OCTOBER 23
On this date, the Sun enters the Sign of Scorpio. It is also the time, since 1798, that swallows have flown South from nests near the former site of California's San Juan Capistrano mission, destroyed by an earthquake in 1812. Local tradition states that the birds come and go with remarkable regularity, leaving on this date...Saint John's Day...and returning on March 19...Saint Joseph's Day. In recent times, Capistrano has grown too crowded for the birds, who have moved on to a hospital some six miles away.

OCTOBER 24
Around this date...specifically the third Sunday in October...the German people celebrate Kirmes, a holiday that evolved from the Renaissance Kermesse Festival that took place every October 7. Chiefly a church occasion, Kirmes was once a turning point in the agricultural year. With completion of the full harvest and seeds sown for the Winter crops, the farmers were, for a short period of time, purely at the mercy of Mother Nature. They could do nothing more to prepare for the future, except place their faith in a higher power. At Kirmes, the farmers gave thanks for the old year's bounty, while praying for good fortune in the new.

OCTOBER 25
In the Third Century, Christian brothers named Crispin and Crispinian traveled to from Rome to the French town of Soissons in order to work as cobblers and to preach the gospel. According to legend, Angels helped the brothers to make shoes for the poor by delivering leather to their shop each night. Arrested and sentenced to death for their beliefs, the pious brothers survived four execution attempts before consenting to be beheaded. The Roman Catholic Church later canonized the brother martyrs as the Patron Saints of Shoemakers and set aside October 25 as their Feast Day.

OCTOBER 26
According to the calculations of James Ussher, a Seventeenth Century Anglican archbishop, chronological references throughout the Bible imply that God created the Earth on October 26, 4004 B.C.

OCTOBER 27
By tradition, unmarried men and women in Cornwall, England, purchase brightly polished apples known as "Allen Apples" on this day and sleep with them under their pillows. Before dawn, each must wake and eat the fruit soundlessly, then go outside and sit under a treee. It is said that the first person to pass by will be the future spouse of the apple-eater.

OCTOBER 28
This day is the Feast Day of both Saint Simon and Saint Jude...two of Christ's apostles, who have been incorrectly identified with villans bearing similar names. Many people often linked Simon with Simeon...known in Italy as a goblin...and Jude with the traitor Judas Iscariot. The proximity of this Feast Day to All Souls' Day has also contributed to the mislaid diabolical associations. Annual rains that fell on this date are thought to have altered history by interfering with well-laid plans.

OCTOBER 29
On October 29, 1929, the devastating stock market crash ushered in the Great Depression...and fulfilled a prophecy by American seer, Edgar Cayce. In March of that year, a stockbroker had asked Cayce to interpret a dream in which a bull followed a woman in a red dress. Cayce told the stockbroker that the red dress symbolized danger for the rising...or "bullish"...market and predicted a "great disturbance in financial circles."

OCTOBER 30
Many years before UFO sightings of the post-World War II era, a radio play based upon H.G. Wells' novel, "War of the Worlds," and produced by Orson Welles, created panic on this date in 1938. Convinced that Martians had invaded New Jersey, fleeing listeners had to be coaxed into returning home.

OCTOBER 31
It was on this night that the Ancient Celts across Northern Europe and the British Isles once celebrated Samhain...or Summer's End. After bringing in their cattle from pasture to spend the Winter under shelter, the Celtic people held a great fire festival to mark the beginning of Winter and to remember the dead. On the night of October 31, which was also the Celts' New Years Eve, they believed that the spirits of dead loved ones might return to warm themselves by the hearth. In anticipation of such, families would leave their doors unlocked, setting out food and drink for their otherworldly guests. However, witches, hobgoblins and other malevolent beings were also expected to be at large and people danced around bonfires kindled to keep evil spirits at bay...and to encourage the dimming Sun not to expire entirely. But if Samhain was a night of spiritual apprehension, it also offered glimpses into the future. Myriad methods of divination, purporting to reveal who would marry, who would prosper and who would die in the coming year, were considered effective only on this fateful evening. In the Ninth Century, the Church christianized the old Celtic New Year's Day (November 1) by proclaiming it to be All Hallows' Day or All Saints' Day. Thus, the previous day (October 31) became known as All Hallows' Eve or Halloween.

It was also on this date in 1926 that stage magician, Harry Houdini, died of peritonitis. Although the legendary escape artist and conjurer was a skeptic who had exposed several fraudulent mediums, he had promised his wife, Bess, that if his spirit survived death, then he would try to send her a message in their secret code. Bess attended seances for many years on October 31 in the hope of receiving the message...which never came. In 1936, after one last unsuccessful seance on the roof of the Knickerbocker Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Bess extinguished the candle that she had kept burning beside a photgraph of her husband since his death, later saying that "ten years is long enough to wait for any man." Still, the tradition of holding a seance for Houdini on the night of October 31 continues to this day.

NOVEMBER 1
In 835 A.D., the Catholic Church proclaimed this date to be All Saints' Day...a time to commemorate the holy men and women who had passed on to their heavenly rewards. However, as centuries went by, the day never completely shed its identification with the Pagan Festivals that had preceded it. Bonfires blazed to light the souls of the dead toward heaven and church bells tolled as a safeguard against evil. In Spanish-speaking countries, the feast came to be known as the "Day of the Dead." Families remembered their departed by strewing the graves with marigold petals and offerings of favorite foods.

NOVEMBER 2
Having honored the souls already in heaven on November 1, those of the Catholic faith dedicate this day to the memory of those who have not yet attained a place with their maker. On All Souls' Day, Catholics around the world attend church, say prayers and visit the graves of loved ones. In some parts of England, children go "souling" from house to house, asking for the small soul cakes that are traditionally set out for the dead. In Sicily, children leave their shoes outside the windows and doors, hoping that the souls of departed family members will fill them with candy and toys.

NOVEMBER 3
At approximately this time of year each Autumn, the Inuit people of North America observe holiday festivities that culminate in a tug-of-war competition that has mystical implications. Two teams...the Ducks, who were born in the Summer, and the Ptarmigans, who were born in the Winter...take their places at opposite ends of a seal-skin rope. According to tradition, the outcome forecasts the weather. The Winter will be mild if the Ducks are victorious, but the season will be harsh if the Ptarmigans prevail. The contest is said to represent the struggle between light and darkness.

NOVEMBER 4
On May Eve and Halloween, the children of England once enjoyed what were known as "lawless nights." However, during the Seventeenth Century of the Puritans, this tradition was moved to the eve of Guy Fawkes Day...in honor of a historical mischief-maker who was convicted of plotting to kill the King and blow up the Houses of Parliament. Called "Mischief Night," the evening of November 4 became an occasion for cheeful pranks (such as removing gates from their hinges and smashing bottles outside the windows of nervous householders). According to historians, this custom symbolizes the remnants of a Pagan festival that honored the Lord of the Dead.

NOVEMBER 5
Beneath an old oak tree located in the Village of Shebbear (Devon, England) lies a large rock, reddish in color, known as the Devil's Boulder. According to local folklore, the Devil long ago tossed this one-ton rock into the village square and every year on the evening of November 5, young men gather to fulfill a custom that is centuries old. Heaving and prying with poles and crowbars, they turn the boulder, moving it slightly, and thereby reinvoking the magic that brings peace and prosperity to the village.

NOVEMBER 6
According to a publication by James Ussher...a Seventeenth Century archbishop who lived in Ireland...that was purported to be an accurate chronology of biblical events, this day marked the birth of Noah, the man chosen by God to repopulate the Earth in the aftermath of the Great Flood.

NOVEMBER 7
On this date in 1872, an American cargo vessel christened the "Mary Celeste" set sail from New York City for Genoa in Italy, bearing 1,700 barrels of raw alchol. A month later, the ship was found wallowing in the North Atlantic, only slightly damaged, between the Azores and Portugal. The captain (Benjamin Spooner Briggs), his wife (Sarah) and their two-year old daughter (Sophia) were missing, along with the seven-man crew. The fate of the individuals aboard the "Mary Celeste" has never been resolved although for a time, investigators suspected a mutiny. Indeed, it is a fact that the lifeboat was gone and the ship's instruments were missing or broken. However, sea chests belonging to the crew were still on board and the captain was reportedly well-liked by his men. Some have blamed the disappearances on the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon, which is said to wreak havoc with navigational instruments and which has been cited as the cause of many mysterious vanishings off the Eastern Coast of the United States.

NOVEMBER 8
On November 8, 1939, a bomb wrecked the speaker's platform of a beer hall in Munich only minutes after Adolf Hitler had departed the area. Six days earlier, Swiss astrologer, Karl Ernst Krafft, had warned of unusual peril to the Fuhrer in the week to follow. Security staff investigated Krafft as a possible accomplice in the bombing but later found it prudent to hire him to chart the future for the Nazi Party.

NOVEMBER 9
On this day in Thailand, people fashion tiny boats called krathongs from banana and lotus leaves. When night falls, they load the boats with candles, incense, coins and gardenia flowers before setting them adrift on a river...making wishes as the small vessels floated away. According to tradition, if the candle in a krathong remains lit until the boat is out of sight, then the wish will come true. In Thailand's larger cities, this practice is carried out as part of an elaborate river festival.

NOVEMBER 10
On the night of November 10, 1619, French mathematician, Rene Descartes, was disturbed by a vivid dream in which he perceived that science and philosophy should be one and the same. In the course of his lifetime, Descartes would cement his reputation by developing a rational and scientific approach to philosophy.

NOVEMBER 11
Citizens of Ancient Greece and Rome observed the Feast of Vinalia on this day, which honored Bacchus, the God of Wine. By medieval times, the Catholic Church had downgraded the festival to some extent by drawing it into the Christian calendar. Since then, November 11 has been called Martinmas in homage to Saint Martin, Patron of Vintners and Tavern Keepers. Tradition dictates that the weather on this day provides a clue to the harshness of the upcoming Winter...a bright and sunny Martinmas bodes for icy weather, but frost before this date predicts a mild Winter ahead.

Also around this date, the people of Ancient Ireland observed Lunantishees, a day given over to the celebration of fairies. Little is know about the festivities that marked this occasion, but it is clear from the surviving tales that fairies loomed large in Irish folklore...as they do in the customs and beliefs of many cultures.

NOVEMBER 12
Around this time of year, the yam crop of Haiti is ready to be harvested and farmers honor their ancestors who brought yams from Africa to West Indies. As part of this observance, the Haitians seek good fortune for the next year's crop by offering bowls of cut-up yams to their forebears, beginning with those relatives who have died most recently. Offerings are then made to the household gods before the yams are thrown into a pot, cooked with fish and then eaten.

NOVEMBER 13
On this night in 1866, people throughout Europe witnessed a dazzling meteor shower, likened to "a mighty wind that had caught the old stars, loosed them from their holdings, and swept them across the firmament." Although most people who observed the sight understood it to be a natural phenomenon, some were convinced that the meteors served as transport for celestial visitors.

NOVEMBER 14
Among the Alaskan Inuit tribes, November 14 marks the beginning of the Asking Festival...an annual sharing of the wealth. On the first night, youths go from door to door soliciting food for a huge community feast. The following night, everyone gathers to ask one another for gifts of personal property. Since it is considered bad manners to refuse a request, people go home laden with their neighbors' possessions at the end of the evening.

NOVEMBER 15
For the annual festival of Shici-Go-San, celebrated around this time of year in Japan, children who have attained their seventh, fifth or third birthdays follow their parents to a Shinto shrine in order to offer thanks for their continued good health. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the priests drop "thousand-year" candles into the children's bags, which have been decorated with good luck symbols.

NOVEMBER 16
Each year at around this time, the people of India celebrate Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights. This vibrant five-day event marks the Hindu New Year and is considered an auspicious time to honor Lakshmi, Indian Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. To ensure that Lakshmi will be made to feel welcome in their homes, celebrants scrub their houses and light an array of candles.

NOVEMBER 17
On the first day of the tenth month in the Chinese calendar...around mid-November by Western lights...families in some parts of China observe the last day of three annual festivals of death. Following the ancient belief that the deceased need protection from the chill of Winter, paper garments are made and packed, along with a little money, in parcels labeled with the recipients' names. The parcels are "delivered" through burning, which symbolically sends the packages to the world of the ancestors.

NOVEMBER 18
On the night of November 18 in 1948, an air force pilot flying over Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland spotted a glowing white object crossing the sky. He turned to investigate, but found that the object swerved abruptly away. A series of dogfight twists and turns ensued during which the pilot tried to put the object between his craft and the lights of nearby Washington D.C. However, with every attempt, the object evaded him, displaying remarkable maneuverability. Ultimately, the mysterious object made good its escape, but witnesses on the ground corroborated the pilot's description of a wingless, oval object that emitted a solitary light.

NOVEMBER 19
On a November night in 1952, Virginia Tighe, a 29-year-old mother of three in Pueblo, Colorado, was under hypnosis for an experiment in regression, when she declared she had lived in Ireland more than a century earlier as Bridget "Bridey" Murphy. Tighe's hypnotist, Morey Bernstein, induced further trances at later dates in which Tighe described Nineteenth Century Irish life in remarkable detail. She named shops she had allegedly frequented in Belfast and used colloquial terms for everyday items...for example, "platters" for potato cakes. While in a trance, Tighe was questioned about the long interval that had passed between her two lives. She told of being in "a place of waiting...where everybody waits" until she "passed into another existence." Apparently, Tighe had never visited Ireland and Bernstein professed to be equally lacking in knowledge of that country. Investigators later corroborated much of what Tighe had revealed under hypnosis, making hers one of the most tantalizingly believable tales of reincarnation.

NOVEMBER 20
At about this time each year, the native people of Hawaii mark the start of their harvest season known as Makahiki. Rituals and celebrations commence when the cluster of stars called the Pleiades becomes visible, inching its way along the horizon. According to tradition, war is forbidden during this season and particular reverence is due to Lono, a Hawaiin God.

NOVEMBER 21
Annually at this time, a Mayan festival lasting several days culminated in the anticipated descent from heaven by the God Kukulcan. By way of preparation, the Mayans fasted, burned incense, made offerings of food and created brilliant banners of colored feathers. But on the day of the deity's supposed arrival, pious work gave way to joyful merrymaking. Also on this date, the Sun begins to take its leave from the Sign of Scorpio and continues its journey by entering the Sign of Sagittarius.