Recent years have seen a boom in regard to how many holidays are packed into each calendar year. “National Grilled Cheese Day,” “National Cat Day,” and “National Encouragement Day” get mixed in with more prevalent holidays like Christmas, New Year’s Day, and Thanksgiving. Interestingly, this is a trend with roots that go much deeper than some might imagine. In fact, the Ancient Celts had a system of observing the natural world that attributed specific months of the year to specific trees and plants. September has long been known as the Month of the Vine in Celtic belief.
Whether you’re aware of this fact or are intrigued by the concept, here are a handful of ways you can celebrate this month and pay honor to the spirit of the vine.
Reaping the Bounty
September is a very unique month. In many places around the world, this is the time of year when the weather begins transitioning from the sticky, hot days of summer into the cooler, more temperate feeling of autumn. It is also the time when many people harvest their summer crops before the onset of colder temperatures. It makes sense then that Vine Month, which the Celts also referred to as Muin, is when “reaping what is sown” is a very commonplace practice.
If you’re looking to get in touch with the spirit of the season, then you might want to practice some “harvesting.” This can be a literal practice, such as going into your garden and harvesting anything that seems ripe and ready to be eaten. It can also be a metaphysical practice, where you take a moment with your thoughts and “harvest” any good ideas or feelings that were planted in you during the summer. Either way, the spirit of the harvest is very important to honoring this time of year.
Passionate Emotions
The vine is a loaded symbol in a number of ways. While many people associate the vine with the bounty of nature, as in harvesting grapes or tomatoes, it also is connected to more negative emotions. Specifically, the vine is connected with feelings of wrath. There are many reasons why people now associate vines with this feeling of anger. From Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” to quotes from the Bible, there are many instances of the source of wrath being a vine.
The beauty of the vine is that the emotions associated with it are passionate ones. The joy of the harvest and the wrath of sour grapes are intense in nature. To honor this, it can be a good idea to get in touch with your own emotions. While you might not have intense feelings about anything in particular, allowing yourself time with your emotions during this month can prove to be a great way to get into your own head and see how you’re actually feeling inside.
Say Goodbye
This time of year is also a time of serious transition. Though winter is still a bit off, the warm days of summer are coming to a close. A great way to pay heed to the month is by saying goodbye to anything that you have to leave behind. This can be something small like the opportunity to take a swim in the pool or something more significant, like a summer romance that couldn’t last until the fall. Saying goodbye at this time of year can help you unload any emotional baggage before the season ends.
While the Celts might not have had the same holiday-centric mindset that people do nowadays, their approach to the various months of the year is definitely fascinating. Find your own way to honor the vine this September and discover a bit of serenity along the way.