In the Christian world, today is Michaelmas, feast day of the archangel Michael, which was a very important day in times past, falling near the equinox and so marking the fast darkening of the days in the northern world, the boundary of what was and what is to be. Today was the end of the harvest and the time for farm folk to calculate how many animals they could afford to feed through the winter and which would be sold or slaughtered. It was the end of the fishing season, the beginning of hunting, the time to pick apples and make cider.
Today was a day for settling rents and accounts, which farmers often paid for with a brace of birds from the flocks hatched that spring. Geese were given to the poor and their plucked down sold for the filling of mattresses and pillows.
Michaelmas was the time of the traditional printer's celebration, the wayzgoose, the day on which printers broke from their work to form the last of their pulp into paper with which to cover their open windows against the coming cold — the original solution for those who could not afford glass yet had more than nothing — and the advent of days spent working by candlelight.
In the past, the traditional Michaelmas meal would have been a roast stubble goose — the large gray geese that many of us only get to admire at our local state and county fairs. Today, when most poultry comes from the grocery store in parts and wrapped in plastic, a roast goose can be a difficult luxury to obtain, but any homey, unfussy meal is a fine substitute — especially with a posy of Michaelmas daisies or purple asters on the table.
In folklore, it is said that when Michael cast the Devil from Heaven, the fallen angel landed on a patch of blackberry brambles and so returns this day every year to spit upon the plant that tortured him. For this reason, blackberries would not be eaten after today, and so folks would gather them in masses on Michaelmas to put into pies and crumbles and preserves. And they would bake St. Michael's bannocks, a large, flat scone of oats and barley and rye, baked on a hot griddle and then eaten with butter or honey or a pot of blackberry preserves.
Whether you recognize Michaelmas or not, you can still greet what comes with the symbols of today: gloves, for open-handedness and generosity; and ginger to keep you warm and well in the coming cold.
From The Writers Alamnac.
I am not bound for any public place, but for ground of my own where I have planted vines and orchard trees, and in the heat of the day climbed up into the healing shadow of the woods. Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup. ~Wendell Berry
13 comments:
an interesting tradition / feast day i had never heard of before. :)
This was so interesting! I did not know this. Thanks for a great lesson today.
In the dim recesses of my mind, this does sound familiar. Thanks for refreshing my mind!
I like this post! I'm not Catholic, but am interested in saints' days and such. And, I like the name Michael so much that I gave it to my son. And, that was before I knew anything about St. Michael and All Angels Day.
I love the history of our celebrations. Such a mixture.
I had never heard of this .... interesting.
Love Garrison Keillor - thanks for sharing!
Had I known sooner I would have made blackberry muffins this morning instead:@)
I learned something new today. Thank you! Have a Happy Friday.
I knew what "Michaelmas" was, as the feast day of St. Michael, but didn't know all that history. Thanks for telling us about it. :)
Your feast day, MICHAELE! What a great post!
I love to learn something new and it's related to plants and animals--Great. I'll have to remember Michaelmas.
Interesting post. I had heard of various fall harvest traditions but not Michaelmas.
Post a Comment