Lammas – Thoughts about Harvest

Last updated on: July 28, 2015 at 7:02 am by Gwion Raven

Lammas – Thoughts about Harvest 2015-07-28T07:02:43-08:00 Gwion Raven

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Note: This article was originally published Lammas of 2014 on Gwion’s website, however, it describes one of his favourite Lammas rituals ever.

Lammas-tide is upon us. Over the past week there has been a variety of public and private rituals. I’ve seen postings of summer hand-fastings and Lughnasa games and thoughts about what Lammas means to Pagans I respect a great deal. Our collective Pagan community, contrary to popular belief, does know when to eschew black garb and break out our brightly coloured clothes.

“Harvest” is a word often mentioned at this time of year and here in Northern California there are many harvests already in – Local apples, plums and tomatoes – and many more getting ready. We’ll likely still be harvesting grapes and squash in October.

Photograph from our own personal stash.

I celebrated Lammas this year with the North Bay Reclaiming community, of which I’m closely associated. The ritual we planned focused on abundance; that which we have already harvested throughout the year and that which we’ll carry forward for the balance of the year. We worked with Freya and Freyr, which surprised some people. There’s a lovely story of Freyr, a Norse harvest god, keeping one acre wild. This, the lore suggests, is a message reminding us of balance, sustainability and allowing some areas of our lives to remain wild and uncultivated.

Over the past few years a lovely tradition has come out of this Lammas ritual. We create an abundant, edible altar. Folks bring local fruits, vegetables and flowers picked from their gardens, home-baked breads and spreads, wild blackberries gathered from the park we meet in, and all manner of other tasty treats. As the ritual ends, we feast on this community altar. Folks can take anything that’s left over if they want it, and especially if they need it.

We added a new wrinkle this year – participants were asked to bring a magical item, something dear to them that they’ve used in their magical practice. The idea being that passing along magical tools, be that an athame, a wand, a cherished book or statuary, is part of our abundance too. I really enjoyed this part of our rite. We shared stories of why these items were so important to us. I know the item I gave was a real sacrifice. It’s a book I’ve had for nearly two decades, one that I’ve read and re-read more times than I can count. It’s about ways that we can re-enchant our every day lives and it has served me so well. The person that “harvested” this item from the altar mentioned that they are looking to do just that – make their every day life special.

Lammas Altar – Picture by our good friend Irisanya

Looking inward for a moment, I reflected upon my own work for the year so far. I set out wanting to create a balance of service in community (locally and beyond, within my tradition and without) and rest for myself. I’ve learned to carve out that one wild acre for myself. Time that I spend alone, unstructured, following my whims in the moment. It’s that uncultivated, unscheduled part of me that allows me to dream and wander and play and interact with the world in an unfettered and enchanted way.

And that is what I’m harvesting this Lammas – The acknowledgement of my wild acre!

Hoping you have a wonderful Lammas!

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Lammas - Bread Magic

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