“Give Thanks for the Blessings”

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 (don’t forget to hover*).

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)

This post is a rerun, with revised dates, because the holidays – and their celebratory posts – are on an infinite loop … or more precisely, the Wheel of The Year. ;)

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*Hover text for those on tablets and smartphones:
Heading: “We herd that!”
– Row 1: ‘A cooperative spirit enjoys a better harvest.’ ~ T.F. Hodge
– ‘Count your blessings and be grateful, not a great fool.’ ~ Habeeb Akande
– Row 2: ‘When you wish someone joy, you wish them peace, love, prosperity, happiness… all the good things.’ ~ Maya Angelou
– ‘The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.’ ~ William Blake
– Row 3: ‘Happiness is seeing blessings in disguise, beauty under camouflage, and love amid conflict.’ ~ Richelle E. Goodrich
– ‘With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see.’ ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
– Row 4: ‘May your troubles be less, Your blessings be more, And nothing but happiness, Come through your door.’ ~ Dorien Kelly
– ‘… there is a season for both sowing and reaping, and sometimes there is a season of simply waiting and watering.’ ~Keri Wyatt Kent
– Row 5: ‘The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.’ ~ Eric Hoffer
– ‘Blessings sometimes show up in unrecognizable disguises.’ ~ Janette Oke

(Crossposted from Views from the Desert Southwest)