Oct 18 English Great Horn Fair – Festival of Herne.

* Oct 24 Raphaelmas, Feast of Archangel Raphael, whose name means, “The High One Heals.”  Since 1970, the Catholic Church no longer recognizes this day for Raphael, ending more than a thousand years of tradition by opting to lump him in with Gabriel and Michael for a Feast of the Holy Archangels Day on Sept 29. Most people know Raphael is the angel of healing, but he is also the angel of marriage. So if you are planning a wedding, this might be a good day to choose!

Oct 24 – Druid Feast for Spirits of Air

Oct 28 Feast of Baba and Dedo – Slavic protectors of families and elders.

Oct 28 – Nov 3 Isia – Egyptian festival recalling Set (God of Destruction) killing God Osiris; Goddess Isis mourning Him, resurrecting Him, and conceiving God Horus with Him; and Osiris becoming Lord of Amenta, land of the dead. He weighs souls against the Feather of Truth on Goddess Maat’s Scale of Justice, but defers to Isis for those who fail the test.

Oct 31 Samhain / Hallowmas / Halloween – Celtic New Year and feast of Cerridwen (Goddess of Death) and Beli (the Holly King, God of the Waning Sun).

Oct 31 – Nov 2 Descent of Inanna – Sumerian fast recalling the descent of Inanna (Goddess of Life) to the Underworld. Ereshkigal (Goddess of Death and Rebirth) detained Her until She agreed to have Dumuzi (God of Life and Death) remain there each Winter.

Fast of Hod – Norse fast marking Hod (blind God of Darkness) unintentionally killing Balder (God of Light), and devoted Nanna (Goddess of Flowers) dying of a broken heart.

October’s Variable (Movable) Holidays:
* Yom Kippur / Day of Atonement – End of the 10 Days of Awe, when the Gates of Heaven go closed again.  A day of fasting and repenting for any mistakes made during the year.  Yom Kippur is the last of the Ten Days of Awe in Hebrew lore. The first of the Ten Days of Awe is Rosh Hoshanah, the Jewish New Year, when the gates of heaven are said to be flung open allowing blessings rain upon us for Ten Days when it goes shut again. “May your name be written in the book of life,” is the greeting Jews use during the Ten Days of Awe because on Yom Kippur, the solemn day of atonement, the gates and the book go shut again.

* Hindu Festival of Lights, Diwali.  India’s Lunar New Year.  Celebrated for 3 days up to and including the New Moon. Goddess Lakshmi and her husband God Vishnu are invoked for prosperity