August 1st is Lammas, one of the cross-quarter holidays on the Wheel of the Year.
Lammas is also called Lughnasadh and is halfway between Summer Solstice (Litha) and the Autumnal Equinox (Mabon). In the northern hemisphere, this holiday signals the approaching darkness just as Imbolc, on the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year, signaled the approaching light.
As with all holidays in earth based traditions, the holiday celebrated on August 1st is connected to what is happening with the earth. Lammas celebrates the first harvest, one of three harvests on the wheel of the year.
Why is the First Harvest so special?
Grain has held a place of importance in civilization back nearly to the beginning of time. Grain became associated with the cycle of death and rebirth.
In early Ireland, it was a bad idea to harvest your grain any time before Lammas — it meant that the previous year’s harvest had run out early, and that was a serious failing in agricultural communities. However, on August 1, the first sheafs of grain were cut by the farmer, and by nightfall his wife had made the first loaves of bread of the season.
By celebrating Lammas as a harvest holiday, we honor our ancestors and the hard work they must have had to do in order to survive. This is a good time to give thanks for the abundance we have in our lives, and to be grateful for the food on our tables. Lammas is a time of transformation, of rebirth and new beginnings.
Thanks, transformation, rebirth, new beginnings.
To celebrate the holiday, bake breads and berry pies with this harvest’s bounty and reflect on your own harvests.
But above all: give thanks. Life is always something to be thankful for.
Bright blessings to all on Lammas!
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Song: Lammas Song
Artist: Lisa Thiel
Album: Circle Of The Seasons
Give thanks for the blessings,
give thanks for the lessons
Give thanks for all that
the Goddess Provides
Give thanks for this showing
our dreams are now growing
Give thanks for the presence
of the Goddess in our livesThank You, Thank you,
O Great Mother Thank You…Thank You, Thank you,
O Great Mother Thank You..With the first Green Corn
our dreams are now taking form
We ask for the strength
to see the true harvest born
Mother of the Corn,
of Hoof, and of Horn
We thank you for the Bounty
youve brought to our doorThank You, Thank you,
O Great Mother Thank You…Thank You, Thank you,
O Great Mother Thank You…Thank You, Thank you,
O Great Mother Thank You…Thank You, Thank you,
O Great Mother Thank You…Mother of the Grain,
of the Sun and of the Rain
We pray for an abundant Harvest again
We give thanks for the Blessings,
give thanks for the lessons
We give thanks for all that
the Goddess ProvidesThank You, Thank you,
O Great Mother Thank You…Thank You, Thank you,
O Great Mother Thank You…Thank You, Thank you,
O Great Mother Thank You…Thank You…
(A version of this was originally posted on 07/31/2011 at BPI Campus)
Views from the Desert Southwest 