Lammas and the Circle of Life

The word Lammas derives from the Old English phrase hlaf-maesse, which translates to loaf mass. 

In honor of the harvest festival, we will be breaking bread together, taking stock of the last two years, and making wishes for the time to come.

The full moon is today. As we go forward into the month, at the time of the waning moon, we release what is no longer needed. We also celebrate what we have in the full light of our lunar sister.

We call on the energies of Lugh, the Celtic craftsman god, whose name is part of the alternate name for this holiday, Lughnasadh, and Arianrhod, who is the Celtic goddess of the moon.

By celebrating Lammas as a harvest holiday, we honor our ancestors and the hard work they must have had to do in order to survive. This is a good time to give thanks for the abundance we have in our lives, and to be grateful for the food on our tables. Lammas is a time of transformation, of rebirth and new beginnings.

We also remember at the time of bounty those times of scarcity. Lammas is a time when the grain is sacrificed in order that the community may live through another cold season. The root of the word sacrifice is the same as the word sacred, and we honor the grain king that dies and is born again in the next turn of the wheel. We say that the forms pass, but the circle of life remains.