Autumn is almost upon us. We have already had a few teaser days of crisp mornings with warm afternoons. Soon green leaves will turn red, yellow and orange. Migrating geese will honk overhead. The menu will include more hot soups, hearty stews, mulled cider and warm cobblers. The air will carry wafts of smoke as firepits and fireplaces are utilized once again. This is my favorite of the mid-Atlantic seasons and I positively adore this time of year. Are there other autumn aficionados out there?

Harvest, Fall or Autumn?

The old Norse word haust means “to gather or pluck.” Farmers would haust (gather) the crops at this time, and so the season became known as Harvest. Technology has drastically changed life for the farmer, but in times past they utilized the light of the full moon to bring in their crops. Carrying on the tradition, the full moon that will occur on September 29th is still known as the Harvest Moon. Once people left the farms and moved to cities, their association with the harvest waned. At that point the use of the word fell to the wayside. Which brings us to alternative terms.

Autumn was initially the more popular term. It wasn’t until 1755 that Fall - in the manner that relates to the season - was added to Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English language. Fall is now used most frequently in the United States and Canada. In 1816, John Pickering wrote the following in A Vocabulary, or Collection of Words Which Have Been Supposed to Be Peculiar to the United States of America: "In North America the season in which this [the fall of the leaf] takes place derives its name from that circumstance, and instead of autumn is universally called the fall." People in England and Australia, on the other hand, are said to prefer autumn. Although born and raised in North America, I generally use autumn rather than the word fall. Which do you prefer?

Meteorologists will tell you that autumn has already begun, as they consider September 1st the traditional start of the season. For most of us, though, the season begins with the Autumn Equinox. The equinox occurs at the same moment worldwide. This year the equinox is on September 23rd at 2:50 a.m. in the Washington DC metro area. The word itself is Latin and derives from aequus (equal) and nox (night). On the date of the Autumn Equinox we have relatively equal hours of day and night, after which the days grow shorter and shorter until the Winter Solstice on December 21st.

Mabon, named after the Welshman Mabon ap Modron, is a Celtic celebration also known as the pagan Thanksgiving. It always occurs on the Equinox and honors the second harvest, when farmers gathered hearty foods such as apples, pumpkins and other gourds. It is a time to thank Mother Earth for the abundance she provides. It is also a good time to set intentions for ending unhealthy relationships, breaking bad habits and saying goodbye to self-destructive beliefs.

Celebrate the Equinox and Mabon on the 23rd. Look for the Harvest Moon on the 29th. Enjoy all that the season brings. It’s the best time of the year. It’s Autumn!