Pumpkins, log fires, spice lattes and dark nights are just some of the images that come to mind when we think of autumn. When we consider an actual date as to when autumn might begin, answers are likely to be varied. The start date of autumn appears earlier every year, shops bringing out products as soon as July, so it feels as though autumn greets us before summer is over. Certainly, after the Autumn Equinox in September, the nights draw in sooner and autumn embrace the falling leaves and cosy nights on the sofa.

After this Equinox, the Northern Hemisphere experiences pitch-black nights and often gloomy mornings, producing fewer than 15 hours of sunlight. These precious hours drop to a meagre eight during the winter months, meaning vitamin D levels in the human body plummet. It is essential to get this vitamin from our diet and take tablets if required. Vitamin D deficiencies have been linked to sleep issues, poor immunity, and mood disorders like Seasonal Affective Disorders (SAD). It is appropriately nicknamed the happy vitamin, helping increase serotonin levels in our body and decrease depression.

People who experience SAD or low mood in the autumn and winter months might manage their symptoms in a variety of ways. Lured by warmly lit shop windows and knit blankets, some might opt for retail therapy to get a quick release of endorphins and dopamine.

It is important to establish that the rush and momentary pleasure you might experience from in-person or online shopping is only a quick fix. Shopping is not a long-term or practical solution, even if you have the money to spend. However, the changing seasons bring new waves of products and with it, shoppers.

You might be tempted by the ‘back to school sales,’ adore the copper autumn aesthetic, or like the luxurious feel of a cashmere turtleneck sweater, but whatever motivates us to shop often feels heightened in autumn.

If our wallets think they are spared until Christmas shopping, they must think again. Christmas is traditionally a month for the selfless celebration of religion, for our friends and family, and for the end of the year. Is that why autumn becomes one of self-indulgence?

If you are not such a keen shopper, autumn brings plenty of other festivities to engage in like harvest festivals and pumpkin picking. Throughout the UK, signs begin to pop up, directing you to pumpkin patches. The idea of pumpkin patches originated in America and steadily spread to the UK. They are a simple, but fun, event, and can be likened to picking out a Christmas tree in winter. Once you’ve wandered around the autumnal pumpkin patches and selected the perfect pumpkin (maybe getting a bit grubby in the process!), you might want to engage in the Halloween tradition of pumpkin carving.

The event of Halloween brings much excitement for children in particular. You might fondly recollect childhood days of ‘trick or treating,’ dressing up in costumes and eating too much candy.

However, the act of carving vegetables is ancient, dating back to a Celtic tradition in Ireland and Scotland. Instead of carving our beloved pumpkins though, people would carve turnips on All Hallows Eve to ward off evil spirits. Additionally, there is the Irish story of Stingy Jack who played tricks on people which influenced ‘trick or treating’ today. Jack met an unfortunate end, doomed to walk eternity between Heaven and Hell with nothing but an ember in his turnip to enable him to see.

This is where we get the term Jack O’ Lantern, as Jack walks with his turnip as a lantern. So, while we might still knock on our neighbour’s doors to ‘trick or treat’ and ask for sweets, Halloween seems to have been revamped (no pun intended). Long gone is the bedsheet ghost costume. Instead, it has been replaced by elaborate zombie costumes, fake blood and cute pumpkin baskets. Supermarkets start selling Halloween-inspired trinkets and cuddly companions like cat plushies to accompany children on their trick or treating – better company than Jack’s turnip.

Recently, the ‘boo basket’ has taken the UK by storm. Originating in America, boo baskets are now in the UK, trending on social media such as TikTok.

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