Lugnasad, or Lammas, is the cross-quarter
holyday in early August which celebrates the first harvest of the grain. The first harvest is always the greatest,
and grain is important to us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
I held a Peace Feast at my home a few years
ago, and invited sisters to join me in focusing on Peace. I invited everyone to bring something that
represented Peace to add to the altar.
One friend brought grains of rice; she said if everyone were fed there
would be peace. How simple, and how
true. Conflict has always broken out
been between the have’s and the have not’s.
The collecting of grains and the making of
bread to share with family and community has long been an important seasonal
ritual. The age-old myth of
Persephone’s return accounted for the reflection of Demeter’s joy in the
fertility and bounty of the Earth.
Bread has been an important character in our stories, whether the
unleavened bread of Passover or the sacred bread of Communion to more mundane
rituals of sharing abundance and breaking bread together.
Grain took
on a whole new dimension to me two years ago when I visited crop circles in
English barley fields. I’d never been
in a field of grain – other than corn – and as I walked the tramlines through
the acres and acres of barley plants, I truly understood the term “the staff of
life”. The barley was alive – like the
ocean – responsive to the wind, the sun, the clouds. I recalled the scene from The Gladiator symbolizing his
passage to paradise as I brushed my hands along the tickling tips of the barley
plants. I heard Eva Cassidy’s version
of Fields of Gold in my head. I
deeply felt the joy that the plants had in growing towards the sky. As they brushed against each other, it was
as if in applause of their being.
I could feel the energy
of the grain that was bent (not broken) to the earth in magical patterns as I
walked in the crop circles. Crop
circles are mysterious occurrences, and I know that the Circle Makers mean only
to give us wisdom, healing, and peace with their exquisite sacred geometric
art. During the growing season, the
grain rises to stand straight and be harvested with the rest of the field. The following year, however, there may be a
“shadow circle” created by the seeds that were shaken off the heads of the grain
by those walking the circle.
I’d never eaten barley before that
visit. Now I cook with it to celebrate
any ritual of gratitude for the abundance with which we are gifted. Barley soup, barley casserole. I even use raw barley in some of my
art. The crop circles affected every
aspect of my being.
While Lammas is the holyday that celebrates
the harvest of the seeds we have planted, I also like to use this time to
consider what seeds I want to plant now.
These are seeds of actions to come based on dreams and hopes.
Blessings
of an abundant harvest!
Peace,
Kate
(These are photos I took while in the crop circle shown (the bottom one shows the circle's proximity to Silbury Hill, an ancient sacred site) in the summer of 2008.)
