Autumn Folklore and Traditions
Autumn is a season layered with meaning. As the days shorten, our eyes are drawn to the hillsides glowing like fire when the setting sun strikes the turning leaves, a fleeting blaze before the quiet of winter. Across cultures, the turning of the season inspired rituals and beliefs that helped people make sense of the changes unfolding in the natural world. When we look closer, the folklore behind these customs shows how people sought both meaning and reassurance as the days grew colder and darker. Many of the traditions we continue to enjoy today grew from these old beliefs. Carving pumpkins, gathering for seasonal meals, playing games with apples, and admiring the colors of falling leaves all carry echoes of the past.
The simple act of leaves falling has long been read as a sign of change. In Celtic tradition, the shedding of leaves symbolized release, a letting go that allowed space for renewal. This theme still resonates today when we pause to watch leaves drift from the trees, signaling both endings and beginnings and inviting reflection on our own cycles of growth.
Sacred trees played a powerful role in these seasonal stories. The oak, long revered as a symbol of strength, was tied in Germanic folklore to Thor, the thunder god, and became a living emblem of protection. Trees were more than part of the landscape; they acted as guardians and anchors of spiritual and physical life, markers of the changing seasons that guided community rituals. Even the acorns, dropping with the turning of the year, were thought to hold meaning. People would collect them and toss them over their shoulders, believing the simple act could influence what was to come in the year ahead.
Pumpkins were not just for decoration or baked pies, and apples held a mystical place as well. In parts of Germany, people believed pumpkins could trap harmful spirits, especially witches looking to curse the harvest. Over time, this protective role evolved into the custom of carving pumpkins, creating glowing faces that turned a simple crop into a household guardian. In Celtic tradition, apple trees were sacred, often connected to the Otherworld. Later, Roman influence introduced games like bobbing for apples, tied to Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees. What seems like a lighthearted party game today once carried undertones of divination and fate.
Autumn’s connection to life and death was also reflected in cemeteries and burial traditions. Many European cultures believed the boundary between the living and the dead grew thin during this season. Cemeteries were often surrounded with iron fences, chosen for its strength and believed power to ward off restless spirits, marking the line between worlds. Visiting graves, or tending burial mounds, became ways to honor ancestors and acknowledge the cycle of life and death. Just as trees shed their leaves and fields lay bare, these rituals reminded communities to honor the cycle of life and the memory of those who came before.
Across Europe, entire communities gathered to celebrate the harvest. In Slavic regions, Dożynki marked the grain harvest in late September or early October. The last sheaf of grain was carefully preserved and woven into wreaths, and the spirit of the field (often imagined as a female presence) was honored as people feasted. In Germany, Erntedankfest became a Christian harvest festival with parades, church services, and offerings of crops, though its roots stretch back to older pagan rituals of gratitude and protection. Further north, the Norse honored spirits and ancestors through Álfablót, or “Elven Sacrifice.” After the harvest, families made private offerings of food and drink at burial mounds or sacred stones, seeking health and prosperity from the unseen beings who shared the land.
These traditions, though centuries old, still echo in the ways we celebrate autumn today. In every ritual, small or grand, there is a thread that ties us to the rhythms of the earth and to the generations who came before. As you celebrate the season, whether through carving a pumpkin or enjoying a harvest meal, we hope you take a moment to reflect on the stories behind these customs. Let the season remind you that life passes quickly but is full of meaning. By honoring these practices and understanding their roots, you carry forward the wisdom of the past and keep the old alive as it shapes the new.
Bring the spirit of autumn into your home this year by exploring our Harvest and Halloween Collections, inspired by the traditions and folklore that make the season so magical.