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Easy Ways to Add Mindfulness to Your Daily Life and Reduce Stress

By Charley Sunday

Busy parents juggling work, family schedules, and a never-ending to-do list often want calmer days but don’t have extra time to “add one more thing.” The challenge is that stress shows up in the small moments, snapping at a kid, doom-scrolling at night, or carrying tension from one task to the next, when there’s no space to reset. A simple mindfulness practice fits into real life because it’s about attention, not perfection, and it can deliver steady daily mindfulness benefits like calmer reactions and more choice in tough moments. This beginner mindfulness guide offers mindfulness for general readers who want stress reduction techniques that feel doable.

What Mindfulness Really Means

Mindfulness is simple, but specific. It is moment-to-moment awareness of what’s happening right now in your mind, body, and surroundings, without judging it as “good” or “bad.” Think of it as noticing your experience, instead of running on autopilot.

This matters because stress often comes from getting pulled into worries, replaying a mistake, or bracing for the next task. Mindfulness helps you pause long enough to choose your response, which can support mental health over time. A review found mindfulness therapy showed positive effects on depression, anxiety, and stress.

Picture loading the dishwasher while your brain plans tomorrow’s chaos. Mindfulness is feeling the warm water, noticing tight shoulders, and taking one slow breath before continuing. The situation stays busy, but your nervous system gets a reset.

Gratitude journaling makes that pause easier by giving your attention a clear place to land.

Build a Gratitude Journal in 5 Minutes a Day

Once you know mindfulness is simply paying attention on purpose, gratitude becomes an easy place to practice.

Start a gratitude journal by jotting down the things you’re thankful for, especially the small, everyday joys you might otherwise skim past. This kind of gratitude is about noticing what’s good right now and letting those moments help you stay positive and open to what’s possible, so you can actually enjoy the present instead of rushing through it. Many people find that positive mindset habits feel more doable when they’re rooted in real, ordinary wins.

Next, you’ll build on that same awareness with simple mindfulness habits you can do anywhere.

Try 6 Everyday Mindfulness Habits You Can Do Anywhere

Mindfulness doesn’t have to be another big “project.” Think of it like your 5-minute gratitude journal, small, repeatable moments that help you notice what’s already happening, without needing perfect conditions.

  1. Do a 2-minute yoga mindfulness exercise (breath-led): Try three slow rounds of: inhale arms up, exhale fold, inhale halfway lift, exhale fold, then stand. Keep your attention on the feeling of breath moving your ribs instead of how the pose looks. If your mind wanders, gently label it “thinking,” then come back to the next inhale.
  2. Practice tai chi for mindfulness with one simple “flow”: Pick a tiny sequence you can repeat, shift weight left/right, slow arm circles, then a soft “push” forward and release. Move at about half your normal speed and aim for smooth transitions[ mindfulness is in noticing things like the shift of pressure in your feet. This is great while dinner cooks or during a quick break, and it’s naturally low-impact.
  3. Use breath focus meditation as a quick reset (with a count): Sit or stand and breathe in for a count of 4, out for a count of 6, for 10 cycles. You’re training your attention to stay with one steady anchor, and observing the breath can be surprisingly calming when you do it consistently. If counting feels stressful, drop the numbers and just notice “in…out.”
  4. Try mindful listening techniques in everyday conversations: For one minute, listen only for tone and pace, no planning your response. Then reflect back one simple summary: “So you’re feeling ___ because ___.” This works with kids, partners, coworkers, anyone, and it often lowers tension fast because people feel heard, not “handled.”
  5. Turn one meal or snack into mindful eating practice: Choose the first three bites to slow down: look, smell, chew fully, and set the utensil down between bites. Notice one pleasant detail (warmth, crunch, spice) and one neutral detail (texture, temperature) without judging either. If you already do gratitude journaling, try adding one food-based “win” afterward like “I ate without rushing for five minutes.”
  6. Do a 5-minute body scan meditation when your brain won’t shut off: Start at your forehead and move down, face, neck, shoulders, chest, belly, hips, legs, feet, spending one slow breath per area. You’re not trying to relax perfectly; you’re practicing noticing sensations (tight, heavy, buzzing, calm) and letting them be there. If you get restless, scan faster, momentum counts.

A few small reps matter more than long sessions. When you’re busy or distracted, having several “grab-and-go” options makes it easier to restart without guilt.

Mindfulness FAQs for Busy, Distracted Days

Got questions before you start? You’re not alone.

Q: What if I only have one minute, does it still count?
A: Yes. Mindfulness is about being fully present and aware for whatever time you have, not hitting a “perfect” duration. Try one slow inhale and exhale while feeling your feet on the floor, then return to your day.

Q: How do I stop getting distracted while I’m trying to be mindful?
A: You don’t have to stop being distracted. Notice it, label it simply like “planning” or “worrying,” then choose one anchor such as breath, sound, or a physical sensation. Each return is the practice.

Q: When is the best time to practice if my schedule is unpredictable?
A: Attach mindfulness to something that already happens, like washing your hands, starting the car, or waiting for water to boil. A consistent cue beats a perfect time.

Q: Why does mindfulness sometimes make me feel more stressed at first?
A: Slowing down can make you more aware of the tension you were pushing past. Keep it gentle, shorten the practice, and focus on neutral sensations like temperature or contact with a chair.

Q: Can I be mindful without sitting still or meditating?
A: Absolutely. Practice mindfulness without being overly reactive while you move, eat, listen, or breathe. Pick one ordinary activity and do it 10 percent slower for a week.

Small resets, repeated often, build the calm you’re looking for.

Turn Mindfulness Into a Simple Weekly Habit That Sticks

Busy days, constant notifications, and a wandering mind can make mindfulness feel like one more thing to manage. The gentle approach here is mindful lifestyle integration, small, realistic moments that support a sustained mindfulness commitment, even when practice is imperfect. With steady repetition, mindfulness benefits show up as calmer reactions, clearer attention, and quicker resets when stress spikes. Mindfulness works best when it’s small, consistent, and woven into real life. Choose one habit for the week, schedule it, and take regular breaks from devices to protect that space. That kind of supportive mindfulness conclusion matters because a few grounded minutes a day builds resilience for everything else life asks of you.

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Connection

As an introvert, I do a lot of listening.  However, I have noticed that when I am in a group and think I am listening, quite often I have tuned out and am lost in my own thoughts.  That doesn’t happen near as often when I am with one person, sharing in conversation.

Clearly there are times when I am with someone who is a “talker” and our conversation is mostly a monologue.  I find this need to talk comes either from being alone most of the time or from not being listened to by anyone.  So when I care about someone, I simply listen as the rattle on.  Pretty soon however, the pace slows down and the content of the conversation takes on substance and if we are lucky a true conversation can begin.  If it doesn’t, then at least the other person who needed to be heard got a chance.

There are other conversations that we can have that we might call discussions.  In these two or more people tackle a subject, tear it apart, analyze it, chew it up and finally spit it out. The whole idea is to analyze the subject, look for answers, agreements or results.  These discussions can be extremely stimulating.

Then, there is what we call a dialogue.  You might think that discussion and dialogue are the same thing but in truth, dialogue happens in a uniquely different way.  The meaning of the word dialogue is “words flowing through.”  This is really very different from discussion.  Here we have a completely open-ended exploration where all parties enter with the spirit of inquiry. A discussion is something that arises out of the intellect and a dialogue comes straight from the heart.

We can see the difference quite easily if we look at how we might approach a conversation about a truly “difficult” subject, one that has many emotional triggers for the people involved.  If this is the case, discussion would build walls between them, when dialogue offers the hope of true understanding.

Listening to another is for most, a learned skill.  Listening and truly hearing can be the most valuable gift we can give another.  Listening involves letting go of the need to speak, the need to counter, the need to give advice and to simply open and receive what another needs to say to us.  In requires that we become still and open to receive. We suspend our judgments and assumptions, and listen to understand rather than agree.

Certainly, in this process of listening, we can offer acknowledgement of what is being said along the way, but we don’t take away the conversation from them. We give of ourselves in this way to allow the other to unfold. For me this is “heart listening.”

I have found, for myself, that this kind of listening becomes a gift for me as well.  When I can open myself in this way to another, my soul is able to touch their soul in a sacred communion of being.

When I deeply listen to you
it is as though
all the walls I have built around myself
disappear.
That space between us
no longer exists
as a boundary between strangers.

The oneness of who we are
and the whole of who we are
Create new patterns of being.
When I deeply listen to you
Understanding and a deep knowing
of our shared experience
connects me to you in a way that is holy.

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Hethert  ~ Het-Heret ~ Het-Heru ~ Hathor

“House of Heru” Another Name known from predynastic times, Hethert represents the feminine principle, as reflected in several of Her symbols: the cow, the mirror, and the ritual rattle or sistrum. Hethert is patroness of women, and professions given to Her priesthood include dancers, singers, actors and acrobats; even up to Greek times the arts were under Hethert’s dominion. Hethert’s temples, especially that at Ta-Netjer were centers for both healing and midwifery. Priests in the temple of Ta-Netjer conducted oracles with Hethert in trance rituals held in crypts underneath the sanctuary, and any person could sleep on the temple roof and hope for a dream, which could be interpreted the next morning by the priests. Hethert’s association with both cows and the sistrum probably results from Her assimilation of the Predynastic Netjer Bat; “sistrum capitals” atop the pillars throughout Kemetic temples show Hethert’s full face with cow’s ears atop a “naos”-style sistrum. Hethert was closely associated with Heru-Behdety at Edfu, perhaps influencing the fact that She was a patroness of Kemet’s queens (as Heru is to the king, so Hethert is to the queen). Some queens are referred to by Hethert’s titles of “Mistress of Heaven” and “Lady of Gold.” Nefertary’s spectacular temple at Abu Simbel in Nubia depicts the Great Royal Wife as Hethert in many places; and her husband Ramses II is depicted in its sanctuary, suckling from the udder of Hethert as a divine cow. ”

I am the Soul of Hathor

Het Heru
(Greeks called her Hathor)

Het Heru is the goddess of beauty, love, sensuality and all the shiny things in life.

She is envisioned as being a very beautiful maiden usually adorned with jewelry and wearing a crown made of a pair of bull horns with a solar disc.

Het Heru is the goddess that motivates us to seek our hightest potential. She is the energy that gives us a sense of fulfillment that allures us to quest after change. Her erotic force, which stimulates passion is what motivates us all to change. It is for this reason that she is also called the goddess of love and passion.

She loves the colors green, yellow and pink. Her sacred number is five and her day of the week is Friday. Though she owns all jewelry but her favorite metal and stone is brass and diamonds, as they are her best friend.

Hathor, Womb of the Origin

Her essential hieroglyph, read as Het Heru, which translates as the house of Horus symbolizes Hathor in her ancient role as sky goddess. Here she is seen as, the primeval waters or womb of space where the great illuminated one Horus, the oldest of the sun gods, represented here by the falcon was conceived, brought forth and dwelled.

In her form as the celestial cow that nourishes all creation, Hathor is an ancient goddess who originates from pre-dynastic Egypt. Pictured in this form with stars on her belly, horns of the crescent moon and a solar disk on her head, Hathor, the ‘mother of the light’ and ‘golden one’, is the loving consort of the powerful sun god Ra. Throughout the literature she is alternatively referred to as Ra’s mother, daughter, and powerful shining eye. According to the eminent scholar of Egyptian studies E. A. Wallis Budge, Hathor was perceived as “the great Mother of the World,” and the “power of nature that was perpetually conceiving and bringing forth, rearing and maintaining all things, both great and small.” In this role she represented the fullness of the feminine experience. “She was the mother of her father, and the daughter of her son. Heaven, earth and the underworld were under her rule and she was the mother of every god and every Goddess.”

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Mindful Eating

Slow Down to Nourish: A Practical Guide to Mindful Eating

In a world that moves fast, eating has become something we often do on autopilot—between meetings, while scrolling, or standing at the kitchen counter. It’s no wonder so many of us feel disconnected from our food and our bodies.

Mindful eating offers a gentle way back.

Mindful eating isn’t a diet or a set of restrictions. It’s an invitation to slow down, tune in, and rediscover the pleasure and wisdom in each bite. Whether you’re hoping to build a healthier relationship with food or simply want to enjoy your meals more, mindful eating is a powerful place to begin.

What Is Mindful Eating?

Mindful eating is the practice of bringing full presence to the experience of eating. It means noticing the colors, textures, smells, and flavors of your food—and how your body responds to it. Rather than labeling foods as “good” or “bad,” mindful eating focuses on awareness, curiosity, and compassion.

It helps you reconnect with your natural hunger and fullness cues, so eating becomes less about rules and more about honoring your body.

The Core Principles of Mindful Eating

  1. Eat With Awareness
  2. Check In With Your Body
  3. Slow Down
  4. Savor Your Food
  5. Pause Mid-Meal
  6. Release Judgments

Why Mindful Eating Matters

Mindful eating can transform your relationship with food in subtle but meaningful ways. It can help you:

  • Reduce emotional or binge eating
  • Improve digestion
  • Increase satisfaction with meals
  • Break free from dieting cycles
  • Cultivate a kinder, more connected relationship with your body

When you slow down and listen, your body becomes a reliable guide.

A Simple Mindful Eating Exercise

The next time you eat, try this short exercise:

  1. Sit down at the table. Take three slow breaths.
  2. Look at your food. Notice colors, shapes, and textures.
  3. Take one intentional bite. Chew slowly.
  4. See if you can fully taste the first 3–5 bites—often the most flavorful.
  5. Notice how your body feels as you continue eating.

This small shift can create powerful awareness.

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Danu – The Ancient Celtic Mother Goddess

Danu is a legendary mother goddess who sits right at the heart of Celtic mythology. She’s mysterious, powerful, and a quite magical. People have been telling stories about her for ages, and even though we lack many details, Danu’s influence is everywhere. From folklore to festivals, her spirit is very much alive.

You’ll find Danu in some of Ireland’s oldest texts, like the Lebor Gabála Érenn (“The Book of Invasions”), which basically lays out the wild and ancient history of Ireland. The Tuatha Dé Danann—whose name means “People of the Goddess Danu”—are said to have arrived in Ireland from a misty, magical place in the north. Th were said to control the weather, change their shape, and were talented in art and music.

Danu’s name is linked to rivers all over Europe and Asia, not just Ireland. So, her legend might stretch from Ireland to the Danube and beyond. She us all about life, growth, and abundance. She wasn’t just an Irish goddess—we find her in many ancient cultures.

Danu is the Earth Mother. She is fertility, the changing seasons, and the cycle of life. The land itself is seen as female. Danu is the spirit of Ireland’s green hills and winding rivers. Peopleleft offerings for her at springs and riverbanks, hoping for good crops and a happy family.

She is also a goddess of wisdom and magic. Poets, bards, and druids look to her for creative inspiration and answers to life’s big questions. Some stories say she welcomes souls into the Otherworld—a mysterious, mystical place full of knowledge and eternal youth.

The Tuatha Dé Danann

The Tuatha Dé Danann are gods of Irish mythology. Led by famous gods like Dagda (the “Good God” with his magical cauldron) and Brigid (goddess of poetry and healing), they possess all talents and arts. Danu is the Mother and at the center of most of their mythology. When they landed in Ireland, they conquered the Fir Bolg and took on the monstrous Fomorians.

Most of their stories, found in epic tales like the Cath Maige Tuired (“The Battle of Mag Tuired”), are concerned with fighting, magic, and eventually disappearing into the fairy mounds to become the Aos Sí—the spirits of the land. Throughout all of it, Danu’s influence is there, quietly guiding and nurturing them.

Danu hasn’t faded away—far from it! Today, she is prominent in neo-pagan and druid traditions. People call on her for help with creativity, growing things, and protecting the environment. You will see some of her legends in Irish art, music, and stories. She is a symbol of the deep connection between people and nature.

Artists, writers, and musicians still find inspiration in Danu’s story. Her legend fuels environmental movements, goddess worship, and a general love for all things ancient and wild.

 `Danu isn’t just a myth—she’s a symbol of life, mystery, and transformation. Her story is ancient, weaving together nature, magic, and the human spirit. Whether you picture her as a river goddess or the heart of the earth, Danu reminds us to stay connected to the land and the old stories that make us who we are.

Music: Words by Desnne Quarrie, music generated at suno.com

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Me and the Sea

I look up and see my boulder. A favorite place to sit and watch the ocean.  I stand here looking for the best way up. Rocks will serve as giant stepping stones to reach my goal, in between, small little pools.

Oh! Look!  A crab scurries by hoping to hide from my glance.

I sit like a bird on a perch, my boulder, a smooth grey stone. Behind me, I feel the rising sun, before me, the grey morning sea, White caps are caught in the wind that eventually reaches me, blowing in my hair.

I feel free here in the sky!  Tall and strong, but it is time to go. I climb down, careful to not step in the little pools.

On the beach now, the sand, cool under my bare feet.  Over to my left, mounds of kelp brought in by the sea. I remember, as a child, hanging that kelp all over me, pretending to be a giant sea monster!

At last, I stand at the edge, water lapping over my feet, pulling the wet sand over them, moving back to the sea.

So peaceful here, alone with only what belongs to the sea, like me. The little sand pipers running around finding bits to eat. Seagulls call to me and pelicans are diving for a meal, reminding me that I am hungry too.

And so, I leave, grateful to have this place, forever mine, within my memories.

Deanne Quarrie, D. Min.

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The Divine Feminine

I grew up in the Episcopal Church. I believe my parents chose that for us because members of my father’s family were Anglican. As it turned out, they all stopped going after a year or so, but I continued by myself.

Every Sunday when I came home, my father and I sat at the dining room table to discuss what the lesson was in Sunday school.  He would ask me what they taught me that it meant.  Then he would suggest that perhaps it could have a different meaning and then share his.  Finally, he would ask me what I thought it meant.  After sharing my thoughts, he always told me that what I thought was the most important thing.

The Episcopal Church is like that.  Each of us might have a different slant on meanings and most of the time we do not really share them with each other.  We find comfort in our own interpretation.

At some point in time, my child’s mind created a holy family of Father, Son and the last, Holy Spirit, the Mother. I knew even as a child that every living creature has a mother. I am aware that the Church as a whole does not think of the Holy Spirit as being female, but historically the Holy Spirit, the grammatical gender of the word for “spirit” is feminine in Hebrew (רוּחַ, rūaḥ).  All words in Hebrew ending in “ah” were considered feminine words. I do confess, that in my heart of hearts, I know that the Holy Spirit is the Mother of God.

I grew up outside. My early childhood was spent exploring the foothills of the San Bernadino Mountains and my summers were spent on the beach and in the Pacific Ocean.  Water was my element. I learned to body surf at the age of four and found incredible freedom in the water, floating, swimming and riding the waves.

It was only natural that my spiritual path became focused on the natural world. The love of nature, combined with the gift of magical thinking, handed down to me from my parents, created who I am today.

It seemed so right that my spiritual path diverted, and all emphasis was now focused on the divine feminine.  At the age of forty-five I knew that I would spend the rest of my life, helping women find their own power and to learn to be one with all things on this Earth where we live.

I live in an apartment complex for seniors, built by an Episcopal Church forty years ago.  Because members of that church are involved in activities here, I got to know them and their priest. Because I really like them and love how their Church is involved in amazing outreach into the community, I decided to go visit.  My visits have now turned into being fully involved there. That involvement has lifted the spirit of love in my heart. I have found a spiritual community where I belong.  Not a bad thing at the age of 82.

I am still Her Priestess – still working with women, still loving all the many goddesses that assist us in being all that we can be. Still a mystic. Still a believer in magic. That will not ever change.

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Inanna’s Return and Bread and Waters of Life

Most of us know the story of Inanna’s descent into the Underworld to visit with her sister Erishkigal. The reason for her visit is that Erishkigal’s husband has died and Inanna was a childhood friend of his and she will visit to pay her respects.  As she travels to meet her sister, Inanna must pass through seven gates where they ask her to remove and part with aspects of herself so when she approaches Ereshkigal.

Upon arrival, her sister, who is angry because she believes that her husband loved Inanna, hangs Inanna from a meat hook to die.

While Inanna was in the Underworld, Ninshubur waited three days for Her to return, and when she did not she thought all was lost and began to mourn for her. She visited the temple of Enki who agreed to help her. Enki knows the nature of the underworld and its rule by a jealous, anguished Erishkigal.  As a god he has the power to create and ease hardship. From the dirt under his fingernails, he creates the kurgarra and galatur, instinctual, asexual creatures endowed with the artistic and empathic talent of being professional mourners, capable of mirroring the lonely queen’s emotions.  These little asexual creatures represent the attitude necessary to draw a blessing from the dark goddess. He commanded them to go to the Underworld where they found Erishkigal in the throes of agony and reeling from the misery she has caused. When she moans, they moan with her, appeasing her anguish by the echo of their concern, affirming her in her suffering.  Enki has understood that complaining is one voice of the dark goddess, a way of expressing life, valid and deep in the feminine soul.

When she sees their sympathy she offers them a gift. They are to ask only for the corpse of Inanna and, having received it, are to resurrect her with the bread and water of life.  They perform the task of bringing Inanna back to life, reviving Her with the gift of the bread and water of life. But as they prepare to leave but Anunna stops them and tells them she may not leave unless someone comes in her place.  Inanna agrees to find someone and is allowed to leave.

She returns to Demuzi, her new husband, only to find him enjoying himself, drinking, feasting and making music while she was suffering. Enraged, Inanna decides Dumuzi should be the one to take her place in the Underworld.  She directs the Anunna to seize him, which they do. Dumuzi desperately pleads with Inanna to relent, but she turns her back on him. He then appeals to Utu, but he too forsakes him. The Anunna carry Dumuzi away.

Inanna’s descent into the Underworld is the Sumerian mythology to explain the Dark Times and the absence of the Goddess.  It is at Imbolc (the beginning of Spring – our Ground Hog Day) that Inanna is given the bread and water of life.  This is the promise of returning life, the first stirring of the Bright Goddess’s return to us. She has not yet returned to her Temple, nor has she chosen Demuzi to be Her replacement.   She is alive – and returning.  It will be at the coming Spring Equinox that Demuzi will be taken to the Underworld.

Hail Inanna!  Blessed Be the Gift of the Bread and Waters of Life!

Retrieved at Inanna, an Opera of Ancient Sumer http://www.craton.net/inanna/main.php?action=synopsis

Retrieved at Library of Halexandria http://www.halexandria.org/dward385.htm

Perera, Sylvia Brinton, Descent to the Goddess, Inner City Books, Toronto, Canada 1981

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Difficult Conversations

If words that we speak misfire and cause pain.
Please ask us to clarify and fully explain.
For often it is our limitations at play
For choosing our words and what to say.
Please make no assumptions but give others a chance.
Don’t judge them without asking, please allow them to enhance.
Hold back in assuming, don’t jump at a thought
Be open and ask or all is for naught.
When caught up in emotion we can travel two ways.
We either shut down completely or fail to convey.
Don’t jump to conclusions but rather choose trust
And ask what is meant  and not assume we’re unjust.
Let us choose love and expect the best
And question our reactions, that is our test.|
For love is the answer and a willingness to forgive.
It will strengthen our friendships and bring peace as we live.
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Tailtiu, Primal Earth Goddess for this Season

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

“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