Guest Author - Linda J. Paul
To the farming communities of medieval Europe, the first of August was the beginning of the harvest season. This was a time when the first grains, vegetables and fruits were ripe and ready for harvesting. At Beltane, the first of May, the seeds were planted, and on Lammas, the first of August, the resulting bounty was a good reason for celebration.
Lammas marks the “dropping” of the sun. The long, high -sun days of summer are coming to an end as the sun starts it’s southward journey through the heavens. August 1 is the beginning of the solar autumn. Along with the celebration of the harvest, the ancient farmers also understood that this was also the time to start to make preparations for the coming winter.
The August 1 date of Lammas, is one of the four annual cross-quarter days-- or days that are at the midway point between the solstices and equinoxes on the solar wheel of the year. The other three cross-quarter days are Groundhog day (Imbolc), May Day (Beltane), and Halloween (Samhain). By the reckoning of the modern calendar, the official beginnings of the seasons are marked by the Summer Solstice (Litha), the Winter Solstice (Yule), the Autumn Equinox (Mabon), and the Spring Equinox (Ostara). The solstices and equinoxes all fall in the third week of December, March, June and September respectively. By ancient standards, many cultures considered the seasons to change on the cross-quarter dates. These dates actually are the starting and ending point of the four solar seasons.
In Pagan cultures, even today, Lammas was and is the time to honor the Sun God and the Gods of grain. In days of old this was done by ritualistically sacrificing the first grains to ensure the continuity of life. Lammas, also known as Lugnasad and Lughnassadh, festivals honored the Sun God Lugh, the God of light. John Barleycorn was also recognized on this day as the personification of barley and other grains, as well as the brews that were made from them.
The name Lammas actually derives from “loaf mass.” During this earl Anglo-Saxon feast which celebrated the corn crops and the grain, the corn king was put up for ritual sacrifice. John Barleycorn was sacrificed and then restored symbolically predicting the death of the corn at summer’s end, and the rebirth of the corn the following spring.
As Christianity reached the Isles of Britain, these early pagan rituals were replaced by a Mass in which the first harvested grains were baked into loaves of bread then taken to the church and blessed. These “holy loaves” were offered as thanksgiving to God. As time went by, the original meaning of Lammas faded into obscurity. That is until 1843, when Reverend R.S. Hawker, decided to revive the Harvest Festival in Cornwall England, urging participation in the celebration of Lammas in schools and churches throughout Britain.
In many agrarian communities, the last harvested sheaf of grain was treated with special honour, for the farmers believed that with the cutting of the last sheaf, the corn spirit retreated into the soil. There in its underground refuge, the corn spirit slept throughout the Winter until Spring. In the Spring that last sheaf was returned to the fields when new seed was being sown, so that its spirit would awaken both seed and land.
Lammas abounds with customs and traditions. One traditional custom was the construction of the kern-baby, corn dolly, or corn maiden. The last harvested sheaf of grain was braided into the form of a woman, which represented the Harvest Spirit. (We still see remnants of this tradition in America as corn husk dolls).
The doll would be saved until the following Spring, and then ploughed into the field to consecrate the new planting and to insure a good harvest. In other traditions, the corn dolly was fed and watered throughout the Winter months, and then burned in the Beltane fires in May to insure fertility of the fields.
Cross -quarter days were also Fire Festivals for the Celts. At Lammas, the custom of lighting bonfires was intended to add strength to the powers of the fading sun. The ash from the fire was brought into the homes and kept throughout the Winter as a protection against storms, lightening, and fires caused by lightning.
Lammastide was also a traditional time of year for craft festivals. Craft fairs still are popular late summer events in Britian and also in America. We see the celebration of Lammas in the small town or country fairs that abound throughout the nation at this time of the year, complete with agricultural competitions and midway games. We still gather together at this time of year to pay homage to the land and the fruits of the first harvest.
As the heat of summer ripens and then fades, along with the grains and fruits, it is a time to give thanks to the Earth for providing its bounty. So, eat, drink and be merry…
Happy Lammas!!
