All Hallow's Eve Greetings

All Souls - Edith Wharton 1903

Fear not that sound like wind in the trees:

It is only their call that comes on the breeze;

Fear not the shudder that seems to pass:

It is only the tread of their feet on the grass;

Fear not the drip of the bough as you stoop:

It is only the touch of their hands that grope —

For the year’s on the turn, and it’s All Souls’ night,

When the dead can yearn and the dead can smite.

      

Autumn Equinox - Thanksgiving

 Autumn Equinox marks the turning of the wheel and officially occurs this year on September 22 2014 at 10:29 PM. 

The word equinox comes from the Latin meaning ‘equal light’, which occurs twice in the calendar year. This is the time when both the Southern and the Northern hemispheres receive an equal amount of sunlight/day and darkness/night.  Autumn Equinox, gives a nod to its counterpart, the Spring Equinox, which traditionally occurs around March 21^st. For those of us living in the Northern hemisphere we can expect shorter days, longer nights and colder temperatures.

The Wheel of the Year

Autumn Equinox is observed as the second of three harvest festivals.  The first falls on August 1^st and the 3^rd on October 31^st. Autumnal Equinox is considered ‘Thanksgiving’ or ‘Harvest Home’ within many modern Pagan traditions and is celebrated as such.  The blessings of the gods, the balance of light and dark in the world and within ourselves is observed.

The ‘Other’ Thanksgiving

Mainstream Thanksgiving on this continent was first celebrated in the year 1607 in Jamestown.  The famous ‘Thanksgiving’ we learned about as children involving pilgrims and native people which lasted over three days, occurred in the autumn of 1621. 

The official date of Thanksgiving within the United States as we know it today has been celebrated at different times and in different states depending on the president in office at the time. 

 George Washington first proclaimed a ‘Day of Thanksgiving’ on Oct 3^rd 1789 and declared the 26^th of November to be the day to give thanks.  However, different northern states over the following years celebrated on different days or not at all depending on their governor at the time. Abraham Lincoln set the date in 1863 as the last Thursday in November proclaiming that it should occur annually throughout the country in order to accommodate those who worked in government departments. 

During Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s term in office, Thanksgiving moved to the last week in November, there being five weeks in November that year, and this was done in the hopes of boosting a weak economy during the final years of the Depression.  But the new date change affected millions of Americans and a vote as to the proper date was called for by both political parties. Unfortunately one could not be agreed upon and the term Franksgiving (Franklin/Thanksgiving) was coined creating the brief celebration of two Thanksgivings. The democrats bowed their heads and gave thanks on November 23^rd while  the republicans enjoyed their feast on November 30^th.   

Finally in the year 1941 congress voted to ‘split the difference’ firmly proclaiming the National holiday would be observed on the Fourth Thursday in November; the house agreed and order once again reigned.

Shared Symbols of the Season: 

Whichever thanksgiving one prefers and regardless of the month or date, we are all in agreement I believe that symbols for this, a time of gratitude, are harvested gifts of the earth, the waning of the light, and the introspective colder months to come.  

Festive decorations include harvest gourds, colorful fall foliage, cider, wine, apples, pumpkin pie, seeds, nuts and a hearty meal shared with family and friends.

So dear ones, whenever the season, whatever the reason, many blessings to us all!

http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm

http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving

Corn Mother

James George Frazer discusses the Corn-mother and the Corn-maiden in Northern Europe, and the harvest rituals that were being practiced at the beginning of the 20th century:

"In the neighborhood of Danzig the person who cuts the last ears of corn makes them into a doll, which is called the Corn-mother or the Old Woman and is brought home on the last wagon. In some parts of Holstein the last sheaf is dressed in women's clothes and called the Corn-mother. It is carried home on the last wagon, and then thoroughly drenched with water. The drenching with water is doubtless a rain-charm. In the district of Bruck in Styria the last sheaf, called the Corn-mother, is made up into the shape of a woman by the oldest married woman in the village, of an age from 50 to 55 years. The finest ears are plucked out of it and made into a wreath, which, twined with flowers, is carried on her head by the prettiest girl of the village to the farmer or squire, while the Corn-mother is laid down in the barn to keep off the mice. In other villages of the same district the Corn-mother, at the close of harvest, is carried by two lads at the top of a pole. They march behind the girl who wears the wreath to the squire's house, and while he receives the wreath and hangs it up in the hall, the Corn-mother is placed on the top of a pile of wood, where she is the centre of the harvest supper and dance."

—The Golden Bough, chapter 45