October Is A Weird Month For Me

Summary

The author reflects on the personal significance of October, viewing it as a time of introspection and transformation, rather than just a month associated with Halloween.

Abstract

October holds a peculiar and introspective significance for the author, transcending the typical associations with witches, ghouls, and Halloween. It is a month that mirrors the ancient Celtic transition from harvest to winter, a liminal period where the veil between worlds is thin, prompting reflection on life cycles and personal growth. The author, while not neo-pagan, acknowledges the importance of natural cycles and the need to align personal rhythms with the changing seasons. October serves as a natural time for taking stock of achievements and preparing for the introspection of winter, despite the societal pressure to remain active and social during this time. The author experiences an informal rite of passage, shedding old aspects of self to embrace new ones, often accompanied by a deeper understanding of identity and purpose. The month concludes with Halloween, a festive community event that brings a sense of closure to the author's period of reflection.

Opinions

The author believes that the exhaustion of the Christmas season is partly due to the societal expectation to be social and active during a time when our biology suggests slowing down.
October is seen as a month for personal harvest, where one evaluates their accomplishments and prepares for the winter, both literally and metaphorically.
The concept of liminality in October is personally significant to the author, who experiences a sense of transition and self-transformation during this time.
The author values the introspective opportunities that October brings, despite not engaging in formal rites of passage.
The changing nature of October, with its clear skies and falling leaves, is seen as a metaphor for personal growth and the shedding of past selves.
Halloween is appreciated by the author as a communal event that provides a cheerful end to a month often marked by deep personal reflection.

October Is A Weird Month For Me

And not because of witches and ghouls

For the ancient Celts, October was the end of the harvest season and the time to bring livestock down from the summer pastures for the winter. Some scholars believe that October 31st was the Celtic New Year’s eve. In any case, it is considered a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the otherworld was more easily crossed. I don’t know about any of that, but what I do know is that October is always a weird time for me.

I am not a neo-pagan, but I do think that the cycles of nature are important and have their own qualities about them. I fully believe that one of the reasons that the Christmas season is so exhausting is that winter is a time when our biology tells us to slow down and go more deeply inside. Instead, in December we race around, engaging in a lot of socializing and hubbub — not just for a day or two, but for pretty much the entire month. We take on additional things to our schedules like shopping and parties, rather than sitting alone, or with our closest friends and family, staring into a roaring fire.

In the Northern hemisphere, October is the time to take stock of what you’ve planted all year and to see what is ready to harvest. It’s a time to gather your resources and to ascertain if they will carry you through the next couple of months until the Spring arrives. I never plan to do this in any organized way, but it just seems to turn out that like that anyhow. And it never seems to take place in a straightforward manner. October just sort of happens to me, it seems.

In anthropology, liminality (from the Latin word līmen, meaning “a threshold”) is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of a rite of passage, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the rite is complete. During a rite’s liminal stage, participants “stand at the threshold” between their previous way of structuring their identity, time, or community, and a new way, which completing the rite establishes.

During the month of October, I’m rarely doing any formal rites of passage - perhaps going to a wedding or a funeral, but there just aren’t very many of those in the modern world, although it seems to be the time when they occur for me informally. I find myself grappling with a deeper understanding of who I am, what my relationships are at their deepest levels, what my purpose in the world is, and other light topics. I’m not intentionally pursuing these inquiries, they simply seem to arise.

Big harvest moons convey a mysteriousness that is not so evident at other times of the year. The sky seems more crystalline and as leaves fall and the trees become barer, they show their most fundamental selves, devoid of all of the dress-up of greenery and blossoms. In cultures that still have formal rites of passage, one common type involves a metaphorical “death”, as the initiate is forced to leave something behind in order to pave the way for taking on a different position or function within the society. Every October for the past several years, I have left some old part of me behind in order to embrace some new part.

It doesn’t snow much where I live, but there is something about the onset of colder temperatures that signals to me the end of one time and the beginning of another one. It feels like a more natural end of the year to me than the one designated in the Julian calendar — perhaps because it’s been a time of ends and new beginnings for me for some time. It feels just right to remember our ancestors at this time of year as well and to acknowledge the impact they still have on our lives, even if they no longer walk this earth.

I live in a large neighborhood with a lot of kids. Most years it’s still warm enough to sit out on the front porch to greet them as they come asking for treats. I love seeing all of the creative and interesting costumes and visiting with my neighbors as they pass by with their little monsters, astronauts, and movie characters. It’s nice to cap off my invariably weird and often introspective month with a fun and festive atmosphere.

This year, we’ve been invited to an adult Halloween party. I haven’t been to one of those in several years, and although I don’t yet know what I’m going to dress as, I am very much looking forward to it. October may be weird, but at least it’s never boring!