For most pagans that I know, last Thursday was when they were all celebrating Lammas or Lughnasadh. For a lot of traditions, this time of year is the time to celebrate the first harvest and I always got a "beginning of fall" undertone from Lammas when I first got into the pagan lifestyle.
And, actually, I never heard the term Lammas spoken or saw it written until I found the pagan community on the internet. Lughnasadh is what this time of year was always called in the circles I was in.
But, in every place I've ever lived, August is certainly not the beginning of fall by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it's 101 degrees where I live right now and tomorrow it's supposed to be a whopping 107! It's the hottest part of the summer, here. Kids are now beginning "hell weeks". Hell week means 3 different things where I am. One group uses it to describe the 3 weeks of football camp at the local high school for this year's upcoming football season. Another group uses it to describe cramming all the swimming, BBQing, boating, camping, etc., that they can before school starts the 26th. And, the local Christians use it to describe their local push to get the local youth into youth camps and groups before school starts, keep the sheep well guarded.
Today, I got sidetracked. This is usually a day where I would be preparing the roasted chicken feast to welcome the peak of summer! Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out this way. This morning, I found out that brown recluses like to make homes in cardboard boxes and it just so happens that I have a bunch of those storing things in this house. Needless to say, I'm on a mission to unpack from cardboard and repack into wood or plastic tubs. I've been mindfully using this time as my ritual for preparing my home to be closed up for the cooler months. I normally wouldn't even be doing this stuff until October, here. But, I guess now is good and I can always repeat it. It's good for the soul!
My meal will have to wait until tomorrow, but tonight's offering of incense will be a spectacular apple/blackberry scent and I have been burning an oak and pear scented candle today. My meditation today was focused on switching to my dark self. I've got some things to work through this year, it will be quite a task, I'm sure.
So, Happy Mid-summer to you. And, Happy Lammas/Lughnasadh!
I was just thinking about you (and talking about you). I was telling a friend that it was a bit too hot, and I wasn't feeling The First Harvest as I usually do, so I would wait a bit to dress up my altar. She's very traditional, so she gave me the old, "You eclectics are such a mess!" In good fun, of course. And I told her that it was my freaking party and I would celebrate it when I wanted to. I'm making a nice huge meal, today. It will be nice to celebrate The First Harvest with the Dark Moon ;-D
ReplyDeleteBrown recluses make me think of Camp Devil Dog, hiking, sweat, and a lot of pain (the damn things are very common at the School of Infantry). I hope you finish changing the packaging soon, brown recluses are no joke. But you already know that...
Happy Day, my friend!
You need a follower button *cough, cough*
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if yours looks the same way mine does when you access the dashboard, but they don't have follower buttons anymore. They're not available. They only have a small amount of widgets now, and all of them are Google+ related. I added an email one because it's the closest thing I could find. :( I really hate Google and Blogger now. They're not as comfortable as they used to be.
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