Lughnasah Harvestide - Mind the Detour/Going for the Gold

There should have been a draft of this post,
a sketch of this record of remembrance of ritual.
But within the absence of solidity,
we begin again.

Lughnasah with it's languorous heat and endless August,
marks times of change,
spiraling towards Autumn,
imperceptibly.

A small group,
each delayed by the detour,
which had impacted our behavior
up here on the mountain
for so long
that it became forgotten.
Closed roads mandating exploration and navigational self-trust.

A new person,
connected through the Organization,
sharing stories and experiences
as we shared many kinds of chips and dips and cheeses.
Cake later. 

Maintaining safety and protocol,
looking out for self and others,
grateful to be together.

The storms of this season have necessitated a reckoning
and assessment of strength and love.
Leaves begin to change, most flowers gone to seed,
the peaches ripen.
Sunrise is much later and Sunset earlier.
Cycles upon cycles upon cycles.

Listening and Hearing
Looking and Seeing
Doing and Being
DoBeDoBeDo.

Not much notes not in order and some pics from then
it's not the same as being here

hot hot hot
thick muggy hot

iced water and more iced water
and our iced waters

self-care
letting it go
too hot to hassle

gathering flowers
magnificent sweets

Sacred Space
slowing down to get there
being there then
and moving on
(through the woods to the Nemeton
and around and through again
noticing and remembering
honoring and recognizing
and back home)

at Specialtimes we try to reach out
and touch and communicate
back and forth
with these great friends

go a bit deeper into the posture
(let it be 100%)

the thistle
(then in full flower and full of flying beings
now with flying seeds and those who eat those)

here's to found family
to what and who we foster
to shine in ourselves
and harvest our highest
abilities

 

 

Our Omens

from our Beloved Dead: Jera or Harvest

from the Spirits of Nature and Place: Berkanu or Birch or Beginning

from the Gods and Goddesses: Gibor or Gift and Giving

for the Season: Ansuz or Os or the Voice or the Wind

Mid Summer Solstice past

this season started full and fruitful and on schedule
and then everything changed.
we participated in the greening, the summer, early dawns, the endless cycle of blooming and tending
with no time to write about ritual
being so much in the present of each day.
And then everything changed.

Not everything-just us, our lives, our daily rituals,
replaced with the ritual of hospital trips,
the checking of vital signs,
coordination and advocacy and endless fruitless tests.

At one point I dreamed we were walking
and the leaves were turning and it was so beautiful,
but I wondered where summer had gone.
And now we can walk together once again
on our gentle Earth Mother,
we can walk together to offer prayers and gratitude
to our dear Bridget,
we can sit together like normal
in the new normal.
Notes from our solstice ritual:

everything on schedule, setting up and eating and cleaning.
as always people cancel and others show up
4 full families holding ritual
and additional ones before and after.
Kids and babies and snacks and water.
 

my often disaffected teenager tells me:
”I just know this is going to be a great ritual”

So much color and light.

Discussion of the nemeton before ritual,
the Order of Ritual especially shared for those folks who have never been here,
detailing the sacred space,
and detailed discussion after ritual
of the lore of the sacred center.

processing as family
across the land into the woods, over the moss to our center.





more than enough offerings
never enough gratitude
birds, crickets, stream & a plane. 
Listen.

standing on the Earth grounded
& then
standing on the Earth letting go.

gratitude of yogurt, then birch tea, then water
and more clean water.
 
endless handfuls of flower petals
rose petals heart shaped
love.
 
pinnacle and what is not the pinnacle
remove the false pinnacle.

flaming ball of chocolate.
siren call at some important time
dollar bill sacrifice.
”hear and answer us-give us a sign”
flame extinguished immediately
and then just as quickly re-alived.

our omens:

from our Ancestors: need
from the Spirits: Ing
from the Gods & Goddesses:year
for the Season: fee
Need-Ing the Yearly Fee-what we need, what we do, our annual harvesting, and what things cost

women by the fire at night
summer vacation begins

summer time hey hey hey hey
laughing in the summer time
loving in the summer time.