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I’m from the Midwest, where corn is king. If you live in there or pay attention to the news, you probably know that the harvest is looking a little bleak this year. And what about when you don’t have a garden? Or when that project falls through? Or you lose a job at the wrong time?
What do you do when there is nothing to harvest?
There are tons of posts about Lammas/Lughnasadh right now; posts full of bread recipes, stories about Lugh, lists of correspondences, ritual ideas. And they are all mostly great, don’t get me wrong! But no one hardly ever writes about what you are supposed to celebrate when the reason for the season just isn’t present in your life. Especially when its the start of the harvest season…
So, what do you do when you have nothing to harvest in your life? Or when you have no really tangible connection to the seasonal harvest? Do you celebrate anyway? Or do you skip a turn and hope for better luck next time?
I really don’t know the answer to these questions. Especially when it comes to this holiday. I’ve never felt all that much kinship for it, in comparison to other holidays. I mean, I don’t worship the Celtic pantheon, and it sort of feels like a day that was just tucked in there to make an even Wheel of the Year.
These past few years have been difficult for many families, not just my own. And while I do have a bit of a harvest (of the non-garden type) to celebrate this year, when I couldn’t think of anything to write that wouldn’t be too much of a repeat of what others have written, I ended up thinking about words as a type of harvest–writing as the reaping of thoughts…which lead to thinking about having nothing to write again, and therefore nothing to harvest. Is it more important to celebrate in hard times, or is it harder to celebrate?
Or maybe its both.
Maybe we need to find our harvest, even if we have to make it ourselves, from our own blood, sweat and tears. Maybe we just need to find our harvest and celebrate the crap out of it, even if we’re not sure we have the energy, or the money, or the time. Maybe we need to find our harvest, whether it be in our life, or from the earth, or from something else, to remind us that there is still a harvest, even when it seems otherwise.
EDITED TO ADD: I finally got to check out my feed, and I have to say that, after substituting a few things, this sums up my feelings on the matter nicely.
bay witch musings 