Any special significance (either personal or spiritual) that you have with this turn of the Wheel? It's the Grain Harvest, but anything in addition to that?
2007-07-30 04:13:38 · 8 answers · asked by Nandina (Bunny Slipper Goddess) 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The grain harvest has many layers of meaning.
First, of course, it's a celebration of the harvest - the result of planting and growing seasons. It therefore is an anticipatory celebration of having enough to eat through the winter.
It is also the mythic sacrifice of the grain God, a reminder that in life we are in the midst of death, and that we must die to our earlier life in order to go on.
The Sun is also declining in it's power (another God association).
The grain dies so that the people may live. But there is promise of new life from that - the chaff is plowed under, making the soil fertile for new growth in the Spring.
Lammas is a festival of regrets and farewells, of harvest and preserves, and of looking forward. It is the Elusinian mystery contained in a single shaft of grain...a symbol to the initiate of the cyclical nature of life, for the grain is both seed and fruit, promise and fulfillment.
We reflect on these topics, and share what they mean to us; as individuals, as a community.
2007-07-30 04:29:28 · answer #1 · answered by Raven's Voice 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Candlemas. I don't know if that is the same in the Christian calendar, but I consider it the time for burning candles all over the place and lighting up the night. Since I have always done rituals indoors, I don't have to worry about breezes. I understand some people put them outdoors in paper bags half full of sand. It works best if the candle is significantly shorter than the bag, and you fold the top of the bag down to make a cuff that holds it open.
I have also heard it said that it is the time for self-sacrifice. If you have some working that involves your committing yourself to doing something for others at some cost to yourself, this is the time to do it. I'm pretty sensitive on the subject of self-sacrifice ever since my High Priest committed suicide. (Not on Lammas, by the way.)
2007-07-30 11:35:23 · answer #2 · answered by auntb93 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
For heathens it is "Freyfaxi," although the meaning and rites (though not the underlying cosmology) are much the same . . . a celebration of the grain harvest, of bread and beer and bounteous gifts of the Vanir, who brought agricultural to the godhs and the Folk. A time to reflect on personal harvests as well, and how the seeds we have planted in the past, through our deeds, have come to fruition in our lives.
It's also the first blot I held, years ago. It's very special to me in that regard . . . and after all, it's FREYfaxi. Freyr's my fultrui among the godhs, and I like that there's a blot (however liberally borrowed from the Wiccan Eightfold Year, lol) that's dedicated to him alone. :-)
2007-07-30 11:53:17 · answer #3 · answered by Boar's Heart 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's a time to remember that whatever I have lost is nothing.
The Lady gives birth to Her companion every year, only to lose Him at Lammas. Even though She knows that He will be reborn within Her, still She misses Him when He has become the Horned God of animals and the Hunt.
To willingly loose half of yourself, every year, as part of a cycle you have created for the benefit of others...it puts whatever grief I may have into perspective.
2007-07-30 11:21:33 · answer #4 · answered by Jewel 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's the funeral games for Tailtiu, Lugh's foster mother. She died of exhaustion after clearing Ireland's plains for agriculture - a pretty hefty sacrifice, but it allowed the Irish the ability to farm the land for food. That resonates with the whole "first harvest" aspect as well - plenty of food, warm weather, kids running around being active.... Sure, there's the coming darkness of winter slowly approaching, but for now, things are alive, and it's good to take a moment to celebrate and reaffirm that.
It's also a good time to appreciate what those who have come before us have given to us, how much time and effort they put into things so that we could have a good and rich life.
2007-07-30 13:12:31 · answer #5 · answered by ArcadianStormcrow 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Lughnasadh isn't my favorite. Though I really want to bake bread tomorrow. The parents will think I'm just doing it to be nice, but I can get some inner peace from the simple act to connect with the day. :D
2007-07-30 11:19:52 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I love Lammas Eve. As summer dies into fall, we reacount the hopes and dreams visualized at the beginning of the year and take into account how often our actions have aligned with desire.
2007-07-30 11:25:23 · answer #7 · answered by schnooky 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Its just a harvest festival.
2007-07-30 11:18:53 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋