Lammas (Lughnasadh)

Here is our Lammas Table. The three candles on the left were made from natural beeswax and decorated with coloured beeswax. Then we picked an apple for each snowflake to make the special candle holders. In front you can see our dough boy (Lugh) with a grain sheaf wand that is slightly damp because it poured for most of the day, making our nature walk a very short one. The snowflakes also had some Lammas stories, did some pictures, made a pine cone bird feeder, and helped me start preserving the apricots before it was time for our seasonal feast.

While the children learn about this time of the year being a time of harvesting the first fruits and grains, for Daddy Snow and me it is also a time to contemplate other, less concrete, kinds of harvest. I particularly liked this snippet from All Year Round:

St. John the Baptist sowed the seed for a change of heart at Midsummer, and since then, this seed has had time to ripen into a resolve. An initiative is always needed to turn a resolve into a deed, but when are we ever really ready to take an initiative? Forty days after Midsummer, the Festival of Lammas reminds us that it is possible to bake a loaf with grain that is not fully mature, and offer it with trust at Life's table.
The rest of the harvesting will continue, and the tempered seed will finally be gathered, sifted and weighed before being cast in future seasons. Meanwhile, let us value even the immature offerings of our heart, for their spontaneity and vitality!