September 29
Autumn
St Michael, Dagotuves, Daga, Mikelis, autumn gatherings, winter crops, sprouted grain, potato digging, autumn weather, beginning of the Velines season
Mykolines on September 29, St Michael's Day, belongs in the Lithuanian autumn calendar with the older Dagotuves layer: sprouted winter crops, thanks at harvest's end, community meals, the beginning of potato digging, autumn and winter weather signs, and the turn toward the darker part of the year.
What Are Mykolines?
Mykolines are observed on September 29. In the Christian calendar this is St Michael's Day, but in Lithuanian ethnographic context it is also important because of the older Dagotuves, or Daga, layer. VLE identifies Michael as the most powerful archangel (Hebrew Mikhael, 'who is like God'), who in the Book of Daniel leads the heavenly hosts into battle against the forces of evil; in the Catholic Church his feast is celebrated on September 29.
EKGT connects the autumn equinox period with September 29 Dagotuves. In Lithuania Minor the feast was called Mikelis. The names differ, but the center remains the same: the boundary of autumn harvest and winter crops.
Why Dagotuves Are Linked with Winter Crops
By late September winter crops have already sprouted. EKGT explains that this may have shaped the name Dagotuves, or Daga. Here Daga means not summer abundance but the visible beginning of new grain in the earth.
It is a subtle autumn moment: one harvest has been taken in, while another is only greening and must overwinter. Mykolines is therefore not only an ending but trust that the earth will keep the sprout until spring.
Autumn Sambariai and Community Meals
Older accounts connect Dagotuves with community gathering. EKGT mentions Jan Dlugosz's testimony that the feast was like autumn sambariai, a time of thanks for harvest.
This layer should be read historically. It describes an older ritual order in which harvest, offering, and shared food belonged together. In contemporary culture the lasting meaning is gratitude for harvest and recognition of shared work.
Velinas and the Dark Half of the Year
In interpretations by A. J. Greimas summarized by EKGT, Dagotuves was an important calendar feast in which people hoped for Velinas' help. Velinas is understood here as a ruler of the underground, cold, and dark realm.
The interpretation fits late September: the earth approaches cold, and sprouted grain depends on what happens below the surface. Mykolines naturally leads toward the Velines season, when autumn turns toward themes of the dead and the underworld.
Potato Digging and Autumn Work
Imbrasiene states briefly and clearly that Mykolines were considered the beginning of potato digging in Lithuania. This is a later but very concrete sign of the farm calendar.
Potatoes add to the grain cycle. After summer rye and harvest comes the autumn work of roots: lifting from the ground what grew below the surface. Mykolines therefore means not only sheaves but baskets of earthy potatoes.
Weather Signs on Mykolines
Peasants read Mykolines weather for autumn and winter. Imbrasiene mentions wind direction: a north wind meant a cold winter, a south wind a warmer one.
Such predictions were not entertainment. In late September remaining work still had to be finished, potatoes dug, cold prepared for, and winter crops watched. Weather directly affected household safety.
