroll down through the tiny-print index on the left, you'll
find an assortment of links on the pagan Wheel of the Year, including three
more substantial essays on Mabon. I scanned Peg Aloi's "You Call
it the Autumnal Equinox, We Call it Mabon" and found it excellent.
Since this site is one of the more stable ones around, I'm not quoting
any passages since it's most unlikely it'll ever disappear from the web.
I'll leave it to you to explore and enjoy <smile>.
[Added 15 September
2000; expanded 20 August 2002]:This is a lengthy,
informative, rich page on Autumn Equinox/Mabon from "Storm Wing."
In addition to lore on Mabon and his mother Modron (and Persephone and
her mother Demeter), the author gives suggestions for what to gather for
your autumn rituals and also offers recipes for covenstead bread, Salem
Witch pudding, Texas-style pecan pie, and blackberry wine (also for incense
and potpourri). At the end are several ritual incantations -- my
favorite is to the Southwest's Blue Corn Girl (written by Noel-Anne Brennan):
Listen, She is coming, Blue Corn Girl is coming, She is coming in the winds, (Listen, she is coming) She is coming in the sunlight, (Blue Corn Girl is coming) She is coming in the fallen leaves, She is coming in the dying meadows. Listen, She is coming, Blue Corn Girl is coming, (Blue Corn Girl is coming) She is coming To see the harvest (Listen, she is coming) Of the fruits of the soil And the fruits of the soul Listen, She is coming, Blue Corn Girl is coming, Listen, She is coming. Blue Corn Girl is here. Welcome.
[Added 15 September
2000]:This is "North Carolina Traditional Weather
Lore," a brief page offering an engaging Native American (Cherokee) tale
that explains why some animals like the panther and owl can see in the
dark, and why some plants and trees stay green through the winter.
There's also a good collection of North Carolina folk sayings about autumn
and early winter.
Pueblo Harvest Dance From Canku
Ota (artist unknown: see directly below --used with permission)
[Added 18 August 2001]:This
is a page from the award-winning Canku Ota
("Many Paths"), a thoughtful,
beautifully presented e-zine on North American Native traditions, past
and current. This particular page, "Dances with Buffaloes" by Suzanne
Ruta, looks at buffalo, corn and rain dances among the Pueblo peoples of
the southwestern United States. It begins with the Christmas season
but then compares the dramatic winter dances with the quieter rain and
corn dances of summer and autumn. The lively essay is well written
and beautifully illustrated (see above for one illustration).
Note: Canku Ota's site is huge
and designed for all age groups, with special sections for children.
To explore further, here is the Home Page: http://www.turtletrack.org/index.html
[Added 18 August 2001]:
For
those fortunate enough to be able to attend the harvest dances in the southwestern
United States, I'm adding a handful of links with further information.
For those, like me, living too far away to attend, we can dream <smile>.
The above is a no frills page from the Pueblo of Santa Ana on dances in
Central New Mexico:
There are eighteen Pueblos in addition
to Santa Ana within the state of New Mexico. Visitors are usually welcome
during annual events and feast days. Easy to reach -- especially in the
Albuquerque area, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and between Albuquerque
and Grants, New Mexico....
The link will take you to August through the rest of the year; scroll
to the top for earlier months.
[Added 18 August 2001]:...
From
Guest
Life: New Mexico comes another Pueblo events calendar, similar to the
above but with nearly 2 dozen telephone contacts to specific pueblos --
since dates for these dances can change at a moment's notice, these contacts
are especially valuable. There is also an excellent and sensitive
section for non-Pueblo peoples on how to act appropriately in these unique
communities. (FYI: Guest Life is an online e-zine with links
to many other well written and illustrated articles.)
http://www.newmexico.org/native_america/pueblos/:
[updated
9/19/08 -- the new page now offers site-by-site pueblo definitions, but
links will take you to their many events and other relevant information;
my annotation reflects the earlier 2006 page]
[Added 24 August
2006]:
This site (FYI: it won't display on older browsers
-- I had to use Netscape 7.2 since even Netscape 4.7 couldn't access it)
gives
a brief look at the pueblos of New Mexico as well as the Navajo and Apache
peoples. There is a full listing of events, autumn and otherwise, at the
pueblos and tribal reservations (see the menu to the right). Here
is a passage from opening page:
...Pueblo Feast Days celebrate the
Pueblos' traditional religious calendar and consist of religious dances
that personify animals, nature and agricultural cycles to ensure the continuation
of life. They sometimes include footraces, processions and arts and crafts
sales. Due to centuries of European contact, many Feast Days coincide with
days honoring the patron saints of Pueblo Catholic Churches. Most Feast
Days are open to the public. Each of the 19 Pueblos is a sovereign nation,
and some are more open to tourists than others....
http://www.indianpueblo.org/index.cfm?module=ipcc&pn=15 [21 September 2007: dead link,
hopefully being repaired; I'm keeping my annotation]
[Added 24 August 2006]:
Here
is another listing of pueblo events, month by month -- the majority fall
during the autumn-winter harvest season. If you click on "The 19 Pueblos,"
you'll find excellent individual data on each one as well as a page on
appropriate etiquette for visitors. Under "Murals" you'll find some lovely
contemporary art based on ancient themes. I didn't have time to explore
the entire site but it looks very well done.
(Skip the "flash" show
on the home page -- it takes a long time to load on a dial-up modem like
mine and isn't worth the wait -- but I really liked everything else that
I saw here.)
[Update 24 August 2006]:This
site no longer offers any useful pueblo data. I have written them to see
if their original page might be restored and will update this entry accordingly
when/if they reply. Meanwhile, I am keeping the original annotation.
[Added 22 September 2001 and
updated 21 August 2004]:This excellent
page gives brief but intriguing histories of 17 of the region's pueblos
plus 2 Apache reservations. It's sponsored by the New Mexico Lodging
Association and includes useful phone numbers for each group. Here's
an excerpt from the opening:
Of New Mexico's two American Indian
groups, the Pueblo Indians can trace their evolution from a prehistory
among pit houses and cliff dwellings to stable village life. Many
of the pit houses and cliff dwellings can be seen today. The other group,
the Athapascans, which include Apaches and Navajo, arrived later - just
a couple of hundred years before Europeans....
[Added 18 August 2001]:
Another
no frills New Mexico events calendar, with brief etiquette data about visiting
a pueblo, telephone contacts, and brief travel instructions for reaching
each village.
[Added 18 August 2001]:
This is a brief page from Rough Guides on Taos (NM) Pueblo. It looks
at:
...the Feast of San Gerónimo
at the end of September, when hundreds and even thousands of outsiders
flock to join the general revelry....
A telephone number is included. Nearby is a casino -- and I love
the dry quote from an elder:
As one unapologetic elder remarked,
“poverty was never a part of pueblo life until the Europeans came.”
[Revised 20 August 2002]: Note:
the Rough Guides' page has now been rewritten -- although the new,
more general New Mexico data is fine (see below), I prefer the earlier
version and am keeping my original annotation. Unfortunately, the
new page can only be reached from a small pull-down menu at the new link
(above).
[9/2/03]:If
you get stuck, try for a USA link, then you should be able to find "New
Mexico" in the little States pull-down menu at the top of the page or else
"Taos" in the pull-down city menu.
[Revised 24 August 2006]:
I have to say that this Rough Guides' site's navigation is impossibly clumsy
and there's no way to save a specific frame-trapped page. "Rough" Guides
indeed!! Why must they make it so difficult?! Anyway, here is the page's
rewritten data -- since it's a real pain to find, I'm quoting the relevant
portion in full, especially for non-American visitors to this page (and
for certain Americans who are blind to the fact that maybe they
are the "illegal immigrants" here):
Settled in turn by Native Americans,
Spaniards, Mexicans and Yankees, NEW MEXICO is among the most ethnically
and culturally diverse of all the states in the US. Each successive group
has built upon the legacy of its predecessors; their various histories
and achievements are closely intertwined, and in some ways the late-coming
white Americans from the north and east have had comparatively little impact.
Signs of the region's rich heritage are everywhere, from ancient pictographs
and cliff dwellings to the design of the state's license plates, taken
from a Zia Indian symbol for the sun – the one near-constant fact of life
in this arid land.
New Mexico's indigenous peoples –
especially the Pueblo Indians, as the name suggests clear descendants of
the Ancestral Puebloans – provide a sense of cultural continuity. Despite
the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which forced a temporary Spanish withdrawal
into Mexico, the missionary endeavor here was in general less brutal than
elsewhere. The proselytizing padres eventually co-opted the natives without
destroying their traditional ways of life, as local deities and celebrations
were incorporated into Catholic practice. Somewhat bizarrely to outsiders,
grand churches still stand at the center of many Pueblo settlements, often
adjacent to the underground ceremonial chambers known as kivas,
and almost always built in the local adobe style.
The Americans who took over from the
Mexicans in 1848 saw New Mexico as a useless wasteland. But for a few mining
booms and range wars – such as the Lincoln County War, which brought Billy
the Kid to fame – New Mexico was left relatively undisturbed until it finally
became a state in 1912. During World War II, it was the base of operations
for the top-secret Manhattan Project, which built and detonated the first
atomic bomb, and since then it has been home to America's premier weapons
research outposts. By and large, people here work close to the land – mining,
farming and ranching – with tourism increasingly underpinning the economy.
Northern New Mexico centers on the magnificent
landscapes of the Rio Grande Valley, which contains its two finest cities:
Santa Fe, the adobe-fronted capital, and the artists' colony and winter
resort of Taos, with its nearby pueblo. More than a dozen Pueblo villages
can be found in the mountainous area between the two, while to the west
lie the evocative ancient ruins at Bandelier and Puyé....
[Added 24 August 2006]:
For
those seeking info on the calendar of autumn rituals and celebrations at
Taos Pueblo in New Mexico (see above for my frustration with "Rough
Guides" on this topic), this site will give you the correct dates but,
unfortunately, little else (see earlier links on my page for more data).
PUMPKIN LORE & OTHER THINGS
A pumpkin with a shimmering aura (Used with the kind permission of the Salem
Tarot Page --
check their well-done 3-card tarot reading)
[Added 8/21/04]:...TThis
is "The Great Pumpkin" page from the History Channel. An Irish
legend of Stingy Jack and the Devil, which accounts for the origin of the
Jack O' Lantern, is especially evocative and well done -- don't miss it!
There is also some factual information about pumpkins themselves -- for
example:
...Pumpkins are low in calories, fat,
and sodium and high in fiber. They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin
B, potassium, protein, and iron....
[Added 8/21/04]:...From
the above University of Illinois homepage is this direct link to the history
and lore of pumpkins. The History Channel webpage (see
above) is used as a major source but this site also offers its own
data. It opens with these interesting facts:
References to pumpkins date back many
centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for "large melon"
which is "pepon." "Pepon" was nasalized by the French into
"pompon." The English changed "pompon" to "Pumpion."
Shakespeare referred to the "pumpion" in his Merry Wives of Windsor. American
colonists changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin." The "pumpkin" is referred to
in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater and Cinderella....
[Added 8/21/04]:...This
is a short essay by Cynthia Owens for the University of Maryland on the
lore and history of pumpkins. For example:
...Some people might be surprised
to learn there are more than 50 varieties of pumpkin. The three main types
are true squash, moschata and the true pumpkin....
[Added 8/21/04]:...This
is a fabulous page for children with great links to a zillion educational,
arts and crafts, and botanical activities involving pumpkins. From
the opening statement on the short-lived flowers:
...These yellow male and female flowers
open for one day. More pumpkin blossoms are male than female. Male blossoms
have pollen that is transferred to the female flowers by bees. Only
pollinated female blossoms develop into pumpkins. Therefore, few of the
pumpkin flowers actually produce a pumpkin....
From England's erudite Michael B. Quinion comes "CIDER INSIGHT:
The jargon of an ancient craft." This is on autumn cider-making in
southern England. . . . . .
. . . . Yet another autumn-related essay from Michael B.
Quinion is his engaging "TALKING TURKEY: Names for a much-travelled bird."
[Note:
a much longer entry on Quinion and his word-loving work is on my Samhain
page -- see below for link.]
Samhain (Halloween), and the soul-feasts of November: I have created 2 separate pages for these at:
Please do not link directly to my images for your own web pages -- save
the images you like to your own files instead. Otherwise you are
stealing from graphics-rich sites like mine. Since that means I have
to pay for each download if my own quota is exceeded each month, I may
have to shut down these pages.
Thank you.
Note: my complete Site Map and e-mail address
are on my Home Page.
Autumn 1999: In the
background is the Hungarian love song, Kerek a szolo levele, which
is at least 200 years old. It comes from a region in what is now
Romania, so it is known among both non-Slavic and Slavic peoples.
Courtesy of Robert Szlizs, whose collection of Hungarian music is at Robert's
Midi Creations[link updated 8/17/06;
another update 9/21/07].
To hear the embedded music, you'll
need to have your JavaScript enabled (and not be on AOL). The "square"
on the mini-console below will stop the sound; the "triangle" will start
it again; the two lines will pause it; the slider controls the volume.
2006: in the wee
hours of 8-9 August 2006, I found the art I want and wrote a brief
opening essay. 11-12 August 2006: updated times and added "maybe's"
concerning the Middle East. Launched it unofficially. 16-17 August 2006: updated Old World & music midi
links, thanks to Michaela again; a few New World links still left. 24 August 2006: officially launched the page even
though I've had no time to update the pueblo links. 2am EDT 25 August 2006: the pueblo links are now updated. 2 September 2006: added astrological data for September
based on Melissa Stratton's newsletter. 15-17 September 2006: added new Diwali section; 26
September 2006: added Diwali piece from Rumela's Web. 2007: 25 August
2007, archived last year's page today and wrote brief intro, but I'm keeping
last year's message. A few days later: updated dates & times for 2007;
links updates are pending. 21 September 2007: updated broken links & "rescued"
Lance's essay, thanks to my industrious links-Elf, Michaela. 2008: late 10
September 2008: updated opening dates for this page. 19 September 2008: updated broken links, thanks to
Michaela, my links-elf.
*******
Vivi Savitri,
the Israeli artist who created the opening art on this page, writes about
what inspired that painting:
I'll try to bring my place of seeing the
painting. In the book of Psalms is a saying "I Am The Prayer". That
actually the name the painting is called.
When i came across those words, i new that the essence
of it, is the recognition of What Is. The prayer is not the small demanding
and asking the daily things, but the totally the beingness and the
knowingness of what is. Being The Prayer is being it. The essence
of the light , of the divinity in us and all the creation.
The Golden Rooster, as you call it so charmingly,
is the being itself, manifesting what He Is.
Connecting to our place of talking about peace,
in His state is the recognition that Peace Is. as that,He present is all
the time. being it. not moving from His essence. no doubt , nor fear. not
hope even not trusting. it is there. Already in it's Glory and divine manifestation.
I forgot to say, which might be it is clear, but
any how, The Prayer is beyond words. The call without call, the being without
names.
