Lammas 2009
This will go down as a memorable Lammas weekend. Lammas, the first of three harvest festivals celebrated July 31st, August 1st or 2nd, is one of my favorites because Lammas, for me, is Fair Season. It is a celebration of the best and the brightest. Lammas is the livestock shows, grand champion vegetables, prize-winning pies and embroidery, truck-pulls, politicians and other geeks, the Midway, lemon shake-ups and fried food on a stick.
This is the season of the Butter Cow, an icon of the Illinois State Fair for more than 80 years and the first great idol of my Pagan life. I must have been about four when I first saw it, and I try to remember to watch the annual sculpturing on the Butter Cow cam.
Lammas is also known as Lughnasa, for the Irish God Lugh, Master of Arts. Harry Potter, born July 31st (as was J.K. Rowlings) can be considered an avatar of Lugh. Lughnasa, however, was not a celebration for Lugh, but funeral games for his foster-mother, Tailtiu. Quidditch, The Tri-Wizards Tournament, and the mundane Highland Games and the Olympics are in the spirit of Lughnasa.
I spent this morning at the Fancy, Schmancy Flea Market at the Franciscan Center: an eclectic mix of artisan vendors, craft stores, a masseuse, musicians, etc. It was sunny, breezy morning on the RexPlex lawn and even if I am not particularly a morning person, it was lovely. Then I went to a private Pagan Lammas ritual.
CIPS did not put on a Lammas ritual. The people who have planned the rituals for the last year–myself included–all took a big step back this Sabbat. A few of us gathered for a quiet supper on the 1st and talked about where the group was going to go. So I was blind-sided this afternoon when I discovered that the organizers of the private ritual were forming a new group. They are wonderful, dedicated people and I wish them well, but I don’t think I am going to sign up.
I guess I am back to being a solitary.
Filed under: CIPS, Wheel of the Year and