 |
| Autumn in Brown County,Indiana |
Today
is the first day of Fall, also known as the Autumn Equinox. It’s that time of
year when the days become shorter and the nights grow longer in the northern
hemisphere. It is one of only two
days in the year, (the Spring Equinox being the other,) when daylight and
darkness are of equal time.
 |
| Harvesting Wheat - 1800's |
 |
| Pumpkins |
The arrival of autumn has been celebrated for centuries, from ancient Egyptian times, to the present, with harvest
festivals. These festivals are usually held at the end of the growing season. People throughout
the ages have commemorated the hard work involved and the abundance of foods
available; pumpkins, corn, squash, beans, wheat, apples and nuts, during this season of plenty.
 |
| Autumn Celebration - Daniel Macllise |
At harvest festivals contests were held, music was played,
bonfires were built and plenty of eating and drinking took place. It is no wonder that in the
Western Hemisphere, autumn is depicted by full, lush women bearing ripened
fruits and grain. The North
American Indians also had many festivals tied to autumn and gathering food from the
wild to prepare for winter.
 |
| September 2011 Harvest Moon |
 |
| Harvest Moon - 2010 |
The
harvest moon is another symbol of autumn. This is the full moon that occurs at the closest time to the Autumn
Equinox. Usually it is in
September, but it can occur in October, as it did in 2009 and will again in
2017. The full harvest moon was so
named in the eighteenth century because it was bright enough that farmers could
work into the night by it’s light.
 |
Autumn
is a time of melancholy for some.
The end of the summer’s warmth and light has come, and the prospect of
cold and darkness lay ahead for many months. It is a season that inspires you to look inward, to reflect
and consider the choices you have made, and the options still open to you.
Death
is also linked to the autumn and harvest.
Crops were gathered from the field in autumn by reaping with a sickle or
scythe. So too were souls depicted as being gathered from the earth. The Grim Reaper, also known as the
Angel of Death, first came about in the 15th century and was
depicted as a skeleton carrying a scythe.
Some believed the Grim Reaper was simply an escort to the
afterlife. His role was not to
judge, but to provide safe passage for the newly departed soul. Others thought the Grim Reaper actively
sought souls and caused death to occur.
Other
gravestone symbols for autumn include wheat sheaths, gathered and tied for
harvesting.
Acorns and Oak leaves can symbolize strength and prosperity on a marker.
Abundant
fruit as a sign of a pleasurable life, lived to the fullest.
 |
| Autumn - Frederic E. Church |
 |
| Autumn Equinox Sunset 2010 |
Autumn also comes a sense of balance, abundance now, leanness to come; equal hours of
daylight and darkness, feelings of warmth and of chill. Tonight, celebrate Autumn as your
ancestors did - with an abundant dinner, a glass of wine, laughter, stories, and a
soul-warming bonfire.
Autumn
Bonfires (1885)
 |
| Raymond L. Knaub |
In
the other gardens
And
all up the vale,
From
the autumn bonfires
See
the smoke trail!
Pleasant
summer is over
And
all the summer flowers,
The
red fire blazes,
The
gray smoke towers.
Sing
a song of seasons!
Something
bright in all!
Flowers
in the summer,
Fires
in the fall!
-
Robert Louis Stevenson
Happy
Autumn!
~
Joy
