Lughnasadh is here! May the blessings of the Corn King shine upon you and fill your larder with abundance. This is the first of the three harvest festivals on the great wheel of the year. Lughnasadh, or Lammas, is the grain harvest. Mabon is the fruit harvest, and Samhain is the animal & soul harvest.
Where I live, all sorts of things are ready to harvest. My tomatoes are spitting out a gallon of fruit at a time. The beans are going crazy too, and the okra is just beginning to come in. My peppers are almost done, except for the jalapeños, which have gotten their second wind. We had a mystery plant that turned out to be pumpkin, and we have several small pumpkins in the garden. It seems strange to see them ripe in July, but then, it has been a strange year.
It's been a hot, hot summer, and it continues to be so. Because of our long, hot growing season, we are actually coming to the end of the first and second plantings (or in my case, one lazy, late planting). It's now just about time to clear out the garden and start over with late summer and fall crops. I think I may replant zucchini on one hill, and add butternut squash on the other hill.
The commercial farms in the neighborhood have tall tobacco plants and cotton bolls beginning to form.
In a spiritual sense, this too is a time of harvest. At Yule, we dreamed and envisioned the year to come.
We cleaned away the cobwebs of the unnecessary at Imbolc. We planted the seeds of our work for the year at Ostara. We watered the seeds at Beltane. At Litha, we celebrated the abundance of the land and of our path. Now it is Lughnasadh, and harvest season begins.
So these questions, suggested by our lovely facilitator for The Pagan Experience...they are interesting for me. This year, I was bound and determined to have a luxuriant basil crop. I'm quite fond of pesto, and my plan was to make a giant batch and put it in the freezer. It's not farfetched; I've done this before. I use the tiniest canning jars, cover the pesto with a layer of olive oil, and then enjoy meals that SCREAM summer throughout the winter.
Mother Nature had other ideas, as it turns out. I did indeed grow a luxuriant crop of basil, but it was a real struggle to keep it alive. Along with the extreme heat, the rain has come in a few giant bursts, rather than an even spread through the summer months. Meanwhile, my work schedule has gotten more and more full.
I let the basil go too long. I didn't recognize when it was time to harvest. It was looking so big and beautiful a month ago, and now it's in full flower and the leaves are dying. This is a powerful lesson about flow for me. When one grasps for more and more, rather than taking in the harvest when it is at its peak, it's easy to lose out entirely. I was upset that it flowered too soon - an early heat wave caused many things to flower before their "normal" time. I'll still get some pesto, but it will be a much smaller batch.
For me, the lesson this year is trusting that my needs and desires will be met. There's no need to worry. I need to take the leaps of faith and take in the harvest knowing that I have enough. I am enough. If I need something else later, something more, that too will come. Perhaps more importantly, I need to remember that perfection is not the goal. Recognize the perfectly imperfect for the blessing it is, and go with it.
This Lughnasadh, I am truly blessed. My life and path are beautiful, messy, abundant and growing all the time. I am stepping into my power more and more. My Clan is flourishing. The year-wheel's turning has been eventful, and truly, all things are just as they should be. I am grateful! Sing it with me:
Hoof and Horn
© Ian Corrigan
Hoof and horn,
hoof and horn
All that dies
shall be reborn
Corn and grain,
corn and grain
All that falls
shall rise again.
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