Pagan gods and Thanksgiving
Once upon a time there was a rich farmer. To his wife said on a beautiful autumn day: “Man, we have had a good harvest. Basement and barn, pantry and kitchen are full and we are well supplied for the winter. Let’s celebrate Thanksgiving! “- that’s just the beginning of one of the fairy tales that point to the origin of Thanksgiving. All legends and fairy tales revolve around the first and the last harvest of the year. It is also about the gratitude of the farmer that the gracious nature has given him so rich. Yes exactly. The nature and the associated nature spirits. This beautiful feast seems to be much older than Christianity, and although it is celebrated almost exclusively by Catholic communities today, its roots are far from the Catholic Church.
At the end of the summer and the beginning of autumn, we traditionally celebrate Thanksgiving
People have always expressed their gratitude to nature through symbolic offerings
In honor of the nature spirits and the gods of the harvest and the bread, the farmers celebrated the last harvest
Pagan gods, natural events and the peasant
Our peasant ancestors were closely tied to the natural process and directed their celebrations after the natural events. The festivals of the harvest started in the middle of summer and ended with the beginning of autumn. Because for the farmer, the harvest is the culmination of his hard work and such an event must be festively celebrated. Today the date of the feast is given by the church and always falls on the first Sunday of the golden October.
The bread is made from flour, which are actually ground wheat grains
The bread or grain from which the bread is made is a sacred symbol of the flourishing life
The wheel, which is still put into the churches together with the harvest today, is a sun symbol
The farmer also honors all cereals
Myths and legends
Presumably, the last harvest of the ancient Teutons had something to do with the equinox when the astronomical autumn begins. As in the church today people pray to God, in the past the Germanic peasants, dancing and singing, showed their gratitude to the creative power of the sun and to the deity of the harvest and the bread Wotan. In the field, straw figures were built, sunflowers, pumpkins and beets sacrificed and as a sign of gratitude, the farmers left the last fruits on the tree or lying in the field. Those should get the wild hunters, Wotan and other pagan gods. In addition, people used to believe that Ms. Holle disguised herself as a poor woman and tested the kindness and cordiality of people. Those who are too stingy will be punished. Wooden frames were built in the vineyards as a gift for the vineyard spirits.
Less and less often, far away from the motorway, we can still see traditional decoration
Beets, pumpkins, nuts and apples are placed on bales of straw as an expression of gratitude
Also for the vineyards there are competent spirits and gods
Kirtage or festivals always accompanied the harvest until the church forbade it. These were folk festivals where the whole village gathered to party. There were games organized, similar to the knight games, where the men could prove their skill. The women baked bread and plum cake. It was drunk beer and wine. The winner has received a rooster or a goat as a prize.
Before Christianity, the ancient Teutons honored Wotan, the god of the harvest, the bread and the fallen warriors
Frau Holle or Muhme Mählen disguised herself and tested the generosity of the farmer, people believed then
On the first Sunday in October, the German Catholic communities celebrate Thanksgiving
Today we express our gratitude to the altar in the church. But even there, people traditionally put fruit, vegetables, grains, hops, flowers, roots and everything else they could harvest into old wooden wheels. Hereby we also observe the pagan origin. The wheel is perhaps the oldest symbol of the sun, creation and eternal life.
If you visit some small villages and communities at the beginning of autumn, you can see similar festivals that have almost, but not completely disappeared.
Apples, pears, hops, pumpkins, potatoes and candles are brought to church for worship
The more the farmer reaps, the greater his gratitude and recognition should be
Gratitude is a virtue that we must not forget
