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This late November holiday evokes images of turkeys, maize or Indian corn, pumpkins, wheat stalk decorations and cornucopias. Why do they represent this holiday?
Many holiday customs and legends are based on those of the Pagans. Christmas: trees, Yule logs, holly, ivy, presents…. Easter: eggs, rabbits, flowers…. Hallowe’en: trick or treat, Jack-o-lanterns, witches, ghosts…. And each celebration has its own traditional food. Pagan Influence on Thanksgiving MenuSome might think it’s stretching the imagination to also tie in Thanksgiving with Pagan customs, but both Christian and Pagan religions give thanks, respectively, to God and their deities for the harvest. The Pilgrim’s holiday is at the end of the gathering season. Christians celebrated Lammas, the first harvest, by going to church in August, leaving loaves of bread on altars and giving thanks. Michaelmas, honoring the archangel St. Michael, was held on September 29th. Festivals of gratitude were held near or on the Sunday of the Harvest Moon, the full moon closest to the date of the autumnal equinox, usually occurring in September, sometimes in early October. Native Americans had celebrations of reaping bountiful crops. As Pagan Europeans immigrated, they brought their customs of harvest festivals: Lughnasadh, Mabon and Samhain. Both Pagan traditions, featuring special foods, later influenced celebrations of the American Thanksgiving. Meats of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving's Vegetables, Fruit and Grains
Thanksgiving Cornucopia's SymbolismThe horn of plenty was a Native American basket shaped in the form of an upside-down tornado, filled with vegetables. It signified harvest’s abundance when shared and thanks given to the deities. Indians brought these to the Pilgrims to alleviate their fear of scarcity. While the European cornucopia, depicted as a goat’s horn, used in Pagan harvest celebrations has roots in Greek mythology, it is highly unlikely this vessel influenced Thanksgiving traditions. Related articles: Mabon, Fall Equinox-Second Harvest Sources: Animal-Speak, Ted Andrews, (Llewellyn Publications, 2002) The Dictionary of Native American Mythology, Sam D. Gill & Irene F. Sullivan, (Oxford University Press, 1992) The Druid Animal Oracle, Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm (A Fireside Book, 1994 The Food Book, James Trager, (Grossman Publishing, 1970) Sacred Path Cards, Jamie Sams, (HarperSanFrancisco, 1990) Spell Crafts, Scott Cunningham & David Harrington, (Llewellyn Publications, 1994)
The copyright of the article Pagan Symbolism of Thanksgiving in Paganism/Wicca is owned by Jill Stefko . Permission to republish Pagan Symbolism of Thanksgiving in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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