Lammas

At Lammas, the Sun is at the very peak of Leo, the sign this planet loves above all others. Our star’s warmth is at it’s most powerful now in the Northern Hemisphere, as it appears directly overhead. At this time, life, too, is at it’s peak- as are the crops. The ancients celebrated this festival by giving thanks for their first harvest, most especially the grain harvest, even as they accepted the beginnings of the God’s descent into the underworld. The myth of the asteroid goddess Ceres (Demeter), giver of the grain, also relates to this season. It was now when she would bid her daughter farewell, since Persephone was obligated to return to the Underworld to rejoin Hades (Pluto). So bereaved was Ceres to see her daughter leave her, she refused to allow the Earth to produce grain until her return. At this time, then, modern practitioners should be reminded of both astrological principles: the fullness of life the Sun brings, and the necessity for rest, as signified by the coming fall.

-Kim Rogers- Gallagher