LAMMAS - The Turning of the Wheel

I have a wonderful friend who knows much about Celtic ritual. I deeply thank her for introducing me to the “Wheel of the Year” from which I experienced great enjoyment drawing a mandala (see above) inspired by these festivals emanating from Nature’s seasons and the stories of Gods, Goddesses, and everyone in between. She extended an invitation to participate in a local gathering to celebrate the Celtic Festival of Lammas! 

"Lammas" occurs midway between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox, usually in the first week of August each year.  Traditionally, it heralds the beginning of the harvest season, when the early crops are coming in and the summer fruits are ripe.

 
In Ireland, it is "Lughnasad", the festival of the sun-God Lugh. A time of fairs and feasts when the grain is ripening in the fields but not yet brought into the barn. The God Lugh (whose name in Gaelic actually means ‘August’) was directed by his dying mother-in-law that the way to ensure that Ireland would always have a song was to dedicate the entire month of August to games and festivals.  “Lammas” comes from 'Loaf-mass'—the loaf made from the first-harvested grain.

Our gathering was really lovely. We met in the afternoon at a home near the beach. A poem was read and a story told. We then stepped out to the back yard and were instructed to set about gathering various herbs, plants and branches to bind together in a makeshift form of 'John Barleycorn' then consigning it to the flames of a bonfire to symbolically depict transformation.

 

The festivities ended as the evening sun finished melting into the West. There is inspiration in everything....