Whether we’re aware of their deeper significance or not,even our most simple and commonplace autumn traditions, such as apple pickingand dressing up for Halloween, reflect the ancient themes of harvest andancestor worship.
In Melanesia, people make rice dollies out of the lastplants of the harvest; in England,they make corn dollies. Both practices represent the belief that the spirit ofthe grain will stay alive, thereby ensuring another good harvest.
In Germany,Oktoberfest celebrates the hops harvest. The Chinese celebrate the Harvest MoonFestival by eating special moon cakes and catching the moon’s refection in abowl of water. A similar holiday is observed in Vietnam-the mid-fall festival ofTrung Thu-which celebrates the beauty of the moon by eating moon cakes,lighting incenses, and making special star lanterns. In Judaism Sukkot has adual significance: historical and agricultural. It is celebrated as both aharvest festival and a holiday that commemorates the forty-year period duringwhich the children of Israelwere wandering the dessert.
Celebrate the Harvest
Get together withfriends and family to create a special meal using food of the season: use corn,squash, root vegetables, and grains
Decorate your homewith symbols of autumn: colored leaves, Indian corn, cranberries, apples.
Dunk for apples:place a large tub on the floor and half fill it with water. Place apples in thetub. With their hands behind their backseach player takes his or her turn trying to capture the apples with his or herteeth.
Fillyour altar with symbols of what you have personally harvested at the time: yournew script, a miniature car or home, a picture of you in vibrant health, money.
Honoring theAncestors
Many cultures celebrate the New Year at this time. Samhain(summer’s end) is the beginning of the Celtic New Year. It is a time to honorthe ancestors and do divination for the coming year.
As Christianity spread across Europe, Samhain was changed toHallowmas, or All Saint’s Day, to commemorate the souls of the blessed dead whohad been canonized. This is the origin of our Halloween.
On November 2nd Dia de Los Muertos (Day of theDead) is celebrated in Mexico,where people go to the cemetery to have picnics with the spirits of thedeparted. First they sweep the cemeteryand clean any neglected graves. Then they place flowers on the gravesites(especially marigolds) and create altars decorated with sugar skulls, candlesand food to honor the spirits. It is believed that on this day we can moreeasily communicate with the ancestors.
This has become a special time for me, since my fatherdied at the end of October. I do many special prayers and rituals at this timeto honor his soul and to build a strong spiritual connection to him. I believethat these rituals allow light and blessings to flow back and forth between us.
Master Vera from the Suhn KI Energy Center in Manhattan has guided methrough many ancestor ceremonies. These ceremonies are special occasions inwhich humans and divine energies are united for spiritual healing andenlightenment. The purpose of these ceremonies is to heal the ancestor’s karmaand suffering, and direct them to brighter and more loving energy frequencystates for the well-being of themselves and all living descendants. For moreinformation contact Master Vera at 212-604-9595.
Let there be light
In the Hindu tradition Diwali (a row of lights) iscelebrated over four days. Firecrackers announce the start of this favoritefestival. Homes are decorated with sweets, mango leaves and marigolds. and
hundreds of lights from clay lamps called diye are lit.The lights represent the constant symbol of the illuminated mind. This is anauspicious time to buy something metallic including jewelry.
On the forth day of Diwalli there are pujas to honor thegoddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and beauty. The New Financial Year iscelebrated by dressing in new clothes and visiting friends and family to give them gifts. Old account books are closed and new ones are bought.
Trung Thu, celebrated on theOctober full moon is a favorite holiday in Vietnam. The moon is especially important at this time of year since its brightness is the most beautiful ofany time of the year. Children wear masks and parade in the streets withbrightly colored lanterns.
Stop and Say ThankYou
Last, but not least is our traditional celebration of Thanksgiving. After my father died life seemed more fragile and precious. Iwanted to make our family Thanksgiving into a conscious holiday focusing on whywe were getting together.
Luckily my brother lives on 48 acres in Vermont and was willing to play host. Allwere invited-cousins, ex-spouses, friends, boyfriends and girlfriends, even childhood friends. Over 30 people came to that Thanksgiving and each person contributed in whatever way he or she could.