O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being,

Thou from whose unseen presence the leaves dead

Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing..

P.B. Shelley - Ode to the West Wind

In the Celtic past, autumn was seen as arriving earlier than perhaps we would think of it now. The 1st August saw the feast of Lughnasadh, traditionally held to coincide with harvest time. The name derives from the games of Lugh, an archetype saviour-hero god who instituted the games in honour of his mother Tailtiu - an earth goddess of ancient times. Lugh was seen as a bringer of happiness - one who would overcome problems and cast out fear and doubt. On the day of his festival the community would gather on a high site - a hill or mountain (where the earth meets the sky) and the fruits of the harvest were brought to be enjoyed by the participants. Flowers were also an important part of the ritual, being worn for the ceremony and then buried on the site, to symbolise the passing of summer and and, by returning them to the earth, ensuring the fertility of the soil for the next year. 

The festival also involved horse 'races' - traditionally a ritual to purify the horses owned by the tribe by driving them through a lake or river. It was a ceremony that symbolised the reunion of the elements of fire - represented by the 'solar' horse- and water. It mirrors the ritual of Beltane when cattle - representing the element of water - are driven between two bonfires. Both horses and cattle were of great importance to the Celtic tribes and valued above other creatures. Both appear as totem animals and associates or representatives of gods and goddesses and were included in sacred rituals.

Water and fertility are also represented as aspects of the Vine - the plant associated with this time of year in the Druidic tree calendar. The tree is linked with the gods Dionysus and Osiris and the goddesses Etain and Aphrodite - highlighting its associations with sensuality, death and resurrection. The grape is one of the oldest fruits grown by humans; seeds of the vine have been found in prehistoric tombs and the Egyptians are known to have cultivated it over 6000 years ago. The plant's attributes include bringing joy and ecstasy - the latter in its literal meaning of 'ex stasis' moving out of a state of balance i.e. into a trance or a state outside of normal experience. It is linked with sexual passion but also with death and sacrifice. The pagan view of life's path being to seek knowledge through identification with the totality of experience and not the denial of natural passions - both joy and sadness, life and death.

Now it is autumn and the falling fruit

And the long journey towards oblivion...

Have you built your ship of death, O have you?

O build your ship of death for you will need it.

D.H. Lawrence - Ship of Death