September 2002 Holidays - School of the Seasons

			Asterisks appear next to saintsí names - see Celebrating Saints

September 1 - St. Fiacre Patron saint of gardeners, Fiachra was a seventh-century Irishman who built a hermitage in France near Meaux. His vegetable and herb gardens were famous, and he is usually depicted in art holding a shovel and a book. The shrine and chapel he built were popular sites of pilgrimage for invalids, especially those suffering from hemorrhoids(!), for centuries. His feast day is celebrated on September 1st in Ireland and France (where he gave his name to a particular kind of carriage due to the proximity of a hotel named after him to a taxi-stand) but on August 30th in other countries. For a beautiful rendition of St Fiacre, visit PatriArts.com Attwater, Donald, The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, 1965 Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999 September 1 Greek New Year From early on (OCY suggests 462), this was the first date of both the calendar year and the religious year in Greece. It is still considered the start of the year in the Greek Orthodox calendar. Since this is the start of the autumn sowing season, Greek farmers take seeds to church to be blessed (much like farmers in France on February 3rd). In Greece, people also make first-of-the-year wreaths with fruits and herbs which symbolize abundance. On the island of Kos, people use pomegranates, grapes, quinces, garlic bulbs and plane-tree leaves; on Rhodes, they work with walnuts, onions, garlic, grapes, tufts of cotton and bags full of grain. Just before dawn on September 1st, the children take the old wreaths down to the sea and throw them in; the new ones are dipped in the ocean water for good luck. Only after the new wreaths are hung up can the sowing begin. Another new year tradition involves collecting 40 pebbles from the beach and water from the tops of 40 waves in a jar which is taken home and kept as a protection charm. This is an ominous day as well as a beginning, for this is the day the Angel of Death writes down the names of all those who will die in the coming year, expressing the quality of judgement also found in the Jewish New Year holiday of Rosh Hashana, which falls on the new moon of September. This suggests the two holidays derive from the same source as the first of September would have been the new moon (first day) of the lunar month. Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999 Rufus, Anneli, The World Holiday Book: Celebrations for Every Day of the Year, Harper San Francisco 1994 September 1 Opening of Oyster Season Since this is the first of the eight months containing an R which are considered the safe months for eating oysters, this might be considered the beginning of oyster season, although the traditional date for Oyster Day (at least in England) is August 5th. Celebrate by eating oysters. Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999			St Fiacre sculpture by Patricia Banks of www.patriarts.com. Used with permission.
September 1 St Partridge Well, this is friendship! What on earth brings you here, old fellow? Why aren't you in the stubble celebrating St Partridge? From Robert Elsmere by Mrs Humphry Ward, 1888 St Partridge is another one of those mythical saints, like St Distaff (see January), whose names mark a holiday, in this case, the opening of partridge hunting season in England, which continues until February 1st. The quotation above implies that partridge season begins after the harvest is in and the hunters can cross the fields without damaging the grain. Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999 September 4 Waverly’s birthday In preparing for my birthday, I like to keep in mind Demetra George’s sage advice about viewing the month right before your birthday as a period for reflection and evaluation, like the dark phase of the moon. She says it may seem like the darkness before dawn, especially as we grow older. It is time when our fears and insecurities surface, when we are apt to be more sensitive and emotional, like the time of bleeding in the menstrual cycle. “The purpose of the dark phase of any cycle is that of transition between the old and the birth of the new. The dark time is a time of retreat, of healing, and of dreaming the future.” [p. 5] When I was younger, I always gave myself a party on my birthday, inviting all my favorite people and setting up a theme ahead of time (retro Sixties was a favorite) which permeated the décor, suggested costumes, the music, food and the presents people brought (although I always asked them not to). I highly recommend this practice. The only reason I stopped is that Seattle puts on a huge party for me at the Seattle Center every year on my birthday weekend (the Bumbershoot festival). George, Demetra, Mysteries of the Dark Moon, Harper San Francisco, 1992 September 6 New Moon in Virgo This is the beginning of the 8th lunar month in the Chinese calendar and the beginning of the seventh month, Tishri, in the Jewish calendar. For you calendar freaks, quite late in August, I began to suspect that I had my ancient Greek lunar months wrong again. I've declared this to be the start of Boedromion (because I believe the Eleusinian Mysteries occurred about the same time as the autumn equinox) but according to Parke, the Greek year began with the month of Hecatombion on the new moon before the summer solstice. That would mean this new moon is the first of Pyanepsion and that the Eleusinian Mysteries actually coincided with the ancient full moon feast of Hecate and Artemis back in August. I did not make these changes(partly because I published the September date for the Eleusinian Mysteries in my Autumn SageWoman column “Time to Celebrate,” partly to be consistent). Parke, H.W., Festivals of the Athenians, Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press 1977 September 6 Birth of the Kitchen God On the first day of the 8th lunar month, the Chinese celebrate the birthday of the Kitchen God Zaoshen, also called the Black Lord. His temple is opened for three days and visited, especially by cooks. Blackburn, Bonnie & Leofranc Holford-Strevens, The Oxford Companion to the Year, Oxford University Press 1999			St Partridge
September 7 Rosh Hashana begins The Jewish new year begins on the first day of the seventh lunar month, Tishri. Some scholars believe it was derived from a Babylonian post-harvest holiday, when Babylonians were required to pledge their allegiance to the throne. The Jews changed this to a pledge of allegiance to God. Here's what God had to say about this feast when he spoke to Moses (Leviticus 23:24): In the seventh month on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work; and you shall present an offering by fire to the Lord. This is the start of the Seven Days of Awe or the Days of Tshuvan (repentance, turnabout). By 200 BCE, it was seen as a time of judgement. It was said that at Passover, God's judgement was expressed through lack of grain, at Shavuot, through lack of fruit, at Sukkot, (the full moon festival after Rosh Hashana) through lack of rain. The rabbis wrote, “one is judged on Rosh Hashanah and one's doom is sealed on Yom Kippur.” Four things cross out the doom of a person: righteousness expressed through gifts of charity; prayerful supplication; change of name and change of conduct. Some Jews rename themselves on this day. Elul, the month before Tishri, is known as the month of Making Ready. Jews spend it, like the period before any New Years, in preparation and purification. It is a time for evaluation, self-examination and study, often in study groups. As with other New Year celebrations, the food you eat on Rosh Hashanah is significant. The main qualities sought in food at this ritual feast include sweetness (for a sweet year), roundness (for the cycle of the year) and abundance (for prosperity). An apple often represents fullness and honey sweetness. Waskow, Arthur, Seasons of Our Joy: A Modern Guide to the Jewish Holidays, Beacon 1982 September 8 Nativity of Mary Mary has a number of holidays in the autumn months because she took over many of the religious functions of the grain goddesses, like Demeter.
September 8 Berehynia Russian women who embroider goddess cloths consider this the birthday of the harvest goddess, Berehynia. Her name means “Nymph.” September 9 Climbing the Heights On the 9th day of the 9th Chinese lunar month, people picnic outside on hillsides, drink chrysanthemum wine and eat crab. Ingenious kites designed as dragons, butterflies, birds and centipedes are flown. Sometimes this holiday is celebrated on its Western calendar equivalent: the 9th day of the 9th month. Simonds Nina, Chinese Seasons, Houghton Mifflin 1986 September 12 Most Holy Name of Mary Commemorates a victory in the name of Mary against the Turks in 1683. A day to honor your name or the power of naming or to change your name. September 13 Banquet of Venus, Vintage Festival The Romans honored Venus, who began her life as an Etruscan garden goddess, before she merged with the Greek Aphrodite and became the Goddess of Love.			Berehynia tapestry
September 14 The Day of the Holy Nut, Holy Rood Day In England, this is the Devil's Nutting Day, or the Day of the Holy Nut. Hazelnuts collected on this day have magical properties. Double nuts (two on a stalk) ward off rheumatism, toothache and the spells of witches. But don't gather them if they're unripe. The hazel is a powerful tree (the tree of wisdom, some say) and gathering unripe nuts can be dangerous. This day they say is called Holy Rood Day And all the youths are now a-nutting gone. This is also Holy Rood Day, commemorating the rescue of the relic of the True Cross by Emperor Heraclius of Constantinople when it was carried off by Chosroes II, King of Persia in 614. Rufus says that historians now believe the Church instituted this feast to replace rites honoring Demeter and Persephone (perhaps the Eleusinian Mysteries?). In Greece, this is the day when seamen bring their boats in until April, according to this proverb: On the day of the Cross, cross your sails and tie your ropes; rest in harbor. On St. George's Day, rise and set sail again. Kightly, Charles, The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore, Thames and Hudson 1987 Rufus, Anneli, The World Holiday Book, Harper San Francisco 1994 September 15 Kapparot The day before Yom Kippur, the 9th of Tishri, is a time to make reparations. One traditional way of doing this is to sacrifice a chicken--a rooster for men, a hen for women. The fowl is held in the left hand, while the right hand is laid on its head and then it is swung around three times while saying "This is my substitute, this is my exchange, this is my atonement. This fowl will go to death and I will enter upon a good, long life and peace." The chicken is slaughtered, and its liver, kidney and guts put out for the birds. In some places, the meat is given to the poor; in other places, a donation of the cost of the chicken is made instead. In some places, Kapparot is done with food plants instead of animals. Early in Elul (the month preceding Tishri), children fill baskets with dirt and seeds of wheat, barley, peas and beans. By the eve of Yom Kippur, the plants are a few inches tall, and ready to be swung about the head with the same invocation and thrown into a stream. This custom reminds me of the gardens of Adonis which are also associated with Easter rituals in Italy. In other places, it is the custom to take 18 coins, held in a fist over the head of each child, which are then whirled as Kapparot and given to the poor. During the afternoon, people visit ritual bathhouses to purify themselves for the following day. Waskow, Arthur, Seasons of Our Joy: A Modern Guide to the Jewish Holidays, Beacon 1982
September 15 Sorrows of Mary Mary had seven events of great sorrow in her life: the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, when the child Jesus was lost for 3 days, meeting her son on his way to his crucifixion, standing at the foot of the cross, taking down his body, and burying him. Seems like a valuable day for looking at the occasions of sorrow in your life. What are the seven greatest sorrows you've experienced?
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