celebrate our harvest

Every soul longs for peace yet we are all meant to live a revolutionary life. Not only lives in revolution or revolt, though for too many that has been their all too sad and sorry fact. 

Revolutionary in the true sense of the word: constituting or bringing about a major or fundamental change. Be an agent of change. 

Many cultures celebrate Midsummer on August 2 and this week is the peak. We are halfway through the summer in all its joy and glory and danger, with its COVID-sharing county fairs, political rodeos, and Olympic upsets. 

Image by Jade Brookbank/Image Source/Getty Images

August begins with Lammas, Loaf Mass Day, Lughnasadh - the day in the Book of Common Prayer calendar when a loaf baked with flour from newly harvested grain is brought to church and blessed, God's blessing is sought for the growing crops. 

Lughnasadh is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Named for Lugh, one of the most prominent gods in Irish mythology and member of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Portrayed as a warrior, a king, a master craftsman and a savior. He is associated with skill and mastery in multiple disciplines, including the arts. 

At Lammas we honor the past with a feast of bread to celebrate grain from ancient cultures. Because of its association with Lugh, the skilled god, Lammas (Lughnasadh) is also a time to celebrate the arts, talents and craftsmanship. It's a traditional time of year for craft and music festivals, for skilled artisans to showcase and sell their creations. 

As we continue to grapple this week with a reality we resist dealing with, we choose the tools to cope and make necessary adjustments. A new awareness of the ongoing ecological crisis? A more personal shift that needs to be accommodated? An ongoing challenge that is no longer an obstacle?

Let’s get creative, think fast, we can do this. 

Challenged to cope as nervousness brings on a critical edge. We can work together to analyze a problem rather than look for it in each other. Weed the garden and not a beloved.

Feeling more experimental, more excited about the future, even if the changes are not our choice. The week closes under a cozier Cancer Moon that lets us savor our first harvests sweetly.