October, Month of Change and Symbols

Robert Graves, author of the sometimes controversial book, The White Goddess, held that poetry was a mystical, magical language which guided ritual to the realm of spiritual truth. In his search for the origins of the European Goddess religions, Graves compiled a kind of Celtic Zodiac, based on the lunar calendar of the Celts and their correspondences with the sacred trees of Celtic culture. The Celts claimed the magical powers of the groves hidden deep in the great forests and attributed special qualities and powers to each tree. Ivy is the symbol for the month of October, called Gort, which extends from September 30 to October 27. Ivy was the plant associated with the opening of the portal to the Otherworld and represented all that was mysterious and magical about the last days of summer, when the veil between the worlds is thinnest and time ceases to exist.


In the Northern Hemisphere, October is regarded as a month of marked and sudden changes in the tempo and look of the country side. Even in the cities, dwellers are aware of the quickening pace of changes in the world around them. The balance of Libra shifts and tips as light diminishes and the hours of darkness increase, and a sense of delicious mystery and magic begin to fill the air. Brisk winds and rustling leaves alert us to the revolving Wheel of the Year that is as ancient as the planet, so palpable and real it cannot be ignored The ancient Europeans marked the month of October as the month of the last Harvest and thus as the ending of the year - in other parts of the world, cultures even more ancient than the Celts explained the shift in the growing patterns and weather with mysteries and goddesses of their own. Hecate, the goddess of midnight crossroads and the cauldron and hunting hounds was believed to be abroad at night during the ending of the year and in an additional guise, was the protector of women, especially those in childbirth. She is a dark goddess, a deity fit for the shadowy mysteries of October.



In the early mists of time, the pomegranate was considered a symbol of good fortune and fertility. In the contemporary painting by Robert Lenz (below), the fruit is offered to the viewer by the most ancient goddess, "Eve Mother of All."


In later goddess mythology, the pomegranate becomes a symbol of the darkness of October, the end of the harvest season, and the onset of winter when Hades kidnaps Persephone, the daughter of Demeter (who is the goddess of agriculture and the "bringer of seasons"), and carries her off to the mysterious "underworld." Demeter became so grieved over the loss of her daughter, that her sadness caused the earth to die. The sun hid, and nothing grew, the earth became barren with the coldness of winter. Hades was finally convinced to release Persephone to return to her mother, but before leaving the kingdom of the ruler of the underworld, Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds (or four or three depending on the myth) which meant that she was bound to return to Hades for six months (or four or three) each year. Of course each time she returned to the kingdom of the underworld, her mother grieved and winter returned. Thus, we have a cycle of seasonal weather on the planet earth.

Persephone
Dante Gabriel Rossette

In the course of time, "pagan" goddesses were replaced by the Virgin Mary, and lo and behold, the pomegranate became a symbol of her love and purity. Renaissance painters often depicted the Virgin as Madonna with Baby Jesus holding a pomegranate in his hands ... Renaissance painters were often known for their ability to "paint between the lines" so to speak, and loved to include Pagan symbolism in their religious art work.

Botticelli - Madonna of the Pomegranate

Also, in the course of time, the idea of October as a month of mysteries and dark secrets lightened up just a bit - some artists contented themselves with the idea of fairy folk frolicking in the golden weather and brilliant hues of the dying harvest, but by some strange twist managed to include those "October" plants which have a certain reputation for sharp or prickly parts,

The Hawthorne Fairy

Or, just plain deadly and poison parts,

The Deadly Nightshade Berry Fairy

And sometimes fairies just want to have innocent fun and dance!

But, as it always must, the Wheel of the Year turns steadily toward the end of summer, the final harvest is nearly complete and at its appointed time, the sun slips across the cusp, from the tilting scales of Libra, into the sign of fall, mystery, magic and the last of summer; toward the time when the veil is at its thinnest, into the sign of the Scorpion

Sign of Scorpio
October 23 - November 21

Gort-Ivy Greeting Card Graphic Courtesty of:
Hedinghamfair, UK
http://www.hedinghamfair.co.uk/bc_special.htm