Thoughts on Lammas

Gwyl Awst (Lammas) is the festival that is coming up - roughly the three days of the 31st to the 2nd.

It's one of those celebrations which seems to pass me by mostly unnoticed. Along with the Equinox and Nos Galan Gaeaf (Samhain), to a degree, I considered them all 'autumnal' (even though Gwyl Awst is in the Summer) and as harvest festivals - to me, harvest signified autumn.

They were the festivals with the least personal meaning to myself as harvest had little meaning to my life. I never performed a harvest and the closest I can consider to it would be the summery blackberry pickings with my late grandmother and the Harvest Festivals (where tins and goods were brought in by students and shared out among the elderly members of the community) in school during early September.

A personal decision to make Paganism a more integral part of daily and general practice, this year I hope to make that different with a closer inspection of both the external and immanent meanings.

Wonderfully, moonroot has organised a joint (and partly public) formal celebration of Gwyl Awst in the upper Temple of Star of Venus. This I'm hoping shall help me connect with the meaning of the festival.

On the plus side, this time of year means an abundance of fresh summer fruits! I've been told that it's around this time when berry picking is best for things such as blackberries, bilberries and the like, but my parents are adamant that it's a late august thing. They are becoming more available however.

It's these fruits that are also able to help against colds and help build up the immune system (particularly red coloured fruit). Little consolation now though, as I'm nursing a cold mingled with this allergy to nature (hayfever). I'm off to make a Lemsip!