Lammas / Lughnasadh

“Lammas is the seasonal peak of high summer, and as with all Cross Quarter festivals, it represents a change in the manifest energy. Summer feels as if it will last forever, but now we begin to see the first signs of change and transformation. In the fields the cereal crops have turned from green to gold and are gathered in. The first fruits, nuts and seeds are ripening and we must think about what we wish to gather in, such as seeds and plant medicines that will see us through the winter. This is a time to make the most of the fine long days, travel about, have adventures and walk the land.

Here we begin to assimilate and gather in our own harvest, the first fruits of our active phase now manifest in the outer world – the harvest of our hearts’ desires, and the fruits of our labours. This is a period of assessment as we begin to gather ourselves together again after much scattering of energy. This is often a holiday period, and gives us time to take a reflective look at ourselves. In the spring we planted the seeds of our hopes, our dreams and ourselves. Some things may have manifested and some not. The Lammas assessment helps us to have a deeper understanding of our actions and our selves at this point in time.

At Lammas we count our blessings and give thanks for all that we are harvesting. Being aware of them will help us to see ways to take them forwards into the next part of the cycle.”

From Sacred Earth Celebrations by Glennie Kindred

“Full round apple, peach, pear, blackberry.
Each speaks life and death
into the mouth. Look
at the face of the child eating them.

The tastes come from afar
and slowly grow nameless on the tongue.
Where there were words, discoveries flow,
released from within the fruit.

What we call apple – dare to say what it is,
this sweetness which first condensed itself
so that, in the tasting, it may burst forth

and be known in all its meanings
of sun and earth and here.
How immense, the act and the pleasure of it.”

Sonnets to Orpheus I, 13 by Rainer Maria Rilke, quoted in A Year with Rilke by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows

“I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child. What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common-sense.”

From the 1896 journal of Beatrix Potter (1866 – 1943), writer, artist and Unitarian, born on this day

International Day of Friendship

“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.”

Saint Basil (330 – 379)

“You are not the oil, you are not the air — merely the point of combustion, the flash-point where the light is born. You are merely the lens in the beam. You can only receive, give, and possess the light as the lens does. If you seek yourself, you rob the lens of its transparency. You will know life and be acknowledged by it according to your degree of transparency — your capacity, that is, to vanish as an end and remain purely as a means.”

From Markings by Dag Hammarskjöld (1905 – 1961), UN Secretary-General and Unitarian, born on this day

“I remember I used to half believe and wholly play with fairies when I was a child. What heaven can be more real than to retain the spirit-world of childhood, tempered and balanced by knowledge and common-sense.”

From the 1896 journal of Beatrix Potter (1866 – 1943), writer, artist and Unitarian, born on this day

“O God, you have given us a beautiful earth—
Grant us the wisdom to use it well.
Lead us to an inner life in which we can rejoice.
Speak peace to us, that we may live in peace.
May your mercy and truth meet together
Righteousness and peace kiss each other,
Surrounding us with your light.
Help us know true prosperity,
And be gentle with your Earth.
Guide our feet in the ways of peace.”

Psalm 85 Peace by Christine Robinson

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Without, everything seems discordant; only within does it coalesce into unity. Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakes.”

Letter to Fanny Bowditch, 22 October 1916, by Carl Jung (1875 – 1961), founder of analytical psychology, born on this day

“The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and death, in ebb and flow.. I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.”

Rabindranath Tagore

“A rabbi asked his students, “How do you know that night has ended and the day is returning?”
One answered, “Is it when you see an animal in the distance and can tell whether it is a sheep or a dog?”
“No,” the rabbi replied.
Another asked, “Is it when you look at a tree in the distance and can tell whether it is a fig or an olive tree?”
“No,” replied the rabbi. “It is when you look upon the face of any man or woman and can see that he or she is your brother or sister. If you cannot do this, no matter what the time, it is still night.”

Hasidic tale, shared in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection