harvest customs

Rituals celebrating the gathering-in of crops. Harvests are celebrated in most agricultural societies throughout the world. A portion of the harvest is often kept aside for ritual consumption, when it is usually offered to the spirits who have guaranteed the fertility of the soil. In some societies it is eaten after the offering has been made, in others it is left to rot at the foot of spirit shrines.

The Jews celebrated the feast of Shavuot as their harvest festival, the Romans held feasts in honour of Ceres, and the Druids had their feast on 1 November.