Welcome, Autumn: Charms, Poems and Recipes

Although the temperatures do not feel like it, autumn in all her glory is just around the corner. Today, it was 91 degrees (F) and felt like full-on summer, but surely this will soon pass. I browed through some old photos to remind myself that yes, fall is coming. This one is of our road, taken a few years ago:

So, to get us ready for the season, here's a charm you may want to try that is supposed to be done around the autumn equinox:

"The following charm used to be thought effective if spoken during the time of the Harvest Moon--that is, the full moon occurring within a fortnight of the autumn equinox, September 22 or 23.

When you go to bed, place under the pillow a Common Prayer Book open at the part of the marriage service in which is printed 'With this ring I thee wed'. Place on it a key, a ring, a flower, a sprig of willow, a small heart-cake, a crust of bread, and the following cards: the ten of clubs, the nine of hearts, the ace of spades, the ace of diamonds. Wrap all these around in  handkerchief of thin gauze or muslin. On getting into bed cross your hands and say:

Luna, every woman's friend,

To me thy goodness condescend; 

Let me this night in visions see

Emblems of my destiny.

If you dream of a ring or the ace of diamonds, it means marriage; bread, an industrious life; cake, a prosperous life; flowers, joy; willow, betrayal in love; spades, death; diamonds, money; clubs, foreign travel; hearts, illegitimate children; keys, great trust and power; birds, many children; geese, remarriage."

Harvest moon, 2010

While I am not planning to try this charm, I would truly hope that there is no marriage, death or remarriage in my future! I'd take the children, travel and joy, though.

One of my favorite writers is Thomas Hardy. I know he's out of favor these days, but I am still a fan. One poem I particularly enjoy is his Night-Time in Mid-Fall.

It is a storm-strid night, winds footing swift through the blind profound; 

I know the happenings from their sound; 

Leaves totter down still green, and spin and drift; 

The tree-trunks rock to their roots, which wrench and lift 

The loam where they run onward underground. 

The streams are muddy and swollen; eels migrate to a new abode; 

Even cross, 'tis said, the turnpike-road;

 (Men's feet have felt their crawl, home-coming late): 

The westward fronts of the towers are saturate, 

Church-timbers crack, and witches ride abroad. 

And another by Hardy:

Autumn in King's Hintock Park

Here by the baring bough
  Raking up leaves,
Often I ponder how
  Springtime deceives,---
I, an old woman now,
  Raking up leaves.

Here in the avenue
  Raking up leaves
Lords' ladies pass in view,
  Until one heaves
Sighs at life's russet hue,
  Raking up leaves!

Just as my shape you see
  Raking up leaves,
I saw, when fresh and free,
  Those memory weaves
Into grey ghosts by me,
  Raking up leaves.

Yet, Dear, though one may sigh,
  Raking up leaves,
New leaves will dance on high---
  Earth never grieves!---
Will not, when missed am I
  Raking up leaves.

A bit of a melancholy note in this one, perhaps, but then Hardy's work tended that way usually.

And finally, to get you in full autumnal spirits, a recipe for mincemeat. If you have never made it, take my word, it's delicious. I preserve mine in jars, and process by modern requirements. Here's a recipe I posted eight years ago (I've been blogging quite a while, it seems!):

About 20 chopped green tomatoes--sprinkle with a tablespoon of salt and let sit for one hour, then drain the tomatoes,cover with boiling water and let sit for about 5 minutes; drain again. NOTE: You can omit the tomatoes and add more of the apples  and other fruits.

1 orange--grate the rind and chop the pulp
Mix the tomatoes and the orange in a large saucepan. Then add:
12 apples, chopped fine (peel or not, it's up to you)
1 pound of seedless raisins
1 1/2 cups of chopped suet (I know, I know, sounds weird. I've actually made the mincemeat without it and liked it quite well).
2-3 oranges
1-2 lemons
3 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed firmly
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon each ground cloves and nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Cook the mixture until it's boiling hot. Pour into hot sterile jars and seal. Process pints at 10 pounds pressure for 25 minutes. This recipe makes about 10 pints.

You can vary the amounts, add lemon, nuts, golden raisins, etc. It's really up to you; just be sure to keep the proportions of ingredients the same to have great-tasting mincemeat.

For more autumn ideas check out some of my older blog posts:

How to make dried apple and orange garlands

Pumpkin recipes

Fall weather superstitions

Sources:

Hardy, Thomas. The Complete Poems of Thomas Hardy. Macmillan, London: 1976.

Radford, E. Encyclopedia of Superstitions. New York: Reprinted by Greenwood Press, 1969.

The Autumn Book: A Collection of Prose and Poetry Chosen by James Reeves. William Heinneman, London: 1977.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.