Under the Beech Tree - October

Another month has flown by...   And for me September was much more pleasant, I'm getting back to my usual self - got a nice amount of felting done - and I'm FEELING the felting mojo still :)  October is off to a good start!

If you look closely some of the leaves are starting to turn.. 

I usually take photos of this tree in the morning.. this was taken in the afternoon,
notice how the light is different..?

We are seeing the squirrels a lot more now.. performing amazing acrobatics in the tree tops :)  They leap across an at least 6 foot span between this tree and it's neighbouring birch.  We're still getting lots of beautiful warm sunshine - a real treat this late in the year.  But there's a definite chill to the air, mornings mostly begin misty then a gorgeous golden glow creeps across as the sun comes up :) That's one of the things  I love about Autumn.. the light quality - apart from when it's dull, rainy weather of course.

Gemstone - Opal

Flower - Calendular

Anglo-Saxons called this Wyn Monath - Wine making month :)

Of course the main event in October is Halloween / All Hallows / Samhain. Whatever you call it, the origins of festivities on this particular day are ancient. There's absolutely masses of information about the history and evolution online.. so I'm not going to go on about it here.  But if you are not familiar with how Samhain became Halloween it's well worth half hour googling and reading.. it's very interesting!

What I will mention is the dates relevance in the Celtic country calender. Samhain was the first day of winter.  Crops like barley and oats, turnips and apples should of been gathered by now. It was thought that faeries would ruin it if left in the fields, same with berries in the hedgerows.   

Samhain was the date the livestock would be brought in from summer pastures.. any beasts which were to be kept through the winter went to winter quarters.  The rest were slaughtered and preserved. This practice continued well past the end of the celtic period, and the evolution from Samhain to Halloween. It's only really modern farming that'll of had an effect on this ancient wisdom - obviously I'm not thinking of faeries ruining things but rather the effects of our weather:) 

The more recent Christian version of the earlier pagan belief is; 
'Don't pick blackberries after Michaelmass, on this day the devil puts his foot (or spits on) on blackberries'.  

Michaelmass Day is 10th October and is the day the Christian calender celebrates Archangel Michael's defeating Lucifer, it says when Lucifer was tossed out of Heaven he landed in a thorny blackberry bush - which he duly cursed and spat on. 

Anyway.. Enjoy :) xx