Understanding & Working in the Lughnasadh Season
August 1st marks the first days of Autumn. Though the temperatures outside may still have the feeling of Summer, now is the time of the first harvests. There is a shift in energy that occurs in this time. We start to slow down to enjoy the bountiful crops that have been growing through the Summer.
If we watch others around us, we’ll notice that they too are changing from the busy go, go, go, energy of Summer to slowing down to gather with friends and family. Which happens to be the best way to celebrate the energies of the Lughnasadh (loo-nuh-suh) season.
Lughnasadh marks the center point of the light season. Unlike Imbolc, a feminine time spent indoors with family, now is a time to celebrate in the ways of the masculine energies. Lughnasadh is spent outside gathering with people from many tribes, meeting for festivals, vigorous sports tournaments, and settling any legal matters.
In early Ireland there were many fairs, markets, or great assemblies for sporting endeavors during this time of the year. Most festivals and gatherings would last for 3 weeks. People would sell their first harvests crops such as wheat and barley, first harvest berry jams, and other crafts they created to neighboring tribes. These gatherings were the ideal time for settling any politics or illegal issues before winter which kept people closer to home. We still see this in today’s world with the abundance of festivals, Renaissance fairs, along with the start of pregame season for American Football. This year we also have the Olympic games happening.
We invite the energies of this cross-quarter day into our lives by allowing ourselves to slow down with the rhythm of the season. There is still work to be done, yet there is time for rest and reflection. To take the time to enjoy gathering with friends and family. To listen and share all the work that’s been done this year and celebrate it with each other.
We allow ourselves to look over all we’ve gone through this year to appreciate all we’ve accomplished and the way we have personally grown. In other words, take the time to stop and smell the roses, celebrate the beauty you’ve created. It’s easy for us to get wrapped up in speeding to our destination. We become so focused on the end point that we forget to appreciate how far we’ve come. Just as the crops grow, so do we. We are allowed to admire the strength and courage it’s taken us to get to this point of our journey.
We can also recognize what is working for us and what we need to set down to keep moving forward. This year, as the days of Lughnasadh approached, I noticed for myself all the labors and tasks weighing me down. Though many have been helpful and even motivational to get me to this point, I’m recognizing that I cannot keep up this pace.
Holding grace and compassion for myself, I’m reviewing, releasing, and calculating the tasks I need to keep for myself and the commitments I’ve made to others. I have not failed in any way by allowing myself to slow down and refocus. I’m merely adjusting to achievable goals and daily tasks to remain balanced and in harmony with myself.
If you find that you are in this space as well, unable to keep up with the pace you are setting for yourself. Allow yourself the grace and compassion to reflect on the best steps forward. Set yourself up for success by allowing what is no longer working to be set down. Celebrate and gave gratitude for all that you were able to do, for all the things you started, and for all the things you have accomplished. Gather with loved ones, and let them help you see how far you have come and all that you’ve done. They may even assist you in setting achievable tasks and goals by giving you permission to refocus on what’s important.
There is still time to finish this year strong. Offer yourself the grace and compassion to accept that you are not failing, and to look at all you HAVE done! You just need to readjust. Create achievable goals that help you work your way up to the final goal. For example, if you want to start or restart meditating, give yourself an achievable goal of meditating daily for 5 minutes. Or even every other day. Instead of the 30 or 45 minutes you feel you want to be doing.
What you don’t want to do is to discourage yourself because you’re not making it to 45 minutes and then you stop trying. If you’re out of practice you may not be able to do 45 minutes of meditation, which is just fine. It takes daily practice. If you’re meditating 5 minutes a day, you’re still meditating. As the weeks go on you can increase the achievable time by 2 to 5 minutes until you get to your final goal of 45 minutes. You may have days that are easier to get to the achievable goal and beyond but try not to push yourself harder than you need to. Especially with the season that we are in now.
Work with the energy of Lughnasadh season to slow down, take the time to review your achievements, and give yourself grace and compassion to refocus your energy.
