Tomorrow is August first.
July is my restful summer month. After the frantic business of planting in May and the beginning of June, and the emotional roller coaster that is the second half of June for me, July is my time to sit back. The garden grows, I water it, and I breathe. The girls play. The cats watch us enviously through the window. July is a good month. It is bittersweet to bid July farewell. Yes, a part of me is restless and looking forward to the starting of school and the greater structure it brings to our days, but part of me is not ready. I have projects still unfinished, or not yet begun. I want to spend more time outside and not stuck at the kitchen table with our books. I want to continue letting myself drift in the lazy current of summer musings, my imagination sated by the gluttonous quantity of fiction I have consumed in the past two months. I do not want summer to end. But, tomorrow is August first; the wheel turns without my consent, and I feel the gathering energy of Autumn on the horizon. My corn has sprouted tassels, my beans are loaded, tomatoes beginning to ripen now. The apple trees droop with fruit. The harvest season has begun.
August first marks the cross-quarter festival of Lammas or Lughnasadh, the first of the three harvest festivals. It is also called the festival of First Fruits, as traditionally it is when the first grain would be harvested, threshed, and baked into a first loaf of bread to be given back to the land in thanks to the Great Mother who makes all things grow. The sacrifice is also a supplication for a bountiful harvest. As much as we in our modern existence prefer to pretend otherwise, we are still very much at the mercy of Mother Nature. Weather patterns change, some years are better than others for crops, prices rise or drop accordingly. Though a poor growing year no longer means starvation for most of us, inflation has us all tightening our belts; and those of us who can read the signs painted in melting glaciers, rampant wildfires, and increased hurricane activity, watch and wonder what life challenges we will leave behind for our children. Our Earth is suffering, and so, then, are we. In the arms of our Mother, we stand or we fall. It is at this time of year, when the days are full and bright and everything is green and ripening, that we must remember the past and the future even as we celebrate the present. Balance is the way of the magical life: light in darkness, darkness in light.
Of this festival, Cait Johnson and Maura Shaw, authors of Celebrating the Great Mother: A Handbook of Earth-Honoring Activities For Parents and Children, say:
Perhaps above all, Lughnasad marks the seed time, when everything begins its gradual descent. No longer growing, blooming or fruiting, the plants turn their energies to seed, preparing for the inevitable winter, but holding the promise of new life in spring. The seeds give us the imperious command to pay attention: in the dying body of the old is contained the mystery of renewal.1
To help ourselves and our children embrace the spirit of the season, here are a few activity suggestions.
Make a Corn Mother Figure
Earth Goddess figures made out of corn, wheat, grass, reeds, or whatever you have growing nearby are a traditional way to celebrate the harvest season and invite the blessing of Mother into your house and your life. Give each family member a basket and make an event of gathering the plants you want to use, then pick a comfortable spot under a shady tree (or inside with A/C) and make your Corn Mothers. There is no right way to do this, just use your imagination. When you’re done, place your goddess figures in a central place in your home. You can keep them there until the last produce has been harvested from your garden, then bury them in the center of the garden as a blessing for next year. If you don’t have a garden, keep them as a blessing for a “harvest” of personal growth, or the completion of a project. When they have served their purpose, burn or bury them with gratitude.
Honoring the trees
Trees are the lungs of our planet, and the bridges that connect our past, present, and future. An especially large tree always feels to me like a guardian spirit, watching over the land it has chosen. Now, when the trees are about to turn their energies downward in preparation for winter, is a good time to thank them for all that they give us. Take a gift of some sort to each tree in your yard, or to the trees in a park that is special to your family. Tobacco and corn are traditional offerings for the original inhabitants of this land, and popcorn is usually my offering of choice. Bird seed or bits of fertilizer are also good options. Connect to the tree by touching it, hugging it, speaking to it out loud. You might feel silly at first, and that’s OK. You will also be surprised how grounded you might feel afterwards.
Seed Art
In honor of the beginning of the “seed time,” pour some bird seed onto a plate, get out your craft glue and some cardboard or paper, and let your imagination loose. The seed creations you make can remain as decorations from now through the autumn, reminders of the potential we each carry inside us, as well as being pretty!
Bake Bread Together
One of the oldest Lughnasadh traditions is baking bread. Find a recipe you like and get everyone involved. Smell the dough when you first set it out, after the second rise, and when it is finally baked and steaming, notice how the scent of the yeast changes as it ripens and takes shape. Mark each loaf with a hand print, cut designs into the tops, or use bits of dough to make shapes or letters on top—make this bread special and truly your own, however you choose to. When it is done, eat it outside; if you like, offer the first piece to Mother Earth.
Make Friendship Bracelets
What goes best with bread? Friends! According to Fiona Cook and Jessica Roux, authors of The Wheel of the Year: An Illustrated Guide to Nature’s Rhythms, “the word companion comes from Latin words meaning ‘with bread,’ and breaking bread is a common term for gathering with friends2.” Lughnasadh has long been a time of gathering in celebration, and an echo of that feeling remains in the observance of World Friendship Day, traditionally celebrated on the first Sunday in August. Almost as much as the food we eat, our friends and chosen companions enrich our lives in countless ways, and this festival is a wonderful time to honor them. If handmade jewelry isn’t really their thing, write them a letter or just send a quick text to tell them that you’re grateful they are part of your lives.
Take a Walk After Dark
With the heat this week, I’ve been less than enthusiastic about going outside. The solution? Take a walk at night! Listen to the sounds of late summer. Watch for bats and fireflies and moths. Look for the moon. See if you can identify any of the constellations. If you don’t have a safe place to walk at night, spread a blanket on the grass, don some mosquito repellent, and stay until bedtime. You just might sleep better after some time spent in the open air connecting to your home place.
Make A Wishing Well
Danu, the Celtic Mother Goddess, is closely associated with this festival. She is also associated with wells and rivers, the waters of life3. The importance of water is never more apparent than on these hot, dry, late summer days. Fill a bowl with water, take it outside to a special place, and gather a few objects—small stones or crystals, coins, whatever you like—to carry your desires with them into the sacred well. Hold each object tightly, close your eyes, and envision what you want, then let them fall into Danu’s well. If you prefer running water, find a stream that you can get to and wade in (if it’s safe) or stand on the bank. You can do the same ritual with small objects that won’t hurt the wildlife, or write your petition on a small piece of paper and fold it into a boat to sail down the current. Adults and children love watching boats sail on a stream, there is a sense of adventure that comes with the act that I’ve never grown out of. If your boat capsizes, that’s OK; the water has claimed it as it’s own, and that was the point all along.
Celebrate Teamwork
In the olden days, harvest was a community effort. Many hands were required to pick, cut, process, and preserve the food that would keep them alive through the lean months. Children old enough worked alongside their adult family members, while those too elderly to do the heavy work minded the children too young to help out. Necessity brought them together, but the togetherness has always been it’s own reward as well. Nowadays, we have to be reminded that we still need other people, and what better time to do that than a harvest festival? Cook and Roux say:
It’s important to voice gratitude and acknowledge the network of others who helped bring something into being. What allowed you to tend your intentions over the last months? Take some time to stand [in your sacred space] and acknowledge the people in your family and community who’ve helped you thrive. Recognizing the work of your teammates is essential, so dig deep and imagine yourself part of a great big community web. Count as many threads of the web as you can. List them out loud: Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Now take time to appreciate the mysterious, unseen forces that have guided and protected you along the way, allowing you to reach your goals.
Lastly, thank yourself for doing the best you could!
Don’t skip that last part, even if it sounds cheesy. You’re here! Whatever “it” is, you did it! Take a moment today to celebrate the effort as much as the results.
Feast!
Breads of all sorts, corn, any and all garden produce; this is the season of plenty! Enjoy!
With gratitude to all of you who read and support my work: have a peaceful, nourishing, and energizing Lughnasadh. Blessed be!
Johnson, Cait, and Shaw, Maura D.. Celebrating the Great Mother: A Handbook of Earth-Honoring Activities for Parents and Children. United Kingdom, Inner Traditions/Bear, 1995.
Cook, Fiona. The Wheel of the Year: An Illustrated Guide to Nature's Rhythms. United States, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2023.
Skye, Michelle. Goddess Alive! Inviting Celtic & Norse Goddesses Into Your Life. United States, Llewellyn Publications, 2007.