Lammas (c.1st August), the first of the 3 harvest festivals, this is the time when the first loaves of bread were baked with the new wheat of the year, a celebration of the grain. It is a festival of sacrifice - the grain dying to give us life - and as such there is an element of mourning to the festivities, although themes of renewal and giving thanks are equally relevant. As the beginning of the harvest, it is a day for feasting and breaking bread with family and friends. It is a time for letting go of past grief, pain and anger, make this sacrifice for the harvest and ask yourself how it has transformed you. What are you currently harvesting in your life? What do you wish to give thanks for?
Bake a loaf of bread in the shape of a person, make him merrily, give him a name ( John Barleycorn, Lugh, Geoff, whatever takes your fancy!) and as you eat, visualize the the strength of the wheat grown tall and strong, it is ripe and contains seed; the wisdom of age combined with fertility: a symbol of life. Share him at a feast with friends and family, feed each other little pieces of bread saying as you do, "may you always be nourished" and "may you never go hungry" and other such lovelinesses...We serve the Lammas loaf with courgette and goats cheese soup, followed by roast pork with corn on the cob and potato wedges, apple sauce and stuffing, with a big, fat cherry pie for dessert, washed down with plenty of wheat beer. Foodwise, I think this might be my favourite festival (but then I think I say that for all of them!). We always save a big ol' chunk of Geoff The Bread and take a wander down after dinner to the local river, where we each take a portion of bread and project into it anything we wish to be rid of, negativity, bad habits etc and cast it into the flowing water.
Corn dollies!
To represent the element of sacrifice, we burn the corn dolly brought out at Imbolc to ensure a fertile year. Her job done she is offered to the flame. A new one is made from the husks of the corn eaten at the feast and kept safe for the following year.
This is one of my favourite festivals and always leaves me feeling cleansed and new, and thankful for all I have. It is a beautiful balance of hope and sacrifice and always feels very important to me somehow.
Traditional symbols and associated bits and bobs....
Colour: orange
Flowers: wheat sheafs, sunflowers
Gods/Goddess: Demeter the corn mother, Lugh the corn king, John Barleycorn (A cheeky chappy who represents the spirit of the barley used primarily in beer and whisky making)
Symbols: wheat, grain, corn husks, corn dollies, bread
Food: Lammas loaf, wheat beer, popcorn, seeds
No comments:
Post a Comment