To Autumn
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Close-bosom friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eve run. . . .
John Keats, 1819
This October, the figs of various varieties are ripening: "Tiger Panache" like yellow and green stripped minarets; "Green Genoa" of opulent form; "The Grande Ilse" of my wife's ancestors' fig tree from Louisiana and Mississippi. Yet, as these figs come our way, the leaves of the trees that bear them are yellowing, falling one by one to the ground around their trunks bringing a promise of earthy decompostion and renewal. I think that the fallen layered leaves are as sensuous to my eyes as are the figs to my tongue and palate. Both have a delicious scent of Autumn.
October is our 10th month according to the Gregorian calendar, but it was the 8th month for the ancient Romans, and it still is for me. The Romans tried to rename it after emperors and prominent families, but none of the names ever stuck. Perhaps this is because October as 8th month carries with it the potentia of the number 8, the symbol of the Lemniscus which is a figure eight of pointed or connected circles touching each other. A lemniscus is defined as a bundle bands or fibers located in the brain. It is composed of a fascia, bands. Leminiscate forms are ribbon-like bands that look exactly like a rubber band that is twisted once in the middle. It is the symbol for infinity. Once one gets the image in the mind, in the imagination, it pops up all over the place and is seen everywhere. I see it all the time in vines, clouds, streams, and especially in snakes.
. It is thought that the Lemniscus derived from a very ancient symbol-form known as the Ouroboros; the Lemniscus is a kind of double Ouroboros. The etymology of Ouroboros is that "uro" means tail, and "ors" or "os' means mouth, (both from Greek); that is, a tail devourer. So, an Ouroboros is that wonderful ring image of the serpent devouring it own tail. Metaphorically, the serpent devours itself so that it can be reborn. I always encounter shed snake skins on my walks, and I say, "that snake has been reborn, it has a new skin, a new life". We do exactly the same thing when we cast off old mental-emotional chains. Like the Lemniscus, the Ouroboros is an image of spontaneous, continuous flow, one curve flowing with energy into another, and that is October; one time or season flowing into another season. October brings fruits, figs, and the falling of leaves to enrich the earth for the next season's "mellow fruitfulness."
But the Lemniscus with its two connected, touching circles has a more profound meaning. The two circles are the two worlds--this one and the Spirit world. They meet up or touch each other at All Saints' Eve and at All Souls' Eve. The point at which the two orbs touch is magical! You know, it's that time of year when there is other worldly magic in the red, oranges, and yellows of fallen leaves, and there is that moist, earthy evening smell of dew kissed fallen leaves and sheaves of straw, all with more than a hint of cold, even with perhaps a whiting of frost. All Hallows Eve, is my favorite time of year partly because it conjours up polarities of orange sunsets and frosty nights.
Halloween in its non-commercialized version is All Saints' Eve which falls on the night of October 31rst, and All Saints' Day is November 1rst, one of the ten days of Holy Obligation in the Church. All Souls' Day is November 2nd and is called the Day of the Dead. It is the day for honoring the recently dead and all the dead, and prayers are offered so that their Souls may reach heaven. It is also a day to remember them--they should not be forgotten.
All Hallow's Eve or Halloween incorporated many traditions from pagan (paganus simply means farmer, as in paesano) harvest festivals and of those honoring the dead. People believed, and still do, that it was a time when the material and supernatural worlds are closest and magical things would happen. The Lemniscus again. They believed that a Faery Host of the Souls of the dead was flying through the sky. People dressed up in frightening costumes to scare off the evil spirits. and the lit huge bonfires as well. I always associate Halloween with smells of burning leaves, flames, smoke and flickering figures and shadows. Modern popular society thinks of Halloween in terms of a holiday of horror and of the sales accrued from "halloween stuff'" sold in stores.
In reality, Halloween resides deeply seated as an archetype in the human psyche because the seasons are still with us! They have not left us. I don't think they can package a piece of the sky and put a price tag on it.
These special seasonal days have a tight grip on many people and rightly so; people love the magical, the mysterious jutaposition of the two worlds in Autumn, and even though they are unaware of the traditional antecedents, the mystique still exists. And, I assure you, not to worry--there will not be a quiz on the scholarly antecedents and traditions. I no longer do that sort of thing.
So, my garden proceeds into a mild and gentle stasis. Plants need to be watered properly during this extremely dry time before the rains come, but only enough to keep the roots alive. It is also a time of cleaning up, pruning, opening up the trees so that the winter rains and winds (when they come) can breathe freely through the branches. I watch and enjoy this gentle October seasonal mood. I become an observant dawdler, a flaneur. October--a delectable time of Insouciance.
