Autumnal Crucifixion. The vernal resurrection and Autumnal Crucifixion,
representing the alternate triumph of the personified principles of
Good and Evil, as manifested in the diversity of the seasons; we find
appropriately expressed in two religious pictures. In the one, the
Saviour, appealing as a vigorous young man, surrounded by a brilliant
halo, representing the rays of the all-conquering Sun of Spring, is
rising triumphantly from the tomb, before whom the demon of Winter, or
Devil, is seen retreating in the background. In the other, the
vanquished Saviour, represented by the figure of a lean and haggard
man, with a crown of thorns upon his head, around which appears a faint
halo of the Sun's declining rays, and above which is placarded the
letters I. N. R. I., the initial letters of Latin words, signifying the
life to come, or the eternal life, is suspended upon the cross, at the
foot of which his mother Mary (Virgo) is represented as kneeling in a
mourning attitude, and by her side is seen a serpent and a skull, the
emblems of Evil and of Death.

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Michaelmas.

In the calendar of the ancient Astral Worship, the fourth day after the
Autumnal Equinox was dedicated to the genius of Autumn. In the Chaldean
allegories the name of Michael was given to this personification, and
called Michaelmas, or feast of Michael. In the Catholic calendar this
anniversary is placed an the 29th of September, instead of the 26th of
that month, while that of St. Matthew, the Christian genius of Autumn,
which should be placed on the 26th of that month, is observed on the
21st.