Lammas Arrives Tomorrow

     Driving home tonight I was greeted by an almost full moon,that was so clear in the sky. I had my phone so I took a pic and here it is. Wonderful view for a Lammas Eve.
     Lammas is also called Lughnasadh for the sun god Lugh in Celtic traditions. This is a harvest festival, it's tradition in the UK not to cut the wheat until the 1st of August. Now with commercial farming I doubt they still do this but it makes for a lovely picture in your mind of golden wheat fields ripe and ready. In the distance the fruit trees are heavy with ripe peaches and plums. The sky is clear blue and white clouds stripe across. You can almost see an ancient farmer with scythe in hand starting to cut down the wheat.  Nice idea right? Yes I can see how you can say it sounds like the start of an creepy horror movie but lets not go there, okay? LOL

     I was born and raised Catholic but it was not for me, I found my path years back and take comfort in the Goddess & God. It makes sense to me, the dualality (sp?) of it. And yes they fuck!! LOL A lot!! No disrespect though :-) Sex is part of life, is part of us, the earth too, all living things have sex in some form or another. This is the result of that. We now harvest what the earth has given us and also start to look forward to the days to come. The sun although still bright and very warm will start to lose a bit of its heat. Now of course I am talking about those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. I wouldn't call myself a tree hugger, but I do respect the earth and do recycle. I believe that our  surroundings, and those in them have a effect on us in some form or another. Simple way of thinking of it, how much better do you feel when you walk into a clean room, as opposed to a dirty one with dishes piled in the sink. I love to sit in the living room with a nice cup of tea and relax in a clean environment (which why my bedroom is not appealing right now). I digress, and I'm sure you got my point. Each season has it gift to offer. It's hard to feel like you can connect to the earth when you are in a city filled with big buildings and lots of people but there are parks and beaches and even in large cities there is always a place to gather that makes you forget you are there (in the city), for a short time anyway.  I remember my first Lammas. We went out to Long Island, all the way out where there are farms. We got wheat and made little wheat doilies and added them to the bags we brought that had bread I had made, corn on the cob, oatmeal cookies, fruits, chicken, mead (homemade by a friends of mine who brews it -DELICIOUS!!), plus salt, candles, cloth, cups and our other alter items.  We found a place that was off the road and in the dusky light we made our circle with salt, walking deosil to honor the sun. Called the guardians and sat, we meditated for a while then lit the candles. We held our ritual (no babies or animals harmed thank you very much) enjoyed our feast, made wishes that we would work on to come to fruition by next Sabbath, closed the circle, blew out the candles then laid in the grass and just enjoyed our company. It was great. Now I left much out on purpose, as you don't blab about what happens in a circle, please understand this. If you have questions please ask me, and I will answer you but I'm not going to post it. Everyone is different and if you google Lammas you will get so many different traditions or explanations and the reason is that although there is a basic rule of thumb, this religion (yes religion) is felt very personally. Although sad to say that many places I have seen it becoming more like the organizations of other religions. To each his or her own, I respect all views, and just ask people respect mine.

     Now a days , I am a solitary practitioner. I have no Coven, no group of any sort to celebrate with. My neighbor, who moved recently, is also pagan and we celebrated occasionally but I'm mostly a solo act these days. I would love to find a group close by, Ive looked but none near me. I find peace when I perform the rituals, although admittedly they are Readers Digest versions and mostly in my head, which is fine! I will have wheat bread and wine tomorrow. I will eat grains and fruits and be sure to go to the park at lunchtime (unless its raining as it says it might) so I can walk barefoot in the grass. I will mark the holiday, make my wishes and work towards them. Gathering what I will need as the days grow shorter and soon Autumn will be here, more harvest festivals. 

     I think this is my favorite time of year, the harvest times, August, September, October! I know you will think I'm crazy but test it for yourself. In the next few days even though the sun is shining and it may be hot out. Stand still for a moment and take a deep breath and you will be able to sense the change in the season. There is something in the air that makes you think of Autumn, it just has a different feel than it did a month ago. Go ahead and try it, I'd love to see if you can feel what I mean.

     Well haven't I just rambled on & on after being quiet for several blogs.  Trust me - more going on but I wanted to share this with you. I'm a silly old bear I know, but well, I just get excited and when I'm passionate about something I can go on and on and on and ON....hahahahaha. So I will stop it here and wish all of you a very Happy Lammas, and Ciao For Now )O(