Lammas Blessings Abound!

A Lammas offering, with gratitude

In a yearly calendar that follows the sun cycle, marking the quarters naming them the Solstices and Equinoxes as well as the cross quarters, Lammas, in early August, celebrates the First Harvest. To modern gardeners, this is a bit of a misnomer as we have been harvesting, some of us, since mid-April. But to an earlier people, with a smaller variety of foodstuffs available, this was the first harvest of the grain, most specifically the barley that was the backbone of their yearly stores. Certainly this is a cause for celebration!

Lammas is mid way between Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox an appropriate time to acknowledge and celebrate that the days are getting shorter. In some traditions this holy day is dedicated to the death of Lugh, the Sun God, warrior and craftsman skilled beyond ordinary human ability. This time may be marked with bonfires and dancing and general merriment throughout the night. Dancing for gratitude for the harvest and affirming the belief in the on-going cycle of the year, the framework on which we depend.

However you celebrate, and here in Canada, as in the U.K., there is a long week-end so everyone, perhaps a nod to their Celtic roots, gets the day off to play in the warmth (we hope!) of the sun.

This morning, as I sat in meditation on the back deck and looked out over the gardens we have created these past 7 seasons, I am struck by the combination of hard work, limited resources and love that has made a simple urban back yard into an oasis of peace and beauty. It is my belief that this is the essence of gratitude, to support the Earth’s fertility and desire to bring forth life in all of its manifestations.

For this opportunity to live and work in connection with Nature’s rhythms, I am deeply grateful and give thanks this Lammas season.