♏ Scorpio-Season Appalachian Almanac

(Late October → Mid-November — thinning-veil time, frost moons, dying-back season)

🌒 Weather & Signs

• “When the frost is white three mornings in a row, it’ll snow before the month is out.”

• Smoke that hugs the ground foretells damp, foggy weather; smoke rising straight = clear cold days.

• Crows gathering in large numbers mark the turning toward ancestor season — “the crow council” of Samhain.

🌾 Farm & Garden

• Finish harvest of roots and hardy greens before the first deep frost.

• Dig sassafras, burdock, and dandelion roots now — they’re most potent after the plant dies back.

• Turn compost piles or start new ones — Pluto’s art of decay becoming fertility.

• Save the last pumpkin seeds to dry by the hearth for next year’s planting.

• Mulch garlic beds and bless the soil before it sleeps.

🕯️ Home & Hearth Customs

• Clean out the chimney or stove flue before the “burnin’ season” truly begins.

• Render lard, smoke hams, and make cracklin’ cornbread — the kitchen’s underworld work.

• Hang herbs from the rafters: sage, rosemary, thyme — cleansing for winter colds and spirits alike.

• Simmer “witches’ broth” (bones, onions, garlic, bay, vinegar) to strengthen the body and ward off sickness.

• Keep a jar of apple cider vinegar with honey and pepper flakes — folk fire tonic for immunity and vitality.

🍎 Seasonal Foods & Drinks

• Apple butter, dried-apple stack cakes, chow-chow, sauerkraut

• Beans and greens with cornbread

• Pumpkin soup, sweet-potato pie, molasses cookies

• Hard cider, hot toddy, or spiced wine on cold nights

• “Funeral foods” shared in remembrance: casseroles, pies, pound cake

💀 Spirit & Superstition

• “Don’t sweep after dark” — you might sweep out visiting spirits.

• Leave a light in the window on All Hallows’ for lost souls to find their way.

• Share food with the first visitor after sunset — good fortune for both.

• If you hear an owl call three times, an ancestor is near.

• Never waste bread or salt — both sacred to the dead.

🌕 Moon Lore

• Hunter’s Moon / Blood Moon (October) — time of taking stock and giving thanks for sustenance.

• Frost Moon (November) — bless the hearth, honor the ancestors, rest the body.

• Best moon phase for: canning, curing meats, and setting intentions for release.

🪶 Animal Omens

🕸️ Spiders

“Spiders spinning low mean rain or frost is near.”

(When humidity rises before a storm, webs drop closer to the ground.)

“A spider in your house brings news or a guest.”

Killing it was bad luck; carrying it out gently preserved the blessing.

“When a spider spins a web before noon, fine weather will follow soon.”

Autumn web-weaving was read as nature’s lace shroud — a reminder of endings and patience.

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🦂 Stingers

True scorpions are rare in most of Appalachia, but folk speech used “scorpion” or “stingin’ bug” for small brown centipedes and whip-scorpions.

“A scorpion in the cellar warns of rot or damp wood.”

(Time to air the root cellar.)

“If a stinger shows indoors before the first freeze, the frost will come thrice over.”

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🐍 Snakes

“Snakes out after the first frost mean a warm spell’s not done.”

“If you see a black snake cross your path in fall, winter’ll be mild.”

“Kill a snake and hang it on a fence, it’ll call the rain.” (Weather-work saying, not a practice to repeat.)

“A snake in the doorway means someone’s spirit has come home.”

When snakes gather or coil together, it foretells a long, cold winter — they know when to seek the deep earth.