By: Austin Price, Staff Writer
Well, it’s that time again, fall. The leaves are changing, candy prices are increasing, Halloween decorations are appearing, and superstitions, fables and folklore spread like wildfire throughout many different cultures and communities. As a lover of all fall-related things, I have collected a menagerie of stories behind some of our most treasured and well-known fall traditions. From the autumn equinox to Halloween night, whispers of scary stories and beloved fables are exchanged, giving us a deeper understanding of this beautiful season and the secrets and rituals, it holds.
Autumn Equinox
Now, to start as all things do, we go to the beginning. More specifically, the beginning of fall - the autumn equinox. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumn equinox begins on September 22. During an equinox, the sun crosses what is known as the “celestial equator” which is an imaginary extension of the Earth’s equator line into space. The equinox occurs precisely when the sun’s center passes through this line. The word “equinox” comes from Latin “aequus” meaning equal, and “nox”, night. On the equinox, day and night are equal in length. After the autumnal equinox, days become shorter than nights as the sun continues to rise later and nightfall arrives earlier.
With the event of the autumn equinox comes the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs nearest to the autumnal equinox. The Harvest Moon gets its name from the schedule and labor distribution between farmers as they battled the sun for more time to work in the fields. Typically, the moon rises about an hour later each night, but around the autumn equinox the angle of the Moon’s orbit and the tilt of the Earth line up exactly right and cause the moon to rise only about 20 to 30 minutes later each night for several nights in a row. These extra minutes allowed farmers more time to work in the fields while still arriving home before the frost and chill of the night set in after the sun had set.
The significance of the autumn equinox is attributed to the Earth’s journeys around the sun. Many different cultures host celebrations and embrace legends around this time. In honor of the autumn equinox, the Mayans built a giant pyramid called Chichen Itza, located in Mexico. On the equinox, it looks as if a snake made of light slithers down the pyramid’s steps. In Peru, at Machu Picchu, an ancient stone monument called Intihuatana meaning “Hitching Post of the Sun" is used as a solar clock to mark the dates of the equinoxes and solstices.
One of the most popular and recognizable stories about the autumn equinox is that of the Greek myth of the goddess Persephone as she returns to the darkness of the underworld, where she is reunited with her husband, Hades. This story is seen as a symbol for the feeling of autumn when the brilliance of the summer recedes into the more muted tones of September. The story of the matrimony between Persephone and Hades is one of sorrow and reluctance. The Greek myth tells us that Persephone was abducted by Hades, the god of the Underworld. Persephone begged Hades to let her go but he refused. Instead, the two of them made a compromise. Persephone could be free to return to her mother, Demeter, for the long summer days if she stayed with Hades throughout the winter and autumn. Persephone leaves Hades and comes out of the ground to the blooming of flowers and the warm sun every spring equinox and is drawn back to that dark world every autumn equinox. Persephone is both queen of the Underworld, as the wife of Hades, and is associated with the new life that rises with the spring, becoming both life and death simultaneously.
Changing Colors
Now, here is a bit of a myth buster. For years we were taught that the leaves change colors because of weather conditions and chilly temperatures. However, the leaves change because of the amount of daylight and photosynthesis. As the autumn days shrink, the reduced daylight sends a signal to plants saying it is time to stop gathering energy and get ready for their dormant season, winter. Chlorophyll is a chemical found in leaves that absorbs sunlight and in trade, gives leaves a green color. A corky wall of cells, also known as the “abscission zone,” seals off the vessels that supply the leaf with nutrients and water while blocking the exit vessels and subsequently, traps simple sugars in the leaves. Reduced light, lack of nutrients, and less water causes the trees to start breaking down the chlorophyll and the green color fades, exposing other pigments of color such as yellow, red, orange, and brown.
A more creative and mythical way of explaining the reasoning behind the changing colors of leaves is found in a Wyandot (Huron) Legend told to generations of children. The story is based on the battle fought by the deer and bear in the sky. The bear was selfish and proud and oftentimes caused trouble for the Animals of the Great Council. When the bear was told that the deer had crossed the Rainbow Bridge into the Sky Land, he was angry and went to confront him. The deer was upset by this altercation and threatened the bear with his long, sharp antlers. The bear was not afraid of the deer and attacked the deer with his claws. The bear and deer fought in the sky until the bear was wounded by the deer’s horns. The wolf, the leader of the Animals of the Great Council, intervened and chased the deer away. As the deer ran, the Blood of the Bear that soaked his antlers dripped onto the Lower World, staining the leaves of the trees red, yellow, and brown. Every year as the leaves change, the Wyandots say that Blood of the Bear has been thrown down from heaven and upon the trees of the Great Island.
Halloween
Moving further along through the days of fall, we enter the infamous spooky season leading up to Halloween. Many countries throughout the world celebrate Halloween in several ways through rituals and traditions. Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead disappeared. The tradition originated when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. As the years passed, Halloween and the day after, November 1, evolved into a time to honor all saints, as designated by Pope Gregory III in the eighth century.
Witches
One of the most infamous legends shaped by the spooky season is that of witches, and the public’s reaction to them. While our current vision of witches is one of women huddling over a cauldron of boiling liquid and cackling beings riding through the sky on brooms wearing pointy hats, witches have a dark history going back to 900 B.C. Early witches were people who practiced witchcraft, using magic spells, and calling upon spirits for help or to bring about change. Most witches were thought to be pagans doing the Devil’s work. Witch hysteria really took hold in Europe during the mid-1400s, where witch hunts became common and most of the accused were executed by burning at the stake or hanging. Nowadays, self-proclaimed witches strive to live a peaceful, tolerant, and balanced life in tune with nature and humanity, healing both themselves and others with herbal remedies and spoken incantations.
The iconic image of a witch riding a broomstick in the moonlight has its roots in herbal remedies and exploration of fertility assistants. It is predicted the association between witches and brooms may have roots in a pagan fertility ritual, in which rural farmers would leap and dance astride poles, pitchforks or brooms in the light of the full moon to encourage the growth of their crops. This “broomstick dance" became confused with common accounts of witches flying through the night on their way to orgies and other illicit meetings. Broomsticks were also thought to be the perfect vehicles for the special ointments and salves that witches brewed up to give themselves the ability to fly, among other depraved activities.
Vampires
Another well-known figure of Halloween culture is a vampire. Sadly, I am not talking about a sparkly, Robert Pattinson type of vampire (team Edward for life) but instead, a much darker and more sadistic history of bloodletting and blood sucking, making way for countless books and movies. The idea of vampires and vampirism originated in the 19th century, during the rampant spread of tuberculosis, also known as consumption. Because physicians were unable to explain how certain infectious diseases were spread, hopeless villagers believed that some of those who perished from consumption preyed upon their living family members and labeled them as “bacterium with fangs”. To prevent an ongoing vampire attack and the disease from spreading, panicked citizens dug up bodies and performed various rituals, including burning internal organs.
Haunted Stories
I think it’s safe to say that most of us have memories of ghost stories told in hushed voices, illuminated by flashlights, at 5th grade sleepovers. These stories included broken mirrors, rainy nights, haunted houses, and vengeful ghouls, but the act of storytelling, more specifically, the act of scary storytelling dates to the ancient Roman times. In the first century, they wrote letters recounting ghost stories they claimed to have witnessed including chains rattling, and haunted houses. Many stories teach that the hauntings are because the person was never properly buried, and their return is tied to respecting the dead. As the years went by, stories started to become more menacing in the late 18th century when gothic fiction came into popularity, combining elements of romance with dark, horrific figures. Works of this genre include Frankenstein, Dracula, and even A Christmas Carol. More recent works of horror have focused on current issues such as race and misogyny, and many of them feature the idea that humanity’s greatest fear is death.
Finally, my personal favorite Halloween origin story, the story of haunted houses. As an avid Disney fan, I have developed an obsession with the infamous attraction, The Haunted Mansion. While this may not be a historically accurate or correct representation of haunted houses history, it certainly is one of the most widespread and recognizable figures in architectural hauntings. However, haunted houses date back to the 1930s, during the heat of the Great Depression. Halloween had become a time for young boys to cause mischief and make some trouble. Hundreds of teenage boys flipped over cars, sawed off telephone poles, removed neighbor’s gates, stole dead bodies, and engaged in other acts of vandalism across the country on Halloween night, dubbing the event as “Black Halloween.” While some parts of the community advocated for the holiday and any related celebrations to be banned, the official response was much more creative. Communities began to organize trick-or-treating, parties, costume parades, and haunted houses to keep the youth busy and out of trouble. The idea of haunted houses starts in the 1800s, with Marie Tussaud’s wax museum in London featured a “Chamber of Horrors” with decapitated figures from the French Revolution. This later evolved in 1915, a British amusement ride manufacturer created an early model haunted house complete with dim lights, shaking floors and demonic screams. Nowadays, there are over 1,200 haunted attractions that charge admission fees as the idea has become commercialized and highly profitable. However, one thing remains the same: haunted houses are still a good place for grim grinning ghosts to socialize.
As we enter the fall season and approach the spooky holiday, more of these origins and legends gain prominence, and more stories are told. No matter what you believe, no matter how you celebrate, I wish you all Happy Halloween and a wonderful fall season. Stay safe, stay smart, stay spooky.