The Harvest Festival
One of the oldest festivals known to humankind is that of the harvest. The word itself has its origin in the Anglo-Saxon word hærfest, which means autumn. This word later came to refer to the whole season of reaping and gathering grain and other grown products. The full Moon nearest the autumnal equinox is called the Harvest Moon; in the year 2008 it takes place on the 15th September. Ancient traditions held their Harvest Festivals on the day of the full Moon or the Sunday nearest to it.
Celebrating the harvest in Britain dates back to pre-Christian times when people’s survival depended on the success of their crops. To ensure a good harvest for the following year Saxon farmers offered the first cut sheaf of corn to one of their Gods of fertility. The last one was thought to contain the spirit of the corn, and its cutting was usually accompanied by the ritual sacrifice of an animal – often a hare that had been caught hiding in the corn. Later, a model hare made from straw was used to represent the continuity of the spirit. This practice eventually led to the making of plaited ‘corn dollies’, as symbols of the Goddess of the grain. Hung from the rafters in farmhouses, they were kept until next year’s harvest festival. When the harvest was in, a celebratory supper was held to which the whole community was invited.
Some of these traditions were taken over by Christianity, as it gradually replaced the Pagan ones. For example, there were ceremonies and rituals at the beginning as well as the end of the harvest, with church bells ringing on every day of the harvest. A corn dolly was made from the last sheaf of corn harvested. This was a figure made of plaited straw, which was held aloft and carried with great ceremony to the celebrations. It was often given a place of honour at the banquet table, and kept until the following spring. The horse bringing in the last cartload of the harvest was decorated with garlands of flowers and colourful ribbons. A magnificent harvest feast was held at farmer’s houses and games were played to celebrate a successful harvest.
The first celebration of the harvest festival in churches is said to have taken place in 1843, when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited parishioners to a special thanksgiving service at his church at Morwenstow in Cornwall. This led to the custom of decorating churches with home-grown produce for the harvest festival service. The traditional ways of celebrating the harvest still survive today in rural communities. Nowadays, children also take gifts of fruit and vegetables to church and present them during the harvest service whilst the harvest hymn ‘We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand’ is sung. After the service, these gifts are distributed to the elderly and needy of the community. Many schools also have a harvest festival assembly and the gifts of fruit and vegetables are distributed in the local community.
* * *
The above is a chapter from ‘The Astro Files – Special Events’.
If it has whetted your appetite to read more, please follow the link below:
‘The Astro Files – Special Events’
