Saint Michael’s Day is the Day of Saint Michael and All Angels. Michael was the Archangel who defeated Lucifer and banished him. He is one of the main angelic warriors, protector of the night and giver of cosmic intelligence. He is the patron of the sea, ships and horses. He is famous for his defeat of Lucifer.

It is celebrated on September 29. It falls close to the equinox and is associated with the beginning of autumn and the shortening of the days. It is traditionally the last day of the harvest. It used to be the winter night curfew celebration, beginning with the pealing of a church bell. The bell was rung every night except Sunday until Shrove Tuesday, the last day before Lent.

The Church of England observes it as a feast with a traditional meal of a goose stubble and St. Michael’s Bannock pie. It is said that the reason for the goose is that Queen Elizabeth was having a goose for dinner when she received the news of the Armada’s defeat. She vowed to always eat goose on Saint Michael’s Day and others followed her.

Michaelmas was celebrated as a day of obligation until the 18th century. It was an English, Welsh and Irish quarter hour when the rents were due. Sometimes the tenants would bring the landlords a goose in the hope that they would be late. It was also a day when new councils were elected, including a representative of the peasant king.

Old Michaelmas Day is October 11. Legend has it that when Michael banished Lucifer from heaven, he fell into a mulberry bush and cursed it, so mulberries should not be eaten after Michaelmas day.