Good morning, followers, and a pleasant autumn season to you. It’s the time of year when folks are bringing in their season’s crops, red, orange and yellow leaves litter the turf, and many are decorating for All Hallow’s Eve. At this time of year, one often sees the ragged figure of a scarecrow peeking out from among the cornstalks. Scarecrows of various types have been used by humans practically since the beginning of agriculture 10,000 years ago. They’re generally human-like in appearance and serve to deter crows and other pests from disturbing agricultural crops. Nowadays, we’ve found other means of deterring pests, and scarecrows more often serve as decorations.
manifestation of agricultural spirits. There are stories of scarecrows wandering the night, punishing those who steal crops and defending their fields from malevolent goblins and trolls. Sometimes, the spirits of dead farmers possessed the bodies of scarecrows to continue protecting their land in the afterlife.
Today, scarecrow festivals are held throughout the UK, in celebrations of rustic country life. British colonists brought the tradition of the scarecrow with them to America, and scarecrow festivals are not uncommon in rural communities in the US and Canada. They have become a fixture of rustic folk-art and an important part of our cultural heritage.
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