Dearest Sparkly Reader,
Can you feel the summer fading and the night coming sooner? It's been super subtle, but if you're awake at sunrise/sunset you'll notice sunrise coming a little later and sunset coming a little earlier everyday. When I started on this path, sun times were what I paid attention to in order to feel the shift in the seasons. Where I live in South Texas, it can be hard to feel the shift because of the transitional humid subtropical climate. Winters are short and not so cold and summers are long, hot, and humid. Just because we don't often get snow, doesn't mean the seasons don't change, the cues are just more subtle. I've also recently heard someone talk about this time of year as "the goldening", and that's just such beautiful imagery to me, even if all I see in my city is the gold of dry, crispy grass! I love the idea of colorful intensity of summer becoming the golden fall.
We're still in the thick of Leo season during this time; a shiny, heart centered part of the year where everything seems possible, even when Virgo is waiting in the wings with her to-do list.
The fading light brings us to the first harvest. Lughnasadh/Lunasa/Lammas started as an Irish Celtic festival to commemorate the God Lugh, who was a God of human skill, kings, and heroes and eventually might have become known as a solar deity. There's murky and conflicting tales of the reason behind honoring Lugh as the deity of this season, but it seems like offerings of wheat and fruit, possibly also beef were made to the land in gratitude and to ensure future harvests. There are a ton of other resources out there that'll do better justice to the history and mythology of this festival, so I encourage you to read a wide variety of sources.
In the modern sense, this time of year marks the midway point between Summer Solstice and Fall Equinox. The first harvest usually evokes images of wheat and berries. According to the USDA website these fruits/veggies are also in season during late summer, although that may vary by your climate: bell peppers, blackberries, corn, green beans, okra, peaches, summer squash, tomatillos, tomatoes, watermelon, and zucchini. To get a better sense of your climate zone, maybe check out a farmer's market in your area or the local produce section of your grocery store. These ingredients make me think of pasta dishes, salsa, and pie. What a great way to enjoy summer's bounty!
The first harvest also prepares us for letting go and realizing death is part of nature's cycle. This can be a difficult and painful lesson, which is why nature gives us so much time to absorb it. When fruit is picked, we can tend the greenery, but for annual plants the life cycle of the plant is coming to a close. Even perennial plants or trees are preparing to send more energy and nutrients to shore up their roots after the fruit doesn't need those resources anymore. We start getting the first gentle nudge to release, clear out, and till under. The wisdom of the natural world knows how hard it is to go through a season of grief and how much we change during that period of fallowness, so it lets us start gently, with outside reminders that not all things last forever and to enjoy beautiful experiences while we're in them.
Nature is asking us to tend our inner garden at this time also. What have we grown in our lives since spring? What has withered already? What has borne fruit that we're enjoying now? Maybe we have perennials in our lives that we continually nurture like family, pets, career, and our self-development. Even these can have seasons of growth and dormancy. Is there are part of your life that is exceptionally bountiful at this time? Is there an area of life that's gotten crispy and dry from too much intensity or neglect? If it's something you still want in your life, water it with your attention. It's also ok to decide it wasn't a priority and pull it up for compost so you can focus on what's really rewarding. For example, if your spring intention was to be the kind of person who goes to the gym everyday, but your membership card would hiss at seeing the light of day again, maybe try something significantly smaller like 5 min of stretching in the morning, or a short walk around the block. Or maybe life is just too hectic for any of that, and it's easier to focus on eating more veggies right now. That's what I mean by looking at things in your life that have withered and need to be composted. It's not a failure to say it wasn't the right time in my life to make this a priority and that you were able to grow other parts of your life beautifully at this time because they had your attention and resources to flourish.
Journal Questions:
What has brought me the most joy this year?
Where do I have abundance in my life right now?
Where can I lean into gratitude in my daily life and how does that feel?
Ritual Ideas:
Have dinner alone or even better with friends or loved ones. Try to include some seasonal fruits or veggies into some of the dishes. Most importantly, feel your heart expand with gratitude for the people you love.
Start (or restart) a gratitude journal. School supplies are available in many stores now, so maybe a fun, new notebook will get you inspired.
Meditation:
Check out a video mediation for gratitude here: https://youtu.be/gROWAR0sJ74?feature=shared
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