We are in the season of Lughnasadh, also known as Lammas.  This is the first of three harvest festivals.  This one focuses on what we call the “first fruits”, those fruits, vegetables and grains ripening early in the season. The other two are Mabon and Samhain, one celebrating the harvest of the last crops and the next that of the herd animals sacrificed to feed the tribes.

In the many myths about this festival there is a consistent theme, that of sacrifice. To see the abundance of our harvest, it is important that we also honor the sacrifice made to assure it.  Typically, the stories are of the great feats of Lugh is association with this special season. Lugh, the great hero of the Celts, was the child of Cian of the Tuatha Dé Danann and Ethniu of the Fomorians. The union of these two forged an alliance of two tribes.  He was given in fosterage to Tailtiu, Queen of the Fir Bolg, wife of Eochaid mac Eirc, the last of the Fir Bolg Kings, further deepening this alliance. Lugh’s story is about birth and transformation.  He is a powerful archetype who achieves his greatest gifts through adversity.

There is some confusion in these Celtic stories for we find different versions that often conflict with each other. One version is that Eochaid, King of the Fir Bolg created a great festival in honor of his queen, Tailtiu.  Other stories say that Lugh created the festival in her honor of his foster mother when she died.  However, it began, this festival has been celebrated for a very long time and still is, in many places.

“Lammas” by Wendy Andrews”

So, who was Tailtiu?  Tailtiu, the last queen of the Fir Bolg, died from exhaustion after clearing a great forest so that the land could be cultivated. Without land on which to grow food, her people would perish. When all gathered at her death-bed, she told them to hold funeral games in her honor.  She prophesied that for as long as they celebrated in this way, Ireland would not be without song.  Her name comes from the old Celtic Talantiu, “The Great One of the Earth.”  From this we believe she may originally have been a personification of the Land itself.  There was a time when Lughnasadh had an older name, Brón Trogain, which refers to the painful labor of childbirth. From this we might see that at this time of year, the Earth births her First Fruits in order for us to live.

The people of early Ireland held the festival at Teltown in County Meath (its name derived from Tailtiu). Over time it became a great tribal assembly conducting all the business of the tribe. There they made legal agreements and had discussions about political issues.  It was also a time for handfastings, as well as large sporting events with races of all kinds.  As with all “faires”, many kinds of things were bought and sold. There was storytelling, music, and much revelry.

This festival seems to have two origins. The first is Tailtiu who died from exhaustion after clearing a great forest so that the land could be cultivated and second, we have Brón Trogain, which refers to the painful labor of childbirth; both great sacrifices. Sacrifice does not come without pain. Brón Trogain was also the name for the month of August and means, the “month of sorrow.” We can associate this sorrow with the death or subduing of the land-spirits and the sadness felt by tribe over the fact that the plants they have birthed and nourished must now be cut down. All must die for the harvest to be won. This was a gift freely given. She cleared the land for the crops and gifted them to her foster son and the tribe. In either case, the origins point to the sacrifice of mothers – the laboring and birthing as well as the nurturing.

As women we are aware of the meaning of sacrifice.  Those desires and dreams we release in order to birth and raise our children; personal sacrifices we give to another for love; the time spent working while raising a family; the work and sacrifice necessary for maintaining a home as keepers of the hearth; the pain and sorrow of our progeny’s (all of our creative endeavors) failures and losses, not our own, but felt through our connections as creators.

It is also the great festival of Lugh, or Lug, the great Celtic Sun King and God of Light. August is His sacred month when He initiated great festivities in honour of His mother, Tailtiu. Feasting, market fairs, games and bonfire celebrations were the order of the day. Circle dancing, reflecting the movement of the sun in sympathetic magic, was popular, as were all community gatherings. August was considered an auspicious month for handfastings and weddings.

But underlying this is the knowledge that the bounty and energy of Lugh, of the Sun, is now beginning to wane. It is a time of change and shift. Active growth is slowing down and the darker days of winter and reflection are beckoning…

The Sun God, Lugh, as John Barleycorn, is the living Spirit of the corn, or grain. As the corn is cut so John Barleycorn is cut down also. He surrenders his life so that others may be sustained by the grain, so that the life of the community can continue. He is both eaten as the bread and is then reborn as the seed returns to the earth. The first sheaf of corn is supremely important, produces the first (and best) seed and assurance of future harvest. Death and rebirth. Everything dies in its season. Everything is reborn. This is our whisper of immortality. And the wonderful bittersweet of Lammas.

Many years ago, a group invited me to priestess for a rite at Lughnasadh. I felt ill prepared as I had not yet found a way to identify with this festival, so often masculine in nature. I decided to take myself into a trance and see if I could journey to an earlier time when this festival was honored.  I don’t know where I went.  Where is much less important that what I saw and felt.

I was standing next to a large field of golden grain which was moving in waves at the urging of the wind.  I was holding a tall scythe in my right hand, and I was gazing out over this field.  I could feel the hot sun behind me and an equal warmth in my heart as it filled with pride at the beauty of this fine harvest before me.  I was proud of the work I had done and yet felt even more was the gratitude for the rich soil, the frequency of rain and the energy of the glorious sun shining down, the energy of the Mother, giving life to this crop which I am about to sacrifice, in all its bounty, so that I might live yet another year.

Let us enjoy and celebrate our early harvest, the bounteous gifts we have received, for the sacrifices we and others have made.  Let us give thanks for this bounty.  Let us dance and make merry that the fruits of our labor have manifested in this joy.  Let us offer grateful hearts for all the sacrifices made each day.  Let us honor those we have made, those of our mothers, fathers, friends, and family and finally, by our plant and animal kin who have given us the gift of life. Let us honor all those who clear the fields from which our crops are harvested.

Deanne Quarrie 2013

Summer Solstice is a traditional time to honor Aine, Goddess of Love, Light, and Fertility who is also Queen of the Faeries. Aine’s name means “Bright” and She is typically honored when the sun is at its peak of power.  The Solstice is associated with abundance, beauty and bounty.  It is not necessarily about the harvest season, as that is yet to come.  However, everywhere we look we can see the abundance of the Mother and so it is when we first acknowledge, with joy, what is before us.

In my Tradition, the Summer Solstice falls within the Oak Moon, the Moon in which we “court the lightning bolt.”  What that means to us is that with our roots planted firmly in the ground, as does the Oak tree, now is the time to take all of our plans and put them into action.  “Go for it” is what we are saying to ourselves and to the world.

We call on Aine for aide in love, fertility and prosperity. We ask for Her help in claiming our own power and in experiencing true joy in life.

In this rite our work will involve taking a look at the preparations we made earlier in the year and then looking at all the work we have done leading up to this moment. In order to bring in the last of our bounty, those dreams not yet manifest, now is the time for us to take a “leap of faith.” Aine is calling to us saying, “Take a risk, and put your heart’s true desire into action!” It is time to “Court the Lightning Bolt.”

If we have been procrastinating – that has to stop. Indecision – putting off – all of that has to go away.  We need to understand that now is the time for decision making.  We must trust that the Universe will support our decisions.  This is our magic!  For once we make a decision – once we decide to act – doors open!  Once our intention is made known. We will be supported and what we need will fall into place.

Aine is asking us to take a leap of faith and jump wholeheartedly into putting the dream into play!

With our work done in the discovery process of what is already done, as well as what still needs to be done, we call upon Aine. We say to Her, to the Universe and to any there who listen, “I now take the Leap. With your help, Aine, I am ready! This is my Will. So Mote It Be!”

One other little part of Aine’s story is of particular interest to me.  My tradition, The Apple Branch has its roots in the Faerie Faith Tradition

Aine is known for teaching human children about love, both by taking human men as lovers and also by teaching humans how to share and express love in sacred ways. She gave birth to many children, some of them with mortal men and with those unions, created a magical Faerie-Human race.

Throughout time, we humans have inquired about our origins.  Where did we come from?  Are we star seeds?  A mix between gods and human animal forms? Did we breed with aliens?

We of the Faerie Faith, know that our origins began with the Fey. We love to think that we are those Faerie-Human Children of Aine, and hence our connection to the Gods of Old.  Perhaps you as well?

Anyway, returning to our original story… Are you ready to reach for the stars?  Are you ready to leave that place of indecision and with gusto, take a giant leap to claim what is yours? Take the power of the Sun from Summer Solstice and with the Full Moon coming up, call on Aine to guide and protect you in your own Giant Leap!  She may come to you as Lair Derg, a red mare that no one can outrun or She may be Beautiful Aine with long red hair, held by a headband of fallen stars. Either way, She walks among us, offering aide where She is needed.

May the Goddess of Light, Love and Fertility, bring us the sun’s power and life force and the moon’s mystery of intuition and regeneration. May She be with you and protect you as you move through these glorious days of Summer.