By H H Mohrmen
The poet John Keats called it ‘the season of mellow fruitfulness’, but in the ancient world autumn is more than the season of harvest. Autumn is celebrated for various reasons. For the people in the ancient world autumn also symbolised the bond that connects abundance, warmth and light with oncoming part of the year which is dry, dreary and dark. It is this feature of the season, which makes people in the olden times, in different parts of the world to celebrate autumn passionately. And interestingly, the fundamental features of the festivals celebrated are similar no matter who or where on earth the festival is celebrated.
In the Western world the popular autumn festival is Halloween, which essentially means dressing in bizarre costumes and playing tricks. Halloween too has its own history. The Halloween culture of the west is believed to have its origin in the Celtic Culture of Samhain which is also related to autumn and harvest. Samhain or (Sah win) is the ancient Celtic festival of Halloween which is being celebrated on October 31. But this is not only about autumn and harvest, but it is also about honouring the dead.
In the agrarian calendar, the festival that marks the turning of the year and the end of the harvest is also considered as the beginning of the New Year. Samhain is the festival celebrating the endings and beginnings, the end of one season of crops and the death in nature which also ushers the beginning of the new cycle in the natural world. The falling leaves of autumn also symbolise the truth that death brings regeneration, because for millions of years dead leaves accumulate to make fertile soil which is the foundation of new life on earth. According to the pagans of Gaelic origin, Samhain therefore epitomises the fact that the veil between death and life is very thin.
For the Celts, Samhain, in another sense is also a unique festival because it is celebrated during the time of the year when the boundaries between the human and the spirit world are so close. It is believed that it is especially close so that inhabitants of the spirit world could easily come into our world. It is also believed that it is the time when the curtain between the worlds of life and death stands open.
It is the festival celebrating the end of harvest and the comeback of darkness and cold and in a way it is honouring death while that is happening right in front of the eye. When people remember those who have gone before them they also acknowledge the mystery of death, therefore it is the festival to celebrate death as part of life. It is a festival which reminds people that death does not sever the cords of relationship between the loved ones, and no matter how wide and the difficult the barrier is, love extends through all the worlds.
Samhain is regarded as New Year in Celtic wheel of the year which is being celebrates at the end of October but a similar kind of festival is also celebrated during the same time of the year in other parts of the world. On November 2, in the Mexican culture the day is celebrated throughout Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage as the day of the dead or ‘Dia de los Muertos or Diade Muertos’ and the festival symbolises the day that their loved ones awake from the dead and celebrate with them. The day of the dead also has some connection with the Christians’ All Souls’ Day and both the day of the dead and Sahwain has their origin in the traditional religion of the people in their respective areas.
The tradition which associates the celebration of the abundance of harvest and honouring the dead is also prevalent in the culture of the Jaintia people. In the Jaiñtia hills there is a similar tradition where harvest especially of rice is associated with honouring the dead – ‘Ka Siang kba thymme’ or giving offering when the new rice has arrived at home is also partly a prayer for the harvest and honouring the departed souls. It is the offering provided to the ancestors who have laboured hard during their lifetime to build the resources (booh khih booh khan) for the betterment of the future generations; it is a mark of respect given by the present generation to their ancestors for what they have inherited.
This offering to the ancestors post harvest is being practiced only by those who are still following the indigenous faith or Niamtre. Pnars who have followed other religions have abandoned this religious rite perhaps because it is considered to be like ancestor worship. But for the people who still follow Niamtre, it is a family thanksgiving for the bounty harvest and especially honouring the ancestors who have made the paddy fields on which the present can reap their harvest. It is an act of gratitude because their maternal uncles and aunts have worked so hard that the current generation is reaping the fruit of their labour. So every autumn after the family has collected all the harvest, they made an altar and provide an offering to their ancestors and to the mother earth (bei ramaw) for the bountiful harvest.
While in the Raid Jowai, harvest or autumn is celebrated at the family level, in the eleka Raliang the people of the raid still follow the tradition of organising an annual festival to celebrate the season. In the eleka Raliang this time of the year when the harvest is done the followers of Niamtre celebrate the change of season with a festival called ‘ka pastieh Kopati’ which is also a harvest festival. Kopati puja is a harvest and thanks-giving religious festival which is being celebrated by the tribals of this area after rice is harvested, but autumn is also the time when other crops and vegetables are harvested before the onset of winter.
It is a three day festival celebrated in the month of November which comprises of warrior dance at the sacred groves of the Raid (state comprising of several villages) Raliang and other places. After the warrior dance at the sacred forest, the goddess is then taken to the river Umiurem to be laid to rest and the festival is also called ‘Ka Pastieh Kopati’ because ‘Pastieh’ or warrior dance is one of the major parts of the festival.
The puja Kopati is the last religious rite of the year in the Elaka Raliang. It is people’s way of expressing gratitude to the gods for the bountiful harvest of the current year. It may be mentioned that people are forbidden from partaking new rice, fruits and vegetables before the rites are performed. It is only after the offerings have been first offered to the goddess, that the people of the raid can enjoy its blessings for the year.
But the most interesting part of this festival is what happens on the fourth day which is also the final day of the harvest festival. The tradition which is called “ka hiar rep Langdoh” is when the priest goes to till the land again after the yield is gathered; it is a symbolic act of starting the cycle of farming again after harvest is done for that year.
Autumn is therefore recognised by different traditions and of course by our own tradition as a special part of the year when the cycle of life, death and life overlaps. It is the time of the year when dying plants are giving way to new life and regeneration. The cycle of life therefore spins between life and death and it is the sacrifice that those before us have made that we are what we are today.