Today is the First Harvest of the year. This day marks the transition into the harvest season of August, September, and October (of which there is a Second Harvest and Last Harvest that correspond to these months).
This holiday is often called Lammas, Lughnasadh, or Lugh, although I usually just refer to it as the First Harvest. On my path, it celebrates the beginning of Summer’s decline and ramping up of the busy season where we begin to reap in the abundance that the bounty of summer’s energies has encouraged to grow and flourish.
Like with new moons and full moons, I usually do a spread to check in with myself and give myself some direction for the next couple of months for each solstice, equinox, and other Sabbats. This spread is an adaptation of my Self Care Saturday spread, so there are sure to be some similarities in how it is read. The focus of this spread, though, is not about Self Care, but rather about progress and my path. The time period is also longer, reaching through the next handful of weeks until the celebration of the upcoming Second Harvest (aka. Mabon, Autumnal Equinox) in September.
Theme of the Season – Lughnasadh, First Quarter Moon, Grass Lily (Ornithogalum umbellatum)
Lughnasadh is a harvest festival of Celtic origins with a theme that has to do with competition, hard work, and bounty. Lammas (aka. Loaf Mass Day) is a Christian festival that centered around gratitude and blessings. The themes are different, but in my practice they are combined, which is why I prefer to call this holiday the “First Harvest”, as I feel it connects to both the gratitude and abundance, as wel as the hard work that this part of the season involves.
Half way between the New Moon and upcoming Full moon, the First Quarter Moon is a time to look at the intentions we set and began working toward with the New Moon’s cycle, and reassess how things are going. This is a time of action and adaptation as we apply determination to our goal and move forward, pouring our energies into those things we are working to accomplish during this moon’s cycle. Energy is building as we move toward the Full Moon, and at this time utilizing that energy is the name of the game.
Metaphysically speaking, Grass Lily (Ornithogalum umbellatum) symbolizes innocence, purity, honesty, hope, and forgiveness; and can be used to help in dealing with the shock of loss. In medical circles, it has been researched for use in heart medication to lower blood pressure, strengthen the pulse, and discharge excess fluid in those that struggle to tolerate digitoxin based treatments.
When looking at these three cards together…
Earth – Temperance atop Eight of Wands Rx – Times of rushing and pushing need moderation, but so too do times when things are moving slow. Otherwise, these slow times turn from slow but healthy movement into stagnancy and decay. Don’t jump the gun, and don’t freeze in place. You need to breathe through the uncertainty, and “thread the needle” between the two extremes one step at a time.
Air – Queen of Wands – Direct your focus to the things that you were passionate about, and you have influence over. There’s no point in worrying about the things that you have no ability to change or influence, instead work on those things that you can and do.
Water – Five of Swords Rx – It really isn’t surprising that you’re feeling a sense of defeat at this time. With everything that’s going on in the world right now and how much of it affects you personally, it can be a struggle to keep your head above water and not just give up. This is understandable and these emotions absolutely influence your spiritual well-being. Take time to reflect back upon the Earth position (above) in this reading and keep going anyway. There is grounding to be had by reaching for the shore.
Fire – Ace of Swords – It may take some clever thinking (and possibly some clever doing) to keep things on track right now. This can be helped by communicating what you want to happen to others and listening to their ideas as well. All ideas are good ideas when it feeds your brain, and can possibly give you a new perspective and shake something loose that could be useful.
Waning – The Seer and Moon – Ungrounded divination is not the way to go right now. Make sure you are getting the grounding and centering you need before flirting with the veil. Natural affinities need strong foundations too.
Waxing – The Veil Walker and Distaff – It is time to claim your power by beginning the process of establishing boundaries in your mediumship practice. Moving further along this path, you will need protections in place in order to help in bolstering your strength.
Take Away – Much of what’s said in this reading are an an echo of my month’s end reading, which isn’t surprising since they are overlapping a bit in the issues I’m running into in life right now. The advice here is to make sure you are staying on top of balancing your need to fix things and your need to retreat from the unknown. The anxiety in this tug of war is causing you to be vulnerable in your spiritual practice in ways that you usually aren’t. Make sure you are taking care to uphold your boundaries, and let yourself get lost in the things you enjoy for a bit of relief from the stress.
Twisting the Leaf 