Lammas and Time of the White Goddess

 

 

 

***White goddess done with tutorial from Aug 11^th, Tuesday’s challenge - Jenny Manno and Next JENeration Art

This is the Loaf Mass month, term coming from Old English, and Lammas is celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. The harvesting begins and we are called to reap what we have sown.  It is the season of gratitude.  While Lammas is usually celebrated August 1, I tend to celebrate it all month long.

The white goddess calls to me this month.  She reminds me she is the mother before mother; she is who gave all birth; she is wo calls to us upon death; she is that which gives us and all things rebirth.  Mother Nature follows her ways; she sprouts each spring, manifests bounty come summer’s harvest; she is the winter death of all things in all ways; she is the rebirth each spring again and again.  She is that which rises, grows and is slain, only to rise again.  She is our path, our guide, our all-knowing mother before Mother.  Mother Earth manifests the Great Mother’s way and it manifests in us with each new beginning, each blossoming within, each time something dies within us only to rise again in new ways.

The Spiral Dance by Starhawk)

Listen to the words of the Great Mother, who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Ceridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid and by many other names:

"Whenever you have need of anything,
once in the month,
and better when the moon is full,
you shall assemble in some secret place
and adore the spirit of Me
who is Queen of all the Wise.
You shall be free from slavery,
and as a sign that you be free
you shall be naked in your rites.
Sing, feast, dance, make music and love,
all in My presence,
for Mine is the ecstasy of the spirit
and Mine also is joy on earth.
For My law is love unto all beings.
Mine is the secret
that opens upon the door of youth,
and Mine is the cup of wine of life,
that is the Cauldron of Ceridwen
that is the holy grail of immortality.
I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal
and beyond death I give peace and freedom
and reunion with those that have gone before.
Nor do I demand aught of sacrifice,
for behold,
I am the mother of all things
and My love is poured upon the earth."

Hear the words of the Star Goddess,
the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven,
whose body encircles the universe:

"I who am the beauty of the green earth
and the white moon among stars
and the mysteries of the waters,
I call upon your soul to arise
and come unto me.
For I am the soul of nature
that gives life to the universe.
From Me all things proceed
and unto Me they must return.
Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices,
for behold—
all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.
Let there be beauty and strength,
power and compassion,
honor and humility,
mirth and reverence within you.
And you who seek to know Me,
know that your seeking and yearning
will avail you not,
unless you know the Mystery:
for if that which you seek,
you find not within yourself,
you will never find it without.
For behold,
I have been with you
from the beginning,
and I am that which is attained
at the end of desire."

This month, I keep this writing in front of me to remind me to be grateful for all things.  This is the month of baking bread, of using Mother Nature in creative ways.  I have baked my frybread, I have gleaned and scaled the Gold eye fish to use in fish scale art, I have put out my broom and made the stick man to put slips of paper in to represent that which must die ( my bad habits I am going to change, etc.) and burn the stickman.  I will show more of these things to you as the month goes on. 

I have ground the bark of the ash tree for use in my smudge this month.  I have added cornmeal to my altar.  I am using our new honey as soon as it is taken from our hives and use the wax as well this month.  I am honoring my Celtic/Norse heritage in ways that are new to me. 

Here are some ways you can decorate for Lammas

https://www.learnreligions.com/easy-decorating-ideas-for-lammas-lughansadh-2562200

I honor the Mother before Mother each morning with a smudge and a prayer of gratitude.  I shall send up prayers for you all as well.

©Carol Desjarlais 8.14.20