Lammas, the First Harvest
We're on the eve of Lammas (August 1st), also known as Lughnasad in the Celtic tradition. In earlier, close-to-the-land days, it was a time to celebrate the first fruits, especially the big crops of corn and grain. The stalks were at their peak, and soon, it'd be clear what kind of harvest it would be. The farm communities traveled to meet, bake bread, and share, reflect, dance and tell stories around the bonfire. In her article on Lammas history, guide to Pagan-Wiccan traditions Patti Wiggington writes, "By celebrating Lammas as a harvest holiday, we honor our ancestors and the hard work they must have had to do in order to survive. This is a good time to give thanks for the abundance we have in our lives, and to be grateful for the food on our tables. Lammas is a time of transformation, of rebirth and new beginnings."
The Leo-fest this Lammas under a new Moon has me thinking about creative harvests, not without a few regrets for seeds that have NOT been sown. The first harvest is a time of reflecting on choices made, and their consequences. In Leo, we're drawn into the inspiration of the Hero/Heroine's journey, and the visions of the grandest version of the Self. It's a chance to see how you've been true to your talents, potential, uniqueness, and where you've fallen short. Along with the regrets, endings, farewells, Lammas is a chance to begin again. With the luminaries (Sun-Moon), along with Venus and Mercury, converging in this fixed sign of self-expression, it's time to reclaim a lost dream. You can set intentions that bring you back to finding personal meaning through creativity. That need of the soul to share what's there is universal, and this new Moon can be a doorway to step through, and claim the inner artist. This used to be my favorite quote, and it seems timely for this new Moon in Leo. "There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person." Anais Nin
This Leo turning point encourages the cultivation of personal meaning, and a narrative of adventure, growth, love, creative expansion that elevates the story of life. And it's hard not to notice that when someone chooses to live life as an epic, that it radiates outward, as a catalyst for others.
(c) Maciej Pawlik
Hi Molly, while browsing for views about this Leo New Moon Eclipse, I read comments about how America is under such a heavy shadow. My personal experience and observations tell me that this pattern parallel’s the movement of Pluto into Capricorn, Jupiter into Capricorn, both seriously heavy opposing energies for our beloved home, America, and our own universal home, Mother Earth. A reprieve of Pluto into Sag till Novemeber will give way again to the full Pluto/Capricorn energy again in December. Persoanlly I’m OK with it all but I know many people around the planet are convulsing….
With that Pluto opposition you’re talking about, the old has to die, before the new can be born. Those that are ok with the dark, dark moon times, periods of death-transformation will probably suffer less. With Jupiter, there’s a lifeline to stretch and reach for something enduring. I found this quote Alice Walker wrote in her essay, ‘We are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For”, “It is as if ancient graves, hidden deep in the shadows of the psyche and the earth, are breaking open of their own accord.” yesterday I read an article on the Orion Magazine called Beyond Hope. It’s like when anyone goes through a Pluto transit, the dying and falling away part is harder when you resist it. Cap is so deep, and can take us through despair and grief, as part of the process. but in communion with Mother Earth, and what she is going through…. her suffering for those that feel it, is intense.
so often we turn away from the shadows, and this time, that’s not possible. But it’s not the end of us, just the end of a cycle that we’re going to be experiencing — more dramatically, as you said, when Pluto goes direct back into Capricorn in December 08.