“October blasts nature’s squall, that invigorates the flamboyant Autumn fall.
Rich colour palettes paint the leaves, to the skies embark twisting sycamore winged seeds.”
– Anita Pounder
October is a month of transition, as the days get shorter and colder, and the Autumn season becomes a kaleidoscope of colour. There are still softer remnants of greens such as a soft Moss Green, but the season is dominated by more rich, fiery colours such as Vermillion and Orange, reflected in the changing leaves and ripening fruits. Nights are getting longer; the weather intensifies as dramatic skies accompany higher winds and the temperatures get colder. The full moon in October is known as the Hunters Moon, which is symbolic of a time to fill up food stores with meat and crops.
The word October derives from the early Latin and Greek “ôctō”, meaning eight, as it was originally the eighth month in the early Roman calendar. This changed in 154 BCE when it became the tenth month in the new Julian Calendar, but it retained is name. Other ancient names for this month include the Anglo-Saxon “Winterfylleth”, after the words for Winter and full moon.
The kaleidoscope of October’s colour palette is reflected in both birth stones for the month, the tourmaline and the opal. Tourmaline, from the Sinhalese words ‘tura mali’, meaning “stone of mixed colours”, is made from boron silicate, with 32 other minerals in various combinations and concentrations, accounting for large range of colour variations in the stone. The opal, symbolising faithfulness and confidence, originates from the Greek word “opallios”, which means “to see a change in colour.”
For me, Autumn is a time to refresh. If it is not raining, long walks in the crisp air can be planned and you can kick up the Autumn leaves and pick up conkers. As a child I would pick up fallen apples and pears off the ground from the trees we had in the garden. I fondly remember the ripe apples with a vermillion blush which were crisp and sweet, and rich green conference pears with their textured skin. I remember collecting crab apples from the trees at my primary school to make into jams. Any fallen apples or pears left on the ground help to nourish an entire ecosystem, from insects to passing birds and animals who will feed on the fallen fruit. October marks the official start of the British apple season, and since the 1990s, 21st October has been celebrated as Apple Day, with events held around the UK.
Apples and Pears in Coloured Pencil by Anita Pounder
On my journey to work, displayed along a tall brick wall, is a magnificent spreading variety of Virginia creeper, an inspiration for a previous painting, with a plentiful supply of small berries and leaves that take on an autumnal vermilion tinge. Pops of Orange can be seen throughout the season in both the bright cheerful Marigold flowers (Calendula) and Cosmos, both birth flowers for October and both flowering into the Autumn months, offering a food source for insects. Also, Sea Buckthorn with its bright orange fruit, forms heavy clusters on its thorny branches in salty coastal areas.
Marigold in Watercolour by Anita Pounder
Nature and wildlife are ever-changing and adapting to the seasons, as Winter migrant birds like fieldfares and redwings arrive, and swans and geese flock to the wetlands. The deer rut begins and in the grounds of a local Country House (which we regularly visit) the sound of bellowing stags can be heard as they compete for the hinds in its vast grounds.
The colour is also reflected in a common variety of winter squash, the bright orange pumpkins, often used at the end of the month during Halloween, combining Pagan and religious rituals, or the Celtic festival known as Samhain. Samhain, from which many of these traditions are thought to originate, was used to mark the start of Winter and celebrate the harvest. The end of the month of October marked the end of Summer and the start of the New Year. It was also believed to be when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead were blurred, allowing for ghosts of the dead to return to earth. Pumpkins have been cultivated for millennia, providing Winter food from both the internal pulp and its seeds, and is now commonly used as a traditional dish in the form of a pie at Thanksgiving celebrations, in the USA and Canada.
Pumpkins in Pen and Ink by Anita Pounder
Readily available and growing on every continent except the Antarctic, they have become popular for using as decorations and carving during the celebration of Halloween. Initially beets or turnips were traditionally carved and a candle lit inside the hollowed-out vegetables in order to ward off evil spirits. It is thought that Irish immigrants brought their customs to America but eventually found that pumpkin fruits were much easier to carve.
October is a time to reflect on the colours and sounds of the Summer past, and look towards the colder months, where everything slows down and finds ways to see out the cold dark winter months.