Every autumn, on September 29 (today!), Latvia celebrates Miķeļi — an old harvest festival marking the transition from summer into the darker part of the year.
Sometimes I think of it as our version of Thanksgiving.
Not because the two holidays are actually the same. They aren’t. But there is something familiar about the idea behind both: the harvest is gathered, the table is full, and we pause to appreciate what we have.
Thanksgiving in the United States is strongly associated with family, a big meal and giving thanks. Miķeļi has a similar connection to food, family and the harvest, but its roots go much deeper into Latvia’s traditional agricultural calendar and folk beliefs.
Traditionally, Miķeļi was the time when most of the important harvest work was coming to an end. Grain had been gathered, vegetables stored, apples picked, and preparations for winter were underway.
And you can feel that change in the landscape.
The days are getting noticeably shorter. The mornings are colder. The garden is slowly emptying. There are fewer flowers, fewer insects, and that particular feeling that summer has really gone.
The food associated with Miķeļi also reflects the season — bread, grains, potatoes, vegetables, apples and whatever else the harvest has provided.
There are folk traditions too: songs, dances, fortune-telling, seasonal rituals and beliefs about the changing year. Miķeļi wasn’t simply a nice autumn dinner. It was part of a much larger understanding of the year and its cycles.
That is probably the biggest difference between Miķeļi and Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a holiday centred around giving thanks.
Miķeļi is more about the turning of the year, the harvest and the relationship between people, land and the seasons.
Still, I like making the comparison.
Except instead of a turkey in November, imagine a September table covered with potatoes, apples, bread, vegetables and everything you’ve managed to grow or gather.
And outside, autumn is already arriving.
Happy Miķeļi 🙂
Ilze
P.S. We have to be at school tonight for Parents’ Evening, so we won’t be celebrating it quite the way I had imagined…
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Ilze – a somewhat belated ‘happy Mikeli’ indeed . . . we do it exactly the same way in Estonia . . . my computer refuses to allow Estonian vowels, but it is called ‘Loikusepuha’ or ‘Harvest Festival’ . . . it is a movable feast day, this year 11 October . . . am just wondering how the Bigger Powers did not allow the two neighbouring countries to say thanks for nature’s bounty on the same day ?!
Not sure 🙂 I think all started with christians coming to our countries 🙂 Lutherans are the ones who celebrate in Latvia in first sunday of October… Those with Latvian roots celebrate it in 29.th of september 🙂
Sounds storybook beautiful 🌾🌻🍂
Thank you!
I still gotta get you that pizza dough recipe! I haven’t forgotten, well I did forget on the weekend actually lol, but remembered again after.
🙂 I forget to remind you. I had few from online recipes, none was good. Someone suggested I need to search Italian language while in Italy to get the good one 🙂
The true meaning of harvest festival, I think. Lovely description.
Thank you! There is a bit of a problem with keeping Latvian traditions alive. As my kids say, “All Latvian traditions are lame!” 😂 And what do you expect? We were occupied for so long, and at heart, we are farmers and gatherers living with a pretty terrible climate! We simply don’t have festivals as colorful and exuberant as Brazil does. 🙂 And on top of that, they changed the calendars and force christianity… We lost all the traditions to those bullies.
Enjoy your tradition regardless of the school venue. 😊
Thank you, John! I did enjoyed it!
This is such an interesting (and colourful) post!
Thank you, Anne!
Priecigu Mikela Dienu! Manas pameitas delinam vards ir Mikelis.
Forši, ka vecāki dod bērniem “vecos” vārdus 🙂
It’s good to appreciate the bounties of nature.
Yes, it is… somewhat lost over the years, but still “showing up” every year and reminding us of Nature, the changing seasons, and the true grower. 🙂
This sure looks nibbled! But wait—doesn’t that mean this mushroom must be delicious? 🙂
Miķeļ sounds similar to the Thanksgiving celebrated in Canada (which is this weekend). Cheers.
Cheers to you as well!