First Harvest

Lughnasad, Lammas, First Harvest.. today's celebration has many names and is celebrated by many cultures and nations in our world.

Autumn... Winter! What are you even talking about??

Understandable that during this warm summer month nobody wants to think about the oncoming autumn, especially when you live in a country where the summers are incredibly short. But summer won't last forever, and while the sun is still high in the sky, we do notice that the days are not quite as long anymore as they were a few weeks ago. The sunset is a deeper red, too and those rainy days bring cooler air our way. The next six weeks are all focused on harvest but they also lead to autumn, and as much as I dislike the idea of cooler and wetter weather, it is something that I can't change.

You might wonder how this season of harvest applies to you if you don't grow crops? Believe me, you have grown a lot over the spring and summer: Ideas. Plans. Intentions. It is time to reap what you have sowed in a practical and in a spiritual sense and it is time to take stock. What have I grown? What can I reap that will help me through the coming winter? What do I not have that I still need?

In a wider sense, the First Harvest and the following weeks until Alban Elfed is also a time of sacrifice. We have to sacrifice the crops we have grown, the beauty that is produce to bring them in and store them away for the colder months. On a spiritual level, this means that you should consider this: in letting go (in sacrificing) you will receive. What are you willing to let go to move to a new level? The corn that is being sacrificed at First Harvest is being transformed into bread. What can you turn into bread?

Have a think about it and enjoy this time of year, the sun, the warm air, the fruit of your hard work.

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