Summertime and the coming of Lughnasadh

Photo: Summertime by Alphonse Mucha

When I was a kid, Summertime meant fun. It meant going outside and playing in the sprinklers, hanging out with my friends in a burned out old camper in my backyard and playing wilderness explorer games. Summertime meant no school, no work and all play. When I was a kid. Now that I'm an adult, I look at Summertime in a completely different way. Summertime now is heat, humidity and having to exert more effort to complete everyday tasks. But it's not all bad, because Summertime also means swimming and spending time outdoors when nature is in full bloom and blossom. This Summer, however, is especially hot. It started off pretty cool and I thought we would get a break from the heat this year, but it only waited a little longer to reach scorching, blistering heat. We've been under a few extreme heat advisories and stepping out my front door reminds me of the first round in a sweat lodge. So, with the heat beating down on my roof, the AC pumping overtime and the electric bill rolling like a NASCAR odometer, I thought it would be a good time to punch out some random, sleep deprived thoughts.

It's nearing the end of Summer, The Holly King took his crown at midsummer a few weeks back and the year is starting to wane. Though it may not seem like it because of the scorching heat, Summer is coming to an end and Autumn is rapidly approaching. This weekend is Lughnasadh, Properly on Sunday, the 1st of August. Lughnasadh is the first harvest festival of the year and with all of the festivities planned for this weekend I've been thinking about the meaning of Lughnasadh. Harvest. Obviously the litteral translation is the first thing that pops into my mind; harvesting the crops. Corn, Wheat, Barley etc. But What about modern urban pagans who still celebrate Lughnasadh? What do they harvest if they have no gardens? While I do have a garden in my yard, we did not plant any crops this year. What do we harvest? Spiritual and personal growth. What seeds were planted at Imbolc and Ostara that have come to fruition? What things did we ask for at the fertility festivals that should be ready to harvest? Many of us ask for things like patience, understanding, more time with family and friends, more money. So without a litteral physical harvest, we take the time to reflect within and see what we have planted within ourselves that can now be plucked from the vine. I know I have quite a few personal harvests this year that I am very thankful for.

Aside from the harvest, the mythological connotations of Lughnasadh go back to ancient Celtic Tales of Tailtiu, a Fir Bolg queen and the foster mother of the God Lugh. They say Tailtiu became the foster mother of Lugh after she survived the invasion of the Tuatha De Danaan. She once set out to clear the lands of Ireland so that they could be prepared for planting. She toiled away clearing the forests and preparing the land and as the story goes, she was weary and sickly from the labor of clearing the lands and eventually died from this exhaustion. Her foster son, the God Lugh, who was crafty and skilled with games both logical and physical arranged a funeral feast for her at which they played games and held competitive challenges. This festival was honoured every year and named Lughnasadh.

Now, most of this information is pretty easy to come by if you take the time to look up the meaning of Lughnasadh. I stumbled upon a wepage that really did their homework. This is probably the most information I have ever seen posted about Lughnasadh. Though I have been celebrating Lughnasadh for nearly 15 years now, this website really helped me to understand the festival and it's origins better. I really feel that I have a full understanding of what this festival is, why I am honoring it and it gives me a little more incentive to be prepared for this weekend.

http://www.manygods.org.uk/articles/festivals/lughnasadh.shtml

Well, I do hope that this blog entry reaches a few people and that it may well help some understand this ancient festival a little more.

Brightest Blessings and Blessed Lughnasadh!!!!

Two years later...

Reading through some of my old posts is interesting. I don't know why I abandonned this blog for so long, there are some really in depth thoughts and ideas posted here. So, Whats up with me now?

Reading the last entry, I was excited that we were going to be getting Phantom back. I was unaware at the time that I wrote that blog entry that Phantom had crossed over. The people who were taking care of him were doing just the opposite. Phantom had a skin disorder. A pretty narly one. He scratched himself raw and ate the hair off of his skin so most of his body was bald. We thought for a long time that it was mange and had been treating him for it. The vets had run every test they could think of and the only option left was to send him to a specialist. Right after that news was when we had to send him to some friends to take care of for a while while we moved into the new place. Turns out, they ignored my instructions for my 'special needs' animal and left him outside in sub zero temperatures and he died from exposure within a week of him being at their house. They neglected to tell me about it, instead telling me that he was fine. I found out soon after that last blog post that he had died and my whole world turned upside down. With the sole exception of Sarena, every animal I have ever had that was close to my heart was killed by someone I trusted to take care of them for me.
Three Feathers found a new home as soon as we found out how they treated Phantom, he's still there and happy as a lark and Ariel ran away the day after we dropped the pups off, never to be heard from again. So, the only animal we currently have, is my loving kitty Sarena, who is a bit off her rocker lately, But still just as lovable.

We're still living in our little house in the country and while I love the land here, the house is falling apart. We did end up setting up a garden on the land, and we have a space for ritual work. We're in the process now of setting up a sweat lodge in the back and we even have a compost bin for our little garden. We haven't planted anything in the garden this year, too many other things got in the way of us getting out there and gardening, but in past years, we had Garlic, Cherokee Wax Beans, Corn, Squash, and Pumpkins. Unfortunately, The corn never took root, but we have some lovely Sunflowers there this year. We also have a permanent MayPole in the backyard, a constant reminder that life is a sacred dance.

Spiritually, I've grown by leaps and bounds. Life is a constant process of learning from each other and from spirit. A constant process of self evaluation as well. Once you overcome one hurdle, there is always another to overcome. With each successful hurdle jump, I've become more and more the person I was meant to be. Last year I took an intense look into my past, some serious shadow self work and overcame a lot of hangups that were preventing me from moving forward with myself both spiritually and on a mundane level. I was finally initiated into my path. I joined with a very special group of people who are also walking the same path as I, and with their help, I've begun to flesh out my own path. While my path is based in ancient traditions and practices, it is largely my own path and we're all forging a new tradition for future generations. For the most part, my mundane life is still the same as it has been for some time with the addition now of some intense schooling through the Art Institute, (My dream school) as I work towards my Bachelors Degree in Graphic Design. I should have my degree by October of next year! I also finally took the leap and began studying Reiki. I've gotten my 2nd Reiki attunement and should be recieving my 3rd and final Reiki Master attunement within the next few weeks.

So, now that you've been updated on the newness in my life, I'll close out this entry until I have something more interesting to talk about!
Au-Revoir!