New Moon ♍️
September has come and with it the start of the falling leaves, acorns dropping to the ground and the nights are now drawing in much, much quicker.
It is curious then that this month, which is normally associated with the harvest, is named as being ‘holy month’.
By the Autumnal Equinox, the gathering of harvest has come to its end and the coming of winter draws ever closer….. yet we are no closer as to why September was named ‘month of sacred rites’.
Although, Michaelmas, or to use its full name: the feast of the Archangel Michael takes place on the 29th September. Michaelmas was a very important festival for the Christian population as St Michael guided the souls of the dead to where they can go next. He was also seen as a defender and was said to have done battle with the Devil during the war of heaven. So, if you wanted an archangel on your side, you could do no better than St Michael in terms of protecting you against the forces of evil!
Michaelmas was taken as a quarter day, meaning rents were paid, courts were held and feasts of goose were traditionally partaken. In fact, here in Nottingham, the Goose Fair takes place on the 29th September for ten days! Traditionally, the Goose Fair took place at the Market Place (Old Market Square) and geese were sold there from all around. It was also tradition for tenants to give a goose to their landlord as a present, which probably gave rise to the no longer used saying:
“He who eats goose on Michaelmas Day, shan’t money lack his debts to pay.”
It is entirely possible there were older celebrations that September could have been associated with, especially with the legendary king Scyld Scefing (Shield Sheafson). Scyld was said to have been found by the Danes drifting in a boat from the sea. Taking him as one of their own, he grew to become one of their most famous kings and upon his death, his body was sent back out to the sea on a boat filled with treasure.
Even his name gives the two main responsibilities of a king: to protect and keep his people fed.
In Anglo- Saxon poetry, autumn was seen as a time of lamentation, a sadness of the ebbing of strength and of one’s youth as age now catches up. Summer has been and gone and now everything falls to the winter that is to come. And yet, the fruits of autumn and the harvest were seen as the wealth the world had to offer, there was even a phrase: on haerfeste ham gelaedeth meaning: “carry home harvest”, which brings to mind the custom of “Harvest Home”.
Harvest home was actually developed later and had customs such as the last sheaf being formed into a doll, here in the East Midlands it was customary for the last bundle of wheat sheaves to be carried by cart which was decorated with ribbons. This cart had two children in it and there were songs sung to congratulate either the local farmer or lord. This cart had the duty of avoiding pails of water being thrown onto it and a great feast was had once it had reached its destination.
One of the earliest versions of the Harvest Home had it that the local farmer saw to it to feed the field workers with bread, meat, cheese and ale.
Although the celebrations of the last of the harvest aren’t strictly religious rites, they are the festivities of the harvest to feed not only each other, but also livestock as well. If the Anglo-Saxons did have ceremonial rites during ‘holy month’ then they are sadly lost to the fallen leaves of time.
It certainly seems to me that September saw in the end of the harvest and that this was something welcomed and a cause for the community to get together in joy. A time of feasting before the first frosts arrive and marking the end of the lighter days.
Whatever September means to you: be it gratitude, melancholy, celebration, feasting or seeing beauty in the changing seasons…. I wish you well!
Locksley. /|\
A Wise Fool 