Merry Meet and Merry Part, and Merry Meet again

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Celebrate the First Harvest

Lughnasadh! August 1st is a special sabbat for Wiccans, as it is the first of three harvest festivals that signifies the winding down of the Wheel of the Year. Lughnasadh (pronounced loo-naw-saw) has its roots in the harvest festivals observed by early pagans when living off the land meant the difference between life and death. These pagans were attuned to the seasons of the year and worshipped the old gods and goddesses.


In these modern times, Wiccan observances take on more symbolic meanings, but are no less significant. And in this day of backyard gardens and community gardens we do enjoy our own harvests. Many will be serving their own home-grown veggies during the sabbat celebrations.

With the rain-starved, hot conditions we have faced this summer, a lot of us are looking for signs of Autumn, and Lughnasadh is a signal that we are approaching our favorite season (by "our", I am referring to the many witches and other pagans who adore autumn). There is still plenty of summer left to enjoy, but thoughts are turning to this beautiful time of year and the final sabbat of Samhain (pronounced sow-wen..sow as in cow) otherwise known as Halloween.

Lughnasadh is a time to begin to see the fruition of projects and goals that we set for ourselves back at Ostara (the Spring Equinox). A time to reflect on our Path and its direction.

I love the summer and its wonderful offerings of gardens, vacations, family time, relaxation, the easy-going lazy days, beautiful nights filled with the night-time chorus of tree frogs and crickets. Porch sitting, swing-gliding, lemonade...all the charming, delightful summer pursuits.

Today's celebration will most likely include corn on the cob, fresh-picked tomatoes, barbecued steaks or chicken or burgers. Fresh summer fruit like watermelon, blackberries, blueberries. Ah, blueberry pie!!

Enjoy the scents and flavors of summer, for it is fleeting now and Autumn is coming. Take a moment to relish these last days of summer and give thanks for it all.

Blessed Lughnasadh!!



12 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Blessings of the First Harvest to you, Robin!

Alexis Kennedy said...

Blessings of the First Harvest to you and yours, Robin!! Hugs!

Jeanne said...

Oh, how we long for summer during the short days of January. And then once those days arrive, we long for the cooler months. Humans can be so fickle.....
May you enjoy today's celebration!

OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirts said...

Blessings to you as well BB, Oma Linda

Aine O'Brien said...

Beautiful post! May you enjoy an abundant harvest this year! I celebrated last evening with the addition of cornbread at dinner, after sitting in the garden and enjoying the beauty (and the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds!) So looking forward to the beautiful changes the changing season will bring!

mxtodis123 said...

I love summer and gardens as well, but this year I am sure looking forward to the coolness of autumn. This humidity is really getting me down.
Mary

Lady Caer Morganna said...

A very Blessed Lughnasadh to you as well, my sister! Blessed be!

Hugs,


Kim

Anonymous said...

Nothing much to harvest here, either it hasn't grown at all or rotten after all rain we've had. Typical summer weather with other words :-)

Have a great day!
Christer.

MrsDuncanMahogany said...

Lammas blessings to you and yours! Pass the blueberry pie please!

Introverted Art said...

Many blessing on the first harvest Robin. Autumn has innately always been my favorite season. And the blueberry pie is looking good ;-)

AkasaWolfSong said...

Save a piece of that delish looking pie, please? :)

A Very Blessed and Happy Lughnasad/Lammas to You Dear Robin!

xoxoxo

Magaly Guerrero said...

First Harvest blessings to you, dear one.

We celebrated with corn, bread, other veggies and yes, some of our own home grown things. We also shared First Harvest stories with the Little Princess, who after the one about Lugh and his mother decided that we should probably add an ice pack to the living room altar because if "she had to all that work, her feet might hurt."

Yep, I laughed ;-)