Hot the shining sun at noontime,
Thick the dust above the grain fields
Brown
the backs that lift the wheat sheaves
Strong arms mark the sickle's swing.
See
the sun that sets in glory,
Mark the full moon's haunted rise.
Hark the call
of pipe and drumbeat,
Come and dance the harvest home.
Grain to feed us
through the winter,
Wheat to bake our daily bread.
Beer to slake our thirst
at evening.
Gifts of the Lady and the Lord.
First the planting, then the
reaping
Hours of praying, days of toil.
Granting of the Summer's promise
Life
continued evermore.
Lugnassad, or Lammas marked the grain harvest to our forbears of northern Europe. And upon the success or failure of the harvest fell the survival of the clan. Now came to fruition the results of the plantings done at Beltane, now one prepared for the long descent into winter. Hard work in the fields was ending, and the people could gather to celebrate with the fruits of the harvest. Most modern Wiccans do not live upon the land and no longer need fear that there will not be enough food to carry them through the winter to come. They need to look upon this celebration through other eyes. We plant projects and ideas rather than crops. Lammas marks a time of bringing our projects of the year to fruition and reaping the rewards of our efforts. And a time of putting away those things which are needful to our lives that they might sustain us through the winter that follows. Honor the meaning of the season and the memory of our ancestors by sharing freshly baked bread and a flask of beer around the circle, thanking the Lord and Lady for the gifts that sustain us still.
copyright © Lark 1998
Last updated July 10, 1998