Mothers, beautiful ones,
valleys of my homeland,
greetings! greetings!
Let us come home to you,
mothers, beautiful ones,
take care of us out there.
Protect us, mothers,
beautiful ones, and
protect our deer as well.
~Saami (Laplander) Song
Herding cultures would, at this time of year, be gathering their cattle from summer pastures and moving them down to the winter settlement. The herds would be culled, with some animals killed for meat and others kept for breeding stock. It was a time of homecoming for those who had spent the summer in pastures often distant from the main part of the family's settlement.
Even today, disconnected as we are from these cycles, there is a sense of settling-in during the fall season. Children, and often adults, return to school; new projects are begun; there is a sense of freshness and new possibility that is at odds with the death that surrounds us. The withdrawal into winter need not be experienced as loss, for there is much to be gained as we gather together near the hearth in the dark, cold times.
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