Wheel & Cross is proud to publish this monthly Almanac just before the start of each new month. It was created to observe and understand the cycle of seasons as they occur in my home region (the Australian Capital Region), through the lens of my European cultural ancestry and the deep wisdom found in publically available and openly shared knowledge and stories of the traditional custodians of Country across Australia, particularly the traditional custodians of this region I call home, the Ngunnawal.
I acknowledge that the Ngambri people also claim custodianship of these lands. Unfortunately, I do not have any knowledge about Ngambri cultural information regarding language, connection to Country or seasonal customs. This means I am not able to share anything relating to Ngambri culture but I am always keen to learn.
I pay my respects to all First Nations Elders, past and present and to all First Nations peoples from around Australia and the Torres Strait Islands who are the proud custodians of this Country we all love.
Contents
Seasonal Celebrations
Celebration Ideas
Weather and Climate
Star Lore and Celestial Events (moon phases, visible planets, meteors, solar movements and First Nations ‘star lore’)
Nature and Environment (native flora and fauna)
In Season (seasonal food and flowers)
Seasonal Celebrations
1st Day of Spring and National Wattle Day
The 1st of September marks the calendrical start of Spring in Australia and National Wattle Day. Read or listen to the latest Wheel & Cross podcast episode and article about The First Day of Spring and Wattle Day. The Ngunnawal season of ‘True Spring’ Djambari deepens and magpie swooping season has begun. The early blossoming Silver and Cootamundra Wattles (Acacia dealbata and Acacia baileyana) give way to the Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) and Knife-Leaf Wattle (Acacia cultriformis). Snakes emerge from their winter brumation (hibernation) to mate and Grass Trees send up flower spikes. Day and nighttime temperatures are much milder and colonial flora; spring flowers, pomme and stone fruit trees are blossoming throughout the region. Deciduous trees sprout new leaves.
Father’s Day
Father’s Day is celebrated on the first Sunday in September, which this year happens to be on the 1st. In Britain, France and North America, Father’s Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in June. In Scandinavian countries, it is celebrated on the second Sunday in November. In Germany it is celebrated on Ascension Day (40 days after Easter), in Catholic European countries like Italy, Spain and Portugal Father’s Day is celebrated on March 19 as St Joseph’s Day. Many countries in Africa and Asia also celebrate Father’s Day.
Spring (Vernal) Equinox
Spring Equinox falls on Sunday 22nd and its seasonal icons include lambs, chicks, ducklings, bunny rabbits, eggs, spring flowers and fresh herbs. In the northern hemisphere, the Spring Equinox occurs on March 20/21 and is celebrated in European countries with old traditions that were syncretised into Christian celebrations of Easter (which is falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the March/Spring Equinox) as well as more secular customs including egg decorating, egg and spoon races, egg hunts, and the ‘veneration’ of rabbits (Easter Bunny).
Spring Equinox is also celebrated in India and the Indian diaspora with the Hindu spring festival of Holi and in Iran and the Persian diaspora’s New Year celebration of Nowruz. In Eastern Europe’s Slavic and Baltic countries, Spring Equinox traditions involve the ritual drowning (or burning) of Morana, the winter queen. Neo-pagan and heathen groups celebrate Ostara, with customs that revive the older Germanic celebration of Oestre. Wheel & Cross will feature several podcast episodes and articles on these Spring Equinox traditions throughout September.
Celebration Ideas
Celebrate spring and the vernal equinox by decorating your home for the season with traditional Spring icons and spring flowers, decorate eggs, invite family and friends around for a garden party complete with high tea and lawn games or quietly mark the position of the sun as it rises and sets in your landscape.
In the northern hemisphere, the Autumn Equinox in September marks the start of Autumn and harvest festivals.
Weather and Climate
August is normally ravaged by strong and cold winds from the Antarctic leading into a milder but still climatically unsettled September with variable periods of warm and cold weather. This year, meteorological spring started earlier than usual with record-high temperatures across most of Australia for much of August. However, the opening days of spring bring a polar air mass from Antarctica bringing storms and hail to southern Australia and snow to Alpine regions. Temperatures are likely to drop up to 10 degrees in 24 hours and will help to flush the warm temperatures from inland and northern Australia but the clash of cold and hot air will increase fierce gales and the risk of storm damage. Warm weather will return by the end of the week but fluctuating weather patterns are expected as normal for the rest of the month.
Rainfall
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology forecasts that the Australian Capital Region and most of Eastern Australia is likely to have average rainfall within the seasonal range for Spring, while the west of Australia will have drier than average conditions. The average rainfall in the Australian Capital Region for September is 25 to 50mm.
Temperatures
Most of Australia is forecast to experience above-average maximum and minimum temperatures throughout Spring, especially in northern regions. There is a 65% chance that temperatures will exceed the median maximum temperature by 1 to 2 degrees, which is better than the much greater risk of higher-than-usual temperatures in the west and north of Australia. The median maximum temperature for the Australian Capital Region in September is 15-18 degrees while the median minimum is 0-3 degrees.
Global Sea-Surface Temperatures (SSTs) for winter have been the warmest to second warmest on record although the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipoles are both neutral and likely to remain that way until at least the end of Spring. Meteorologists are experiencing difficulties with forecasting weather as weather prediction models are increasingly inaccurate due to unforeseen consequences of a warming climate.
Frosts
Although daytime temperatures are expected to be warmer than normal this month, snap frosts are still a danger to frost-tender plants all the way up until October. Pay attention to weather forecasts and protect frost-sensitive plants. The traditional time to plant summer cropping/fruiting plants for this region is in November, after the Melbourne Cup (horse racing carnival).
Star Lore and Celestial Events
The Spring Equinox occurs on Sunday the 22nd of this month and is one of two times of the year when the night and day are equal lengths (the other one being the Autumn Equinox on March 20/21). The northern hemisphere will celebrate the Autumn Equinox this month. Many cultures celebrate the solar equinoxes and solstices with seasonal traditions and local customs. Some ancient cultures built monoliths, tombs and other structures to mark the passage of the sun through the year, and created early solar calendars. Many indigenous communities used and still use landscape features in the same way and this is something you can do too.
Choose a location that is easy to access and provides a good view of the eastern or western horizon, whether it’s in the city, in a backyard, paddock or park. Observe the rising or setting of the sun from the same location throughout the year, and mark the landscape features where the sun appears. It could be a prominent hill or dip, rock, tree or even building. Record the rising or setting sun's horizon point’ by taking a photo or drawing the horizon and noting the equinox and solstice points.
Lunar Phases
Tuesday, 3rd - New Moon
Wednesday, 11th - First Quarter Moon
Wednesday, 18th - FULL MOON (Egg Moon or Plough Moon)*
Wednesday, 25th- Last Quarter Moon
*The names of full moons are provided here according to their appropriate season (rather than the month they occur in the northern hemisphere) from names used in old English calendars.
Planets
VENUS - ‘The Evening Star’ and ‘The Morning Star’ is ascending in the night sky through September and can be seen in the western sky as the sun sets and in the eastern sky as the sun rises.
MERCURY - Mercury reaches its evening peak on the 6th so should be visible above the eastern horizon just before sunrise.
SATURN - On the 8th, Saturn is in Opposition to the sun. This means that Saturn will be opposing (on the other side of the sun) and illuminated by the sun. Look for Saturn in the Aquarius constellation. Saturn’s rings can be seen using a telescope.
METEORS - Peak of the 3-Perseid Meteor Shower occurs on the 9th.
Constellations
Milky Way - The Milky Way is a long band of stars that can be seen in night skies all over the world. The dark space, areas without stars, in the Milky Way are important to many indigenous cultures. Some cultures, including many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) cultures, believe that stars are the campfires of the ancestors and that the dark space in the Milky Way is a river, with many ancestral campfires shining on the ‘star river’s’ banks.
Dark Emu - Other Australian First Nations peoples believe that the dark spaces of the Milky Way represent the emu, an important creator spirit, whose position in the sky indicates phases in the emu’s life and in the human activities connected to it. Male emus are responsible for incubating eggs and rearing their broods. In August and September, Dark Emu or Sky Emu lies perpendicular to the southeastern horizon. This is the time when emu chicks are hatching and Dark Emu is standing up from his nest after incubating his eggs over winter. This time is marked by initiation (Bora) ceremonies on sacred sites that contain circular Bora rings or other man-made features, which are often reflected in the major dark patches that form Dark Emu.
Nature and the Environment
Most of the information provided about seasonal flora and fauna is relevant to the cool climate region in Australia’s south, particularly the Australian Capital Region, and was originally shared with me by Ngunawal Elder and traditional custodian, Tyronne Bell from Thunderstone Aboriginal Cultural Services.
Flora
Wattles (Acacia spp) - The landscape is awash with bright yellow wattle blossoms in gardens, along roadsides and in the Australian bush. The first wave of blossoms from the Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata) and Cootamundra Wattle (Acacia baileyana), give way to blossoms from the Knife-Leaf Wattle (Acacia cultriformis) and Golden Wattles (Acacia pycnantha) amongst many others. Wattles are a quintessentially Australian icon and September 1 marks the start of spring in Australia as well as National Wattle Day. Wattle blossoms were also an important symbol for Australian troops in WWI and WWII and part of Australia’s sporting tradition. You can learn more in last week’s Wheel & Cross podcast episode and accompanying article, Episode 15 - The First Day of Spring and Wattle Day.
Wattle blossoms are mistakenly blamed for pollen allergies and hay fever but wattle pollen is too large to cause these issues. Grass flowers dispersing their pollen at the same time as the wattles blossom are the biggest culprits for seasonal hay fever.
There is a superstition that bringing wattle blossom indoors will cause bad luck. Although I don’t know the origins of this superstition, I’ve had it confirmed by some First Nations knowledge bearers. It might be safer, and just as lovely, to display sprays of wattle blossom outside, similar to the May Tree (hawthorn blossom sprays) tradition from Western Europe.
Grass Trees (Xanthorrhoea spp) - Grass Trees, especially Xanthorrhoea australis are flowering across the Australian landscape and in gardens. They are extremely slow-growing but hardy plants, fire-tolerant and one of the first plants to regenerate after bush fire. In ‘true spring’, about September each year, Grass Trees send up long flower spikes that are full of nectar and are an important source of food for birds, small mammals and insects.
Xanthorrhoea were a staple food for First Nations people across Australia. The white tender sections of the leaf bases and the succulent roots are edible and are eaten regularly. The seeds were collected and ground into flour to make dough for damper (unleavended bread cooked in ash). Edible grubs were dug out of the base of Xanthorrhoea trunks. Flower spikes often contained Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa spp.) nests that provided small pockets of sweet honey while the nectar from the flower spikes produced a thick and sweet drink that was extracted by soaking the spikes in water-filled bark troughs. This drink could be fermented over three to five days and produced a citric-flavoured alcoholic brew.
The flower spikes were also fashioned into tools such as fishing spear shafts and firesticks. The resin produced by Xanthorrhoea leaves was malleable with heat and set into a hard, waterproof resin when cold. It was mixed with charcoal, beeswax or fine sand and dust to form glue, which was used to cement stone heads and tips to wooden handles and spear shafts. The resin was also used to waterproof water-carrying vessels and bark canoes. Before plastics and acrylics were invented in the mid-twentieth century, colonists learned about Xanthorrhoea resin from First Nations communities and used it for manufacturing low-cost varnishes for furniture and floors, and in formulations for stove polish, coating for metal tins used in canning, and on brass instruments. The resin also produces a pleasant scent when burned and early colonists used to it in their churches for incense.
Native Blossoms - Other native plants from this region flowering in September include the Waratahs, particularly the brilliant red bloom of Telopea speciosissima (NSW State Emblem), Tea Trees (Leptospermum spp.), Boronias (Boronia spp.), and Flannel Flowers (Actinotus helianthi). Yellow Buttons (Chrysocephalum apiculata) start blooming right through until Autumn and Grevillea (Grevillea spp.) flowers start to ebb after their winter and early spring blossoming.
Fauna
Birds - September is nesting season in Australia, most species of birds are laying eggs, hatching and rearing chicks. Invasive Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and Indian/Common Myna Bird (Acridotheres tristis) numbers are building in this region. They are aggressive birds, frequently attacking the nests, destroying eggs and killing the hatchlings of native birds. These pest birds can quickly swell in number and decimate local native bird populations. If you live in the Australian Capital Region and notice these birds are becoming an issue in your area, contact the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group (CMAG) for information and advice.
Magpies - Speaking of birds, the annual and widely feared 'swooping season' is about to start in earnest. It's traditional to bedeck bike helmets with googly eyes, cable ties and/or tree branches, carry umbrellas for self-defence and common (but still funny, for the most part) to witness much arm-flapping and colourful language, screaming and sometimes crying as people try to fend off tactical airborne assaults from angry magpies. This week’s podcast episode and article on Wheel & Cross is all about the indomitable magpie and swooping season.
Snakes - Snakes emerge from their winter brumation (hibernation) to mate, and engage in ritual combat. Eastern Brown Snakes (Pseudonaja textilis) are commonly seen in the grasslands, road verges and gardens around the region while Tiger Snakes (Notechis scutatus) prefer the areas around ponds, watercourses and dams. Both snakes are found in urban as well as rural areas. They can grow up to two metres, are highly venomous, extremely defensive and aggressive when threatened. Pet dogs are frequently bitten and some die from snake bites every year although human deaths are uncommon. If you see a snake in the wild, do not approach it, allow it to go on its way. Keep out of long grass and keep pets away from long grass. If you see a snake on your property or inside your house, do not approach or try to catch it. Keep pets and children away but watch it from a distance to observe its location. Call your local snake catcher and follow their directions. Keep snake-bite first aid kits handy from September to April.
Bogong Moths (Agrotis infusa) - Bogong moth numbers start building in NSW and Victoria as they make their way down to the Australian Alps to aestivate (hibernate over summer). After breeding through autumn and winter in Queensland’s Darling Downs and the dry inland regions of NSW and Victoria, Bogong moth caterpillars called cutworms, hatch from eggs in late winter to feast on plant stems and leaves. They pupate and emerge from their cocoons as adult moths in early spring and immediately begin to migrate south to reach the Australian Alps in NSW/VIC by around November. As they migrate, the moths feed on nectar, building up their fat reserves for their summer dormancy.
Interestingly, the moths travel at night using the Milky Way to navigate when the skies are clear and electromagnetic navigation when the stars are not visible. Many First Nations groups along Bogong moth ‘songlines’ (migration and dreaming routes) also travel for many kilometres to reach Australia’s Alpine regions where they feast on the fat and protein-rich moths and conduct ceremonies, trade and negotiations. Light pollution, pesticide use and climate change are devastating the Bogong moth population and the wildlife that rely on them as a food source including the Mountain Pigmy Possum (Burramys parvus). Visit the Australian Dark Sky Alliance for information and advice on reducing light pollution.
In Season
This year’s mild weather and record heat across Australia has led the spring bulbs and flowers to blossom much earlier than normal. Canberra’s Floriade Festival has issued a statement saying that their flower displays began blossoming a month early and they are working hard to offset the warm weather with water misting and shade cloths.
Deciduous trees begin leafing at the start of September.
Experts from the Canberra Pollen Monitoring Centre also warn that we could be in for an above-average grass pollen season. The grass pollen season usually starts at the end of September or early October but due to this year’s unseasonably warm weather, grass pollen dispersal has already begun.
Flowers - Daffodils, jonquils, snowflakes, tulips, primulas, wallflowers, pomme and stone fruit tree blossoms (e.g. cherry, nectarine, and plums followed by apples and pears).
Herbs - Nettles, parsley, sage, rosemary, chives, coriander, chervil, savoury, bay
Leafy Greens - Swiss chard, kale, winter lettuce, leeks, spring onion, last of the brussel sprouts, last of the winter cabbages, start of the spring cabbages
Vegetables - Onions, radishes
Fruit - Last month for cooking apples, eating apples and pears are over