All About Autumn

Kellin Emerson
Oct 21, 2024
9 min read

Learn about how Autumn affects leaves, why it's called Autumn, and festivals around the world that are celebrated in Autumn. Happy reading!

red and orange englemann ivy climbs a wood fence

You step through the alcove and before you know it, dried leaves crunch beneath your shoes, damp earth with a slight mustiness is the scent that wafts towards you; a fire crackling at the hearth. There is no ceiling to the room; above you trees clad in Autumnal finery drop leaves and rustle in the crisp cool breeze. Something in the air smells forlorn and older than time, and a faint moisture clings to your skin as a fine drizzle trickles down through the leaves. You wander towards the cluster of people surrounding the hearth sitting cross-legged on the dirt floor. There is a lady in a purple dress, only it is thick and wool this time, and a man hands you a steaming cup of warm cider as you push into the circle.

At the centre is a low turntable with teacups and the pot of cider. Everyone is silent today, a calm sense of listening gathers in the evening air and the woman in the purple dress puts down her cup with a clink and starts pulling papers and old photograph prints out of a leather pouch beside her. She stacks them so the edges are perfectly in alignment with the others, and says "I have always wondered whether it was truly Autumn, or Fall, or something else entirely that is the correct term for this season. I've done my research and you are about to find out..."

Is it Autumn, or Fall?

a brown maple leaf obscures a page of an open book on a wood table

Photo Credit - Unsplash 2024 - Royalty Free

It is known among English speakers around the world that there are two separate words to describe the Third Season of the year. Jimson from Brighton might insist to you that it is Autumn that is the proper phrase and no other. At the same time, Asiri from New York will tell you that it is definitely Fall, not Autumn that is the best and most correct word. As it turns out, Autumn and Fall are both to be used; it just depends when and where.

To understand this fully we must travel back to the time of 1300s. Back then, when the plague was taking over England, someone might call that time of year simply harvest. Simple and descriptive, right? Actually, it is a tad more complex than that. Harvest was not just used as a description of the season, it was (and still is) used as an action word (verb) to indicate the act of bringing in the crops - in fact, harvesting.

If Farmer Sebastian was sitting in an oak wood chair, gazing over his crops in Late August, he might say "It is sure and certain Harvest tomorrow", his son Fred - that over-achiever - might wake up far earlier than his father the next morning and start collecting the crops. Only to find Farmer Sebastian throwing a fit over it because he only has potatoes, carrots and cabbage; all of which are harvested in September. In reality, he was just referring to the beginning of Harvest season. You can imagine the great inconvenience this would cause them especially during the days of the plague.

It is unclear where exactly the Latin Autumnus started to be used in the 1300s, or by whom, but for our purposes let's say that (fictional) Farmer Sebastian picked up a Latin book of horticulture and farming methods, and happened upon the word Autumnus. Blimey! There is good in the world, he has found the answer to his crop problems.

"Son, I found a word for our little misunderstanding, it's Autumnus."

"Autumn what Father?"

"Uhh, Autumn! Yes as a matter of fact I just came up with that on the spot, as a word for Harvest"

"Harvesting what, carrots?"

"Not that harvest, the other one. Harvest Season."

The word Autumn gathered traction quickly in the 1300s, and it was used so vastly that Poets and other creative thinkers began to find other ways to say it. Falling of the Leaves was quite the popular autumn synonym, and in the 1600s it was shortened to "Fall". Fast-forward to 2024, Autumn and Fall are both utilized, with Autumn commonly considered as the more formal version of Fall. Citizens of the United States tend to stick more to using Fall, whereas Autumn is most common in England. So whether you are an avid Fall enthusiast or Autumn advocate, know that you are correct in using both terms, and the only truly outdated term for Fall or Autumn, is Harvest (Season).

When does Autumn Start and End?

an asphalt path surrounded by an orange carpet of leaves and trees with fog in the distance

Photo Credit - Unsplash 2024 - Royalty Free

Another commonly debated topic in Autumn is when it starts, how long it goes for, and when it ends. Again, this question does not have a forward answer, rather it is arguably even more subjective than the Autumn/Fall discourse. For example, the first question to answer is what hemisphere of earth does one reside? In The Northern Temperate Zone, Autumn commonly falls over September. However, if you reside in the Southern Temperate Zone, Autumn falls over the month of April. The tropics often do not observe Autumn as they tend to have more warm and equal temperatures all year round.

The next question is: are you asking Astronomically, Meteorologically, or Solar Season (Celtic)? In the Northern Temperate Zone Autumn lasts either from September 23 - December 22 (Astronomical Season), September 1 - November 30 (Meteorological Season), or August 1 - October 31 (Solar (Celtic) Season).

Conversely, Fall in the Southern Temperate Zone lasts from March 21 - June 21 (Astronomical Season), March 1 - May 31 (Meteorological Season), or February 1 - April 30 (Solar (Celtic) Season).

Now that we have all those details sorted out, we really need to figure out why and how leaves change colour and drop from deciduous trees.

Why do Leaves Change Colour in the Fall?

a grainy photo of a forest of trees with orange, yellow, red. and green foliage

In grade school we all learned about seasons and what makes the leaves change colour and drop to the ground. However, who among us remembers in detail how it works. Today at The Aberrant Alcove we are reviewing what you probably once learned but have forgotten with time.

Okay so for those of us who replaced season science with calculus homework (and proceeded to never use that most maligned of mathematics); what is a deciduous tree exactly? There are two main types of trees: deciduous trees which are characterized by large flat leaves, typically top heavy growth, and drop their leaves in the fall - as opposed to conifers - who keep their tiny spiky leaves on them year-round and tend towards bottom heavy growth.

These deciduous trees are very gaudy and leafy in the summer time, but such delicate finery requires a lot of upkeep and energy; so in order to put on great displays most of the year, deciduous trees have to drop their leaves to protect themselves from damage from disease and intense cold temperatures. This is where the term leaf abscission comes in, or the technical term for leaves falling. During Autumn, when temperatures drop and sunlight becomes less frequent, these trees build walls between their branches and their leaves so that the tree can keep the energy and save the costs of keeping the leaves attached.

Wait! We remember that there was supposed to be this thing in grade school...chlorophyll? Isn't that green? How and why do trees change the colour of their leaves before dropping them, would not changing colours be more effort?

The answer might be surprising, but leaves are not actually just green. A leaf has multiple chemicals including chlorophyll, Carotene, Lycopene, xanthophyll, Flavone, and Flavonol. The chlorophyll requires a great deal of sunlight to keep producing food for the tree, so in the fall trees suck the chlorophyll from their leaves, and the remaining colours are pigments of the above-mentioned molecules. So yes, leaves are orange or yellow all year, we just can't see it due to the quantity of chlorophyll in the summer months.

What about red and purple? Well that gets a tad more complex. You see, some trees also have the ability to produce anthocyanins, which are molecules usually triggered by a slower Autumn season, allowing the tree to consume a little more energy due to the lower light required for these anthocyanins to make food. After this point though, trees will drop their red, orange, or yellow leaves, or they will simply turn brown due to being cut off completely from the parent tree.

The Fall of the leaves is not the only event during Autumn, there is a lot of harvesting happening throughout the month of September and sometimes into October, so naturally there are festivals around this time of year. As Thanksgiving is a United States holiday and has a murky past, we will educate ourselves on other, potentially lesser known holidays.

What Festivals Surround this Season?

sunlight bursts through brilliant orange foliage viewed from inside a forest

There are many legends and festivals that occur in Autumn around the world, celebrated during September and October or February, March and April depending on which hemisphere. For the sake of brevity we will focus on celebrations between September 1 and November 30.

Mabon - September 20-24

This festival in the pagan wheel of the year marks the Autumn Equinox and serves as the Mid-Harvest Festival. In the traditions of pagans and Wiccans this festival is the second harvest festival after Lughnasadh in August. It is a time of thanksgiving for the abundance of the crops while also an acknowledgement that winter is coming and the time of plenty is coming to a close.

Moon Festival - Lunar Calendar - Late September and/or Early October

This festival is primarily celebrated in China and is a celebration of the moon and all that the moon brings. It is the second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year. Large meals are had with family and friends, and worship of the moon is common.

The Gerewol Festival - Late September and/or Early October

This unique festival is a long-held tradition among the Wodaabe tribe in Africa; a semi-nomadic people travelling around Niger, Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic. They gather to celebrate the rains in southern Chad every year, and this festival is also a show of male beauty to attract a wife. The women hold the deciding power in this festival, and so the men spend hours looking in mirrors and applying traditional makeups emphasizing the whites of their eyes and teeth to attract the women and hopefully get matched. These marriage traditions are polygamous, meaning that they can have more than one husband or more than one wife. This Festival is one of the only festivals Wodaabe celebrate that brings them all together.

Diwali - Lunar Calendar - Late October and/or Early November

This Festival is celebrated by Jains, Sikhs, and Hindus. This festival celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, hence it's other name: The Festival of Lights. It is celebrated over multiple days and for multiple reasons depending on the beliefs of the people celebrating. Clay bowls or lamps filled with oil and lit with fire light up many cities where Diwali is celebrated. Fireworks are also common during this time, though there has been some concerns over pollution due to the amount of fireworks set off on Diwali in large cities.

The fire crackling and snapping is the only sound in the room as you all sit transfixed in the twilight. The lady in the purple dress had seemed to weave a trance over the entire group. You feel a newfound reverence for the autumn season. As people silently gather their satchels and return their teacups to the turntable - exchanging smiles with eachother but not a word - you stand as well and withdraw towards the exit. Not a single person besides yourself heads toward where you entered which is something you find odd; you are focused on what books you might be able to read to continue your fascination and appreciation with Autumn.

Many Happy Returns,

The Aberrant Alcove

-P.S. (Post Script)

Books in which Autumn/Fall is featured

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