Lammas:The First Harvest
By Mike Nichols
(Used with permission)
It was upon a Lammas Night
When corn rigs are bonny,
Beneath the Moon's unclouded light,
I held awhile to Annie...
Although in the heat of a Mid-western summer it
might be difficult to discern, the festival of Lammas (Aug 1st)
marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. The days now
grow visibly shorter and by the time we've reached autumn's end
(Oct 31st), we will have run the gammut of temperature from the
heat of August to the cold and (sometimes) snow of November. And
in the midst of it, a perfect Mid-western autumn.
The history of Lammas is as convoluted as all the
rest of the old folk holidays. It is of course a cross-quarter
day, one of the four High Holidays or Greater Sabbats of Witchcraft,
occuring 1/4 of a year after Beltane. It's true astrological point
is 15 degrees Leo, but tradition has set August 1st as the day
Lammas is typically celebrated. The celebration proper would begin
on sundown of the previous evening, our July 31st, since the Celts
reckon their days from sundown to sundown.
However, British Witches often refer to the astrological
date of Aug 6th as Old Lammas, and folklorists call it Lammas
O.S. ('Old Style'). This date has long been considered a 'power
point' of the Zodiac, and is symbolized by the Lion, one of the
'tetramorph' figures found on the Tarot cards, the World and the
Wheel of Fortune (the other three figures being the Bull, the
Eagle, and the Spirit). Astrologers know these four figures as
the symbols of the four 'fixed' signs of the Zodiac, and these
naturally allign with the four Great Sabbats of Witchcraft. Christians
have adopted the same iconography to represent the four gospel-writers.
'Lammas' was the medieval Christian name for the
holiday and it means 'loaf-mass', for this was the day on which
loaves of bread were baked from the first grain harvest and laid
on the church altars as offerings. It was a day representative
of 'first fruits' and early harvest.
In Irish Gaelic, the feast was referred to as 'Lugnasadh',
a feast to commemorate the funeral games of the Irish sun-god
Lugh. However, there is some confusion on this point. Although
at first glance, it may seem that we are celebrating the death
of Lugh, the god of light does not really die (mythically) until
the autumnal equinox. And indeed, if we read the Irish myths closer,
we discover that it is not Lugh's death that is being celebrated,
but the funeral games which Lugh hosted to commemorate the death
of his foster-mother, Taillte. That is why the Lugnasadh celebrations
in Ireland are often called the 'Tailltean Games'.
The time went by with careless heed
Between the late and early,
With small persuasion she agreed
To see me through the barley...
One common feature of the Games were the 'Tailltean
marriages', a rather informal marriage that lasted for only 'a
year and a day' or until next Lammas. At that time, the couple
could decide to continue the arrangement if it pleased them, or
to stand back to back and walk away from one another, thus bringing
the Tailltean marriage to a formal close. Such trial marriages
(obviously related to the Wiccan 'Handfasting') were quite common
even into the 1500's, although it was something one 'didn't bother
the parish priest about'. Indeed, such ceremonies were usually
solemnized by a poet, bard, or shanachie (or, it may be guessed,
by a priest or priestess of the Old Religion).
Lammastide was also the traditional time of year
for craft festivals. The medieval guilds would create elaborate
displays of their wares, decorating their shops and themselves
in bright colors and ribbons, marching in parades, and performing
strange, ceremonial plays and dances for the entranced onlookers.
The atmosphere must have been quite similar to our modern-day
Renaissance Festivals, such as the one celebrated in near-by Bonner
Springs, Kansas, each fall.
A ceremonial highlight of such festivals was the
'Catherine wheel'. Although the Roman Church moved St. Catherine's
feast day all around the calender with bewildering frequency,
it's most popular date was Lammas. (They also kept trying to expel
this much-loved saint from the ranks of the blessed because she
was mythical rather than historical, and because her worship gave
rise to the heretical sect known as the Cathari.) At any rate,
a large wagon wheel was taken to the top of a near-by hill, covered
with tar, set aflame, and ceremoniously rolled down the hill.
Some mythologists see in this ritual the remnants of a Pagan rite
symbolizing the end of summer, the flaming disk representing the
sun-god in his decline. And just as the sun king has now reached
the autumn of his years, his rival or dark self has just reached
puberty.
Many comentators have bewailed the fact that traditional
Gardnerian and Alexandrian Books of Shadows say very little about
the holiday of Lammas, stating only that poles should be ridden
and a circle dance performed. This seems strange, for Lammas is
a holiday of rich mythic and cultural associations, providing
endless resources for liturgical celebration.
Corn rigs and barley rigs,
Corn rigs are bonny!
I'll not forget that happy night
Among the rigs with Annie!
[Verse quotations by Robert Burns, as handed down
through several Books of Shadows.]
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