Month of long shadows & mists
Rose hips, Elderberries & Blackberries
Apples ripen, nuts begin to fall,
swallows gather before migration.
Conkers drop & mushrooms pop
As spiders move indoors and bees cling to the Ivy
Month of Harvest named Haligmonath – Holy month in Anglo-Saxon.
1st September – Start of Meteorological Autumn based on the temperature cycle
8th Bái lù – White dew chinese lunisolar calendar, swallows leave & geese return.
11th New Moon in Virgo September reset
& Jewish Rosh Hashanah beginning at sunset & Ethiopian New Year
20th Yom Kippur / Jewish Day of Atonement beginning at sunset
21st International Peace day
22nd Autumn Equinox & The start of Astronomical autumn based on the position of the earth into the sun. Called Mabon by modern pagans & Alban Elfed by modern druids. In the modern Wheel of the Year, Mabon, the Autumn Equinox, is a relatively modern pagan festival, but it sits neatly alongside much older autumn traditions, marking the threshold from summer into autumn associated with the second harvest. A time of balance, as day and night briefly stand more or less equal, it represents a sacred threshold for reflection, gratitude, and preparing for the inward, darker half of the year. For centuries, this was a month of communal work, fruit gathered, nuts collected, crops brought in. Preserving, sharing and setting your store for winter. Harvest suppers marked the completion of the work, with food, drink, music and celebration.
& The Sun moves into Libra
23rd Qiū fēn Autumn divide chinese lunisolar calendar
25th Sukkot Jewish Tabernacles beginning at sunset
26th Full Harvest Moon in Aries
29th Michaelmas – The Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels. Michaelmas daisies/ Asters bloom on the day st Michael fell to earth, landing on a blackberry bush & causing them all to shrivel. This is also traditionally the deadline for collecting honey & elderberries before the cooler, damper weather of autumn arrived.
One of the traditional quarter days, Placed near the equinoxes and solstices. Alongside Lady Day March 25 (Feast of the Annunciation), Midsummer Day June 24 (Feast of St. John the Baptist), & Christmas Day. Michaelmas Marks the finish of the farming year and the start of shorter, darker days. An important point in the agricultural year, associated with settling debts and rents, changing employment and contracts, and preparing for the winter ahead. Just as the sun has moved into the stars of Libra, the scales balancing the books of the year.
