The time of the grain harvest
Lughnasad marks the harvest season. Fruits and vegetables ripen, the grain has turned golden, and the grapes grow plump and sweet. It is an intensely busy and happy time, especially for gardeners. We toiled in the spring, and now it is time to harvest the fruit of our labour and enjoy them.
The period from spring to late summer is fraught with danger. Late frosts can kill sensitive starts, and summer storms may ruin a crop in just a few minutes. A good harvest is always hoped for, but never guaranteed. This year, we are witnessing the devastating effects of climate change. After many years of exceedingly hot and dry springs and summers, this year we had unseasonably wet weather. Without water, there is no life. But too much water is no good either. It washes away the topsoil and drowns plants and animals.
In the Christian tradition, Lammas marks the harvest season. The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘hlaf-mas’, meaning ‘loaf mass’. Bread and wine are the traditional sacraments of the Eucharist. And this is the period, when corn and grapes are getting ready to harvest.
But harvesting the seeds is only one stage of the perpetual cycle of life. Ideally, what we harvest now should sustain and nourish us through the winter, when the Earth is barren and still. To sustain life, a part of the harvest is sacrificed and returned to the earth. We reap as we sow, but we also sow what we reap.
Facing the unravelling climate catastrophe, we are grateful for anything we can harvest today. We must change our practices and learn to adapt and live more sustainably. We depend on Mother Earth and if we want this cycle to continue and provide for our children and children’s children, we must act now.
There are many solutions, but continuing in the old ways is not among them.
The future starts now.
