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Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the the Feast of the Exaltation of
the Holy Cross, 14 September, 1 are
known as "Michaelmas Embertide," and they come near the beginning of Autumn
(September, October, November). The Lessons focus on the Old Covenant's Day
of Atonement and the fast of the seventh month, but start off with this prophecy
from Amos 9:13-15:
Behold the days
come, when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes
him that soweth seed, and the mountains shall dop sweetness, and every hill
shall be tilled. And I will bring back the captivity of My people Israel,
and they shall build the abandoned cities, and inhabit them; and they shall
plant vineyards, and drink the wine of them; and shall make gardens and eat
the fruits of them; and I will plant them upon their land: and I will no
more pluck them out of their land which I have given them; saith the Lord
thy God.
Like all Embertides
but Whit Embertide, the Lessons end with the story of the three boys in the
fiery furnace, as told by Daniel.
The Gospel readings recount how Jesus exorcised demons from a possessed boy
and tells the disciples about fasting to cast out unclean spirits (Matthew
9:16-28), forgave Mary Magdalen
(Luke 7:36-50), and healed the woman on the sabbath after telling the
parable of the fig tree (Luke 13:6-17).
The Natural Season
Psalm 144:15-16
"The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord:
and thou givest them meat in due season.
Thou openest thy hand,
and fillest with blessing every living creature."
Oh, delicious Autumn!
Trees lavish with spice colors... the earthy smell of their leaves burning
in hypnotic flames... the rich colors of grapes, apples, pumpkin, and squash,
of gold and scarlet flowers... the invigorating air inviting warm sweaters...
The season is marked by a bounty that lends itself well to some wonderful
holidays, especially Martinmas
and the secular American and Canadian Thanksgivings (the fourth Thursday
in November and October 2, respectively). This delightful poem, written in
an old Hoosier dialect by James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 - July 22,
1916), conveys the feeling of Autumn so well:
When the Frost
is on the Pumpkin
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,
And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens,
And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;
O, it's then's the times a feller is a-feelin' at his best,
With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bare-headed, and goes out to feed the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees,
And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees;
But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a pitcur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,
And the raspin' of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn;
The stubble in the furries --kindo' lonesome-like, but still
A-preachin' sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill;
The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;
The hosses in theyr stalls below -- the clover overhead!
O, it sets my hart a-clickin' like the tickin' of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock!
Then your apples all is getherd, and the ones a feller keeps
Is poured around the cellar-floor in red and yeller heaps;
And your cider-makin' 's over, and your wimmern-folks is through
With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and sausage, too!
I don't know how to tell it -- but ef sich a thing could be
As the Angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me
I'd want to 'commondate 'em -- all the whole-indurin' flock --
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock!
In the midst of
this beautiful time, things wizen and seem to begin to die. The air grows
cooler, the earth stiffens, the trees tire of holding their leaves. And during
this waning we remember our dead -- on 1 November, the victorious dead
(All Saints, or All Hallows
Day), and on 2 November, the dead being purified
(All Souls Day). These Days
of the Dead begin with the eve of All Hallows, or
"Hallowe'en," an unofficial
evening of remembering the frightening fate of the damned and how we can
avoid it. There can't be a more appropriate time for such a night than Autumn,
when foggy mists are likely, and bonfires helpful.
Associations
and Symbols
Autumn is characterized
by "dry and cold," and is associated with maturity, the humour of black bile,
the melancholic temperament, 2 and
the element of earth. Giuseppe Arcimboldo's fascinating portraits of the
season and its associated element lead the imagination in all directions:
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