“Give Thanks for the Blessings”

August 1, 2016 JanF Featured Posts, Just Grazin' 5

Happy Lammas!!

Hey, wait just a minute! Those are happy llamas … which is not the same thing at all!

Today is August 1st, the pagan holiday of Lammas or First Harvest. It is the first of three harvest celebrations on the Wheel of the Year. But because this is a pagan holiday that does not have a corresponding non-pagan holiday, it may be one that you have never heard of.  

Lammas is also called Lughnasadh and is halfway between Summer Solstice (Litha) and the Autumnal Equinox (Mabon). In the northern hemisphere, this holiday signals the approaching darkness just as Imbolc, on the opposite point on the Wheel, signaled the approaching light. As with all holidays in earth based traditions, the holiday celebrated on August 1st is connected to what is happening with the earth. Lammas celebrates the first harvest, one of three harvests each year. Lammas is a time of transformation, of rebirth and new beginnings and, above all, a time to give thanks for the blessings in our lives … and the blessing of life itself.

Let us join with the goddess’ creatures to give thanks for those blessings.

And since one can never have too many blessings (and the camelid family is so darling), here are some blessings from alpacas and vicuñas to all-a-youñas.

‘When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place.’ ~ C.S. Lewis

To all my pagan friends, Blessed Lammas!

And to everyone, may your own harvest bring you great abundance.

Song: Lammas Song, Artist: Lisa Thiel, Album: Circle Of The Seasons

Give thanks for the blessings, give thanks for the lessons
Give thanks for all that the Goddess Provides
Give thanks for this showing our dreams are now growing
Give thanks for the presence of the Goddess in our lives

Thank You, Thank you, O Great Mother Thank You…
Thank You, Thank you, O Great Mother Thank You.

With the first Green Corn our dreams are now taking form
We ask for the strength to see the true harvest born
Mother of the Corn, of Hoof, and of Horn
We thank you for the Bounty you’ve brought to our door
Mother of the Grain, of the Sun and of the Rain
We pray for an abundant Harvest again
We give thanks for the Blessings, give thanks for the lessons
We give thanks for all that the Goddess Provides

Thank You…

(Blessings and harvest hover quotes courtesy of GoodReads.com)

5 Comments

  2. What a delightful post, Jan, for which many thanks!

    This is one of my favorite holidays, as it is my daughter’s birthday and she’s as golden a Leo as you ever saw.

    I also love the bittersweet nature of Lammas, signaling the approaching darkness. (Wonder what cats have to say about this?) Summer is on the wane, autumn approaches.

    I won’t bake bread today, alas, but when I have Miss Pink Cheeks to myself in late August, we will bake bread from scratch. (I teach her the meanings of the sabbats without trying to convert her, of course.)

    But I do love this sabbat and thank you so much for taking note of it. A blessed Lammas to you and blessed be, Moose Sister and BlogGoddess!

    • I like Lammas for several reasons. One is that the Lisa Thiel song for this holiday is one of my favorites! The other is, as you noted, it is bittersweet – we are mostly done with summer, in a few weeks the kids go back to school and we start settling into our Fall routine. I have to admit that summer is not one of my favorite seasons because I do not like heat or humidity; my favorite is Autumn and Lammas signals that the dark of the morning, when the earth is quiet, will return along with cool nights and a more predictable schedule.

      Blessed Lammas to you, Moose Sister!

  3. Thank you, Jan. I must confess I like the in between holy days best – whether it’s Lammas “harvest well, the night is coming” or Imbolc “hope comes on the Morning Star”, Beltane “rejoice in the new fruits” or Samhain “rest from your labors, all is secure”. Blessings be on us all, Golden Light of Healing/White Light of Love cover the Earth and all that’s on/in Her. Srsly.

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