Changes

[[Association]] with the [[transition]] from warm to cold weather, and its [[related]] [[status]] as the season of the primary [[harvest]], has dominated its themes and popular images. In Western [[cultures]], [[personification]]s of autumn are usually pretty, well-fed [[female]]s adorned with fruits, vegetables and grains that ripen at this time. Most ancient cultures featured autumnal [[celebration]]s of the [[harvest]], often the most important on their calendars. Still extant [[echoes]] of these celebrations are found in the mid-autumn [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving Thanksgiving] holiday of the United States, and the Jewish [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukkot Sukkot] holiday with its [[roots]] as a full moon harvest festival of "tabernacles" (huts wherein the harvest was processed and which later gained [[religious]] significance). There are also the many North American Indian festivals tied to harvest of autumnally ripe foods gathered in the wild, the Chinese Mid-Autumn or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_festival Moon festival], and many others. The predominant [[mood]] of these autumnal celebrations is a gladness for the fruits of the [[earth]] mixed with a certain [[melancholy]] linked to the imminent arrival of harsh [[weather]].

[[Association]] with the [[transition]] from warm to cold weather, and its [[related]] [[status]] as the season of the primary [[harvest]], has dominated its themes and popular images. In Western [[cultures]], [[personification]]s of autumn are usually pretty, well-fed [[female]]s adorned with fruits, vegetables and grains that ripen at this time. Most ancient cultures featured autumnal [[celebration]]s of the [[harvest]], often the most important on their calendars. Still extant [[echoes]] of these celebrations are found in the mid-autumn [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving Thanksgiving] holiday of the United States, and the Jewish [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukkot Sukkot] holiday with its [[roots]] as a full moon harvest festival of "tabernacles" (huts wherein the harvest was processed and which later gained [[religious]] significance). There are also the many North American Indian festivals tied to harvest of autumnally ripe foods gathered in the wild, the Chinese Mid-Autumn or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_festival Moon festival], and many others. The predominant [[mood]] of these autumnal celebrations is a gladness for the fruits of the [[earth]] mixed with a certain [[melancholy]] linked to the imminent arrival of harsh [[weather]].

This view is presented in [[English]] [[poet]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keats John Keats]' poem [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Autumn To Autumn], where he describes the [[season]] as a time of bounteous fecundity, a time of 'mellow fruitfulness'.

This view is presented in [[English]] [[poet]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keats John Keats]' poem [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Autumn To Autumn], where he describes the [[season]] as a time of bounteous fecundity, a time of 'mellow fruitfulness'.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall]

[[Category: General Reference]]

[[Category: General Reference]]