Lammas

Blessed Lammas!

Lammas is one of those Holidays that gets overlooked because it is not Equinox or Solstice or Halloween but it is a very important holiday.

Let me explain.  Wicca has eight holy days.  Four of them are minor holidays, the Equinoxes and Solstices.  They are points on the calendar where we reflect on the turning of the earth.  The other four are major holidays and we reflect on the turning of ourselves.  Halloween is our New Year, where we celebrate and honor the dead and the passing of the year.  Candlemas  or Imbolc is February 1st, in the Dark of Winter we light candles and try to point the way to where we are going (or where we want to go) in our lives.  It is Spring Cleaning in the spiritual sense.  April 30th is Beltane where we Celebrate Spring turning Summer, sowing our seeds and renewing our lives.

Lammas has been called First Harvest, where we head out to the fields and take a look at what grew, what needs to be picked and what needs to go back to the earth.  In our own lives Lammas is a time to assess where we are going and what we are doing and what we should do to get there.  Right now is a great time to remind oneself why we chose this path, or get off the path and look at a map.

Most importantly, to me, Lammas is a Wiccan Thanksgiving.  Where we give thanks for what we have and who we have in our lives.  This weekend I got to have a great dinner with some very good friends that I don't see nearly enough.  Then we hosted a Barbecue for a cooking club that we are in.  It was a celebration of Lammas.  Everyone coming together to see each other, to see how the kids have grown and to enjoy some really good food.  Alot of us got to hang out and chat with people we haven't seen in a while, which was wonderful.  The next day we cleaned out alot of junk from the garage that had been building up for a while and assessing what we should keep and where some things are being moved to (including the bed frame for my son's room and a desk for my daughter's).  My husband and I had a quiet dinner where we reflected on how happy we are and that we are glad of our choices.  This was my Lammas.

I have a friend who is trying to sell her house so she can move to where her family will be happier.  I have other friends who might've paid off a large debt today.  I also have friends who are sad or angry that certain things are not working as they should and they are taking steps to protect their kids and their lives...this is also Lammas.  It is a hard harvest, but it is a good harvest.  Each Lammas is different.  The important thing is to reflect upon what you have and where you are going from here.  Take the time to realize what is not working in your life and see if you can change it for the better.  Give thanks for what you have and make plans to make it even better than it already is.

Life doesn't need to be stagnant.  Life is all about change.  And you can change it if you need to.  It may take some time but so does everything.  Do not be afraid.  Give Thanks for what you have.  Cut down the weeds that are covering up your beauty and then watch it grow!

So mote it be!
Love and Light to all,
DM