What is Lammas?
You'll notice in the picture for the Women’s Circle this month the term “Lammas” and might wonder what it means?
Let me take a step back before I explain…. For a long time, something didn’t feel right for me at Christmas – here we are in the peak of summer, days after the Summer Solstice and we’re celebrating a Winter festival. It didn't make sense! I went along to a Summer Solstice gathering and suddenly everything fell into place - why December made me anxious and overwhelmed, why Christmas felt out of place, why I could take a breath and relax after Boxing Day….
It was then that I realised most of the festivals we celebrate during the year align with the Northern Hemisphere. Easter is in April, when the days are getting cooler and the trees lose their leaves – yet we’re observing rebirth and new beginnings associated with Spring. Halloween occurs just as we start daylight savings and our evenings become light and warm, yet this is a festival that recognises the descent into winter and loved ones that have passed (the true Halloween, not the commercialised one). Everything was back the front!
I decided to join a group of women and go on a year long journey celebrating the eight festivals over the span of a year. Roughly six weeks apart, each point has its own unique characteristics that repeat each year as we follow the same cycle through the seasons. When you stop and pause every six weeks the difference from the previous position becomes quite noticeable.
Getting back to Lammas!
We’ve come out of the peak light of Summer Solstice (in late December), and are almost half way to Autumn Equinox (in late March). The midway point in early February is a festival known as Lammas. (If, like me, visuals are your thing, the picture of the wheel will make more sense than this paragraph! note that the wheel travels anticlockwise).
Lammas is the first of 3 harvest festivals. Imagine back to a time when you only had to eat what you produced yourself, now would be a great time of food and abundance – the fruit trees are ripe with produce, the days are still warm and life is good. We notice the daylight hours begin to shorten but we are thankful for what has grown and come to fruition, and decide what either needs our focus or can be released.
When I’m preparing for the Women’s Circle, I use the seasonal influences of Lammas to shape the discussion prompts. (By the way, you can talk about absolutely anything; the prompts are just there if you need a suggestion)
So, how do I now manage Christmas when my body tells me it’s the opposite time of year? Instead of having a Christmas wreath on the table, I made myself a Summer wreath filled with yellow flowers. It appears at Summer Solstice, and is replaced at Autumn Equinox with, you guessed it, an Autumn wreath. It’s just a small reminder to me to flow with the seasons, and that its ok to feel overwhelmed in December (having two birthdays and a wedding anniversary doesn’t help either!)
Below is a picture of my summer wreath. Come Autumn I’ll share a picture of that one, and notice the changes as we cycle through the seasons.
