Let me just start out by saying I was not born in August. I was however, born again yesterday. Yesterday I finally fell into Summer. I walked slowly down the road for a good long mile, tracking my perceptions. Time seems to slow with the lazy sound of crickets, the high heat and sunshine. Strangely, in the presence of so much heat, a naturally moving force, at its peak, things actually begin to turn, to slow and ripen. This is an interesting turn of events. In all the activity, all the chaos of wild growing green, suddenly yellow or red begins to appear. Fruits begin to hang heavy on the branches, waiting for us to harvest. Deep magenta, deep purple, the color of fire mixing with water, the alignment of our will, our purpose with our now opened hearts. I find deep solace, deep nourishment in these moments when my heart opens and my mind stills, captured by the brilliant expression of the world.
Today is the eve of the cross-quarter day between Summer solstice and the beginning of Fall on September 21st. These mid-points in each season always bring special messages, special energies to us. August 1st or August 2nd is traditionally called Lammas or Lughnasagh, an ancient holiday celebrating the first harvest of grain. Historically celebrated with bread and beer made from these grains, these days with everyone going gluten-free (or in my case, grain-free) we might wish to find a new way to honor the harvest. What in you has come to fruition this Summer? What in you needs recognition, honoring? What is ripening, deepening and falling into your lap?
"There is a cauldron's call sounding in the late summer days inviting us to deepen and renew, wisps of steam rising and bubbles of possibility breaking the surface. The pot is on, the flavors are melding, our lives are coming to a boil. Remembering our task to re-call the fragments of our attention under a silver moon, reminded of what it means to truly care, we allow the cries of the world to touch our weary hearts, where they might yet take root and bear fruit."
Molly Remer
As many of you know, what has bubbled up from the pot of my life this year is a new dharma teaching centered exactly on how we might care for our weary hearts and the hearts of others. Guan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion, speaks directly to our sore selves in these times of so much plague and war. She hears our longing, cares for our sickness and creates a space that can accommodate us all.
I love to imagine that we ourselves are in the pot and our whole life is coming to a boil. I feel that boil in myself. I am more and more aware of my own desire to be of service. This you could say is the flaming up of the fire, the spindles of flame or the turrets of smoke or steam that rise from the pot. Fire makes things visible, available, bringing them to the surface so they can be reckoned with. Both relief and fear arise as things come into awareness through the heat and fire.
As part of the celebration of this mid-summer energy, I’ll be offering divination sessions tomorrow. Using either the I Ching or the Tarot cards, these sessions create little windows into the moment, peppering the pot with insight into the very specific conversation that is your life. There are still spaces available for tomorrow, Tuesday, August 1st.
"Born in August" is an old Scottish saying that refers to this mid-summer holiday. It is a way of saying that someone is noble and generous, sharing their harvest. From Donna Henes in her description of this holiday “ ..we can behave, as they say, as if we were born in August. We can, in fact, become august, wise and generous and gloriously noble, each in our own chosen path.” I was born in July and again yesterday as the noble summer begins to ripen and the harvest begins to come in.
Warm, even hot wishes, that you will enjoy the stillness and harvest of this late summer! I’d love it you might share the fruits of your personal harvest with us here…
My personal harvest: red raspberry jam, hollyhocks, longer sitting meditation, a poem published and read aloud.