Autumn Blaze 2000
Halloween:
The festival of Samhain
The customs and
origins of this popular and ancient celebration
Preserving
Your Harvest
Help in keeping the fruits and
vegetables of our orchards and gardens.
Lesson
From the Bear
We move from the active, physical
summertime to a more passive, spiritual time.
The goldenrod stains the
meadow.
Lonely witness to the forest's
glory.
Juan Wilson - Autumn Blaze1999
The full moon chases
the running deer silently
across the fallen leaves.
by Linda Pascatore and Juan Wilson - Autumn
Blaze1998
The Phase Named
Blaze
We have divided the year into eight
phases, based on the Solstices, the Equinoxes and the
midpoints of the four seasons (see Solar Phases below).
We are now in the phase of Blaze, which begins on
September 23, Fall Equinox, at 7:31 AM. This is the time
when day and night are equal in length. From now on the
days will get shorter and the nights longer until the
Winter Solstice, the longest night. This period ends just
after Halloween on November 6th, which is the midpoint
between the Equinox and the Solstice.
The trees are already beginning to
turn colors here in Western New York. The leaves already
contained the pigments we see in the fall, but they are
masked by the chlorophyll. As the days grow shorter, the
chlorophyll production will shut down, and the true
colors are shown. Warm, sunny days followed by cool
nights make the most colorful leaves, so we should have a
good show this fall.
According to the Old Farmer's Almanac,
there are two planetary events in the sky this period. On
October 23rd, Jupiter reaches opposition, at its closest
and most brilliant of the year and of the decade. It will
rise at sunset and will be highest at midnight, and it
will be a dazzling standout among the dim stars of
Pisces. On November 6th, Saturn will reach opposition and
be brighter than it has been for two decades. It will
rise at sunset and be visible throughout the night, among
the smaller stars of Aries.
We name each moon cycle as the Native
Americans did (see Lunar Phases below). There are two
full moons this period. The first is Harvest Moon on
September 25th. It is so named because farmers used to
work by moonlight to bring in the last harvest. The next
full moon is Crunchy Leaf Moon on October 23rd, and by
then the leaves will have fallen and be crunching
underfoot. It will soon be time again to "Fall Back", as
daylight savings time ends at 2:00 AM, October 31st,
Halloween morning.
The Song of the
Crab-Apple Fairy
by Cicely Mary
Barker
Crab-apples,
Crab-apples, out in the wood,
Little and bitter, yet
little and good!
The apples in
orchards, so rosy and fine,
Are children of wild
little apples like mine.
The branches are
laden, and droop to the ground;
The fairy-fruit falls
in a circle around;
Now all you good
children, come gather them up:
They'll make you sweet
jelly to spread when you sup.
One little apple I'll
catch for myself;
I'll stew it, and
strain it, to store on a shelf
In four or five
acorn-cups, locked with a key
In a cupboard of mine
at the root of the tree.
October
by Robert
Frost
O hushed October morning
mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the
fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be
wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest
call;
Tomorrow they may form and
go.
O hushed October morning
mild,
Begin the hours of this day
slow.
Make the day seem to us less
brief.
Hearts not averse to being
beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you
know.
Release one leaf at break of
day;
At noon release another
leaf;
One from our trees, one far
away;
Retard the sun with gentle
mist;
Enchant the land with
amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes' sake, if they were
all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with
frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be
lost--
For the grapes' sake along the
wall.
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