by Karl Lembke
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The Wheel turns. The Sun is in the heart of the lion (or at least it's where Regulus, the heart of the lion, was a couple of thousand years ago!) The lion calls to mind two images: the King of beasts, lazing in the shade of the trees in the hot afternoon sun, and the Goddess Sekhmet, whose bloodlust nearly burned away all life on earth, before it was quenched with beer. The earth bakes under the late summer sun, battered by the sudden violence of summer storms.
The wheel turns to Lammas. Although not the longest day of the year, Lammas is the hottest part of the year. During Spring and Summer, the earth has been cooler than the sky, and heat has flowed from the air into the earth. Now the earth is filled -- pregnant -- with the fire of the Sun, and returns His warmth to the sky. The heat of the sun comes to us from above and below, and it feels as if the crops might be baked to ripeness, or beyond. Even the storms of the season carry fire in their hearts. We have the lightning strokes of thunderstorms, we have the sudden downpours out of a clear sky. Tropical storms and hurricanes strike with the fury of a lioness enraged, and they form only because of the warmth of the oceans. These storms feed on the fire of the sun, which has filled the earth and the seas to overflowing.
The seeds of darkness have been planted. Though the day is the peak of warmth, the Sun has already begun to fade, and after this day, the nights will be getting noticeably shorter. The Lord will never again be as strong as He was at Midsummer, but now it's obvious that he's dying. Today is the beginning of the end of His reign.
The cycle of life turns past the peak of growth, and into the time of release. In astrology, the moon, five eights past the new moon, is called the "disseminating moon". During this phase, what has built up in the waxing cycle is now released into the environment. We see the beginnings of the fruit that will be borne from this cycle. At Lammas, the sun is five-eights of the way around the Wheel from Yule. Growth has reached its peak, and the life of the Green God has begun to bleed off into the grain and into the fruits on the trees. Some fruits and grains are ready for harvest at this time, and the Maiden Harvest begins.
Beltane was the time of death-in-life. The gates of the underworld were thrown open, so that new life could emerge through the gates of birth. But the same gate that admits life into the world passes life out of it. Now is the time of life-in-death, where the life force of the Green Lord and the Sun are withdrawn from the world, and distilled into the seed. Life and light are locked away in the underworld, to be released next spring when the world awakens again.
The Dying God
Now is also the time of sacrifice, of death in service of life. Some of the first fruits are ready for harvest, but some, too unripe to be eaten, must be plucked anyway. These are culls, killed so they won't drain the life force from the fruit we wish to keep. If all the fruit were left on the tree, the life force would be diluted among them, and none would grow to maturity. Worse, enough fruit can weigh down a branch until it breaks, destroying the entire crop, and sometimes killing the tree. The culls are killed, so the rest of the fruit, and we who depend on the crop for our survival, might live.
At Lammas, the Lord in many of His aspects will be killed. In Gardnerian lore, the Holly King dies in the arms of the Goddess, and journeys to the underworld to open the gates of death. He returns before the end of the rite, or the Wheel would grind to a halt. But the light now begins to leave the world, not to be seen again until the following spring.
This is a time of sacrifice, and in many rites, the God, in one form or another, is slain. Gardnerian circles send the Lord to the underworld at this time; and we all know that John Barleycorn must die.
John Barleycorn, cut in half and buried, then beaten with sticks, and finally crushed between stones, nevertheless rises once again. Bread is the perfect sacrifice for Lammas, or "Loaf Mass", as the Anglo-Saxons called it. It's more than just the first fruits of the earth -- it also involves the first fruits of human labor. Grain is processed by human craft, and combined with the four elements to make the staff of life. In some traditions, sprouted grain is incorporated into the bread before it's baked; or sprouts may be eaten alongside. The whole-wheat and alfalfa sandwich is perfect Lammas sacramental fare!
Yet another food, as old as bread, demands sprouted grain. When grain, and particularly barley, sprouts, the starch in the grain is converted to sugar. This process is called "malting", and malted grain can be dried and stored until it's needed. Malted grain is mixed with water, and wild yeasts, the mixture comes to life and the resulting beverage is called beer. So important was beer to the ancients that malted barley loaves were baked especially as a way of storing barley for use in making the stuff. Only during a famine would anyone actually try to eat the stuff.
In Gardnerian lore, we learn that the sacramental beverage must "have life". In the writings, it's implied that the sacramental beverage must have alcohol in it, but I think there's more to it than that. Home-made beer always contains a little bit of live yeast in it. This is especially true in modern beer, which is carbonated by the action of yeast in the bottle. You can actually take the dregs from a bottle of home brew and use it to start the next batch. Traditionally brewed beer is alive, in a manner that other beverages are not. Beer and bread are mirror images of the same craft, and both celebrate the marriage of Nature's bounty and Mankind's craft.
The cycle of planting and harvest is the outer form of the Wheel of the year, but the inner form is reflected in all human activity. The cycles of life follow the same pattern, on all levels. All things have beginnings and endings, and all things have decision points, where we have to decide whether to continue or to abandon something as wasted effort. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices, in order to continue with more important things.
The Harvest Begins
In all cases, we are governed by the law of returns: as we put out, so we receive back.
Sometimes, we sacrifice energy or resources as a way of "priming the pump". Anything worth while is going to require the payment of some cost, and eventually our job is to decide whether we want to pay that cost. The harvest season is a time of judgment, and we are called upon to judge things in our lives. We sift through those things that have grown up during the past half-year, and we decide which we will keep and which we will allow to return to the chaos and the darkness. In order to realize the good from what is before us, we must make choices, we must pass judgment, and we must act on our choices.
In a very real way, that loaf of bread and that bottle of beer symbolize a very real break from the past. Nature no longer provides freely for our needs. Just as we must take the dough in hand and knead it, or take the stirring rod to the vat of beer, we must take all things in hand to shape the final goal, lest the crop we hope to harvest turn to weeds or dust before our eyes.
Lammas marks the point where we leave the Garden, and earn our own way, "by the sweat of our brow". It is the time of coming to maturity and taking responsibility for one's own path. We select the seeds we plant, and from that we select the fruits we will eventually harvest.
One tradition I'm trying to start in the circles I hold is that on Lammas, is that all those who attend would bring a sacrifice. Rather than a can of something for a food bank, I've suggested toys for a Toy Drive. The toy should preferably be something hand-made, and it can represent something you intend to work for in the coming year. Thus, a toy car if you're working for a new car; a doll house if you're working for a new home; an erector set if you're starting up a contracting business, and so on.
These toys would be dropped off at the altar, or at another Lammas-time custom, a wishing well. Take a barrel or a heavy-duty cardboard tube. Cover it with imitation stone wall paper or tile, or even a decent paint job, and put a roof over the top. Presto! Instant well! Gifts can be placed in the wishing well, and may the Gods return what is given many-fold.
A Sacrifice, Not a Bribe
On Lammas, we fully enter the waning year. This is the time when we explore the Mysteries of Sacrifice. At the Lammas circle this year, the Priestess asked those present to consider what they were thankful for.
I am thankful for the sacrifices that have been made. I am thankful for those who have sacrificed for love, or out of honor or duty, or even because it was expected. I am thankful for those who have sacrificed to make the world a better place. I am thankful for those who have sacrificed, even though they had no understanding of the mystery of sacrifice.
The dictionary says that "sacrifice" is from the Latin for "to make sacred". An object that is sacrificed is given to the Gods, and attains the status of sacred object. But this is not the whole of it. To apply the word to the thing sacrificed it to allow oneself to be distracted from the truth. At Lammas, we hold a wake for the God, but funerals are never for the dead, but for the living. Likewise, sacrifice is not for the thing sacrificed, but for the one who does the sacrificing. Sacrifice does make sacred, but it makes sacred the one who gives.
The Gods are holy because of what they give to us, and to all the world. We are made holy because of what we give to the Gods, and to each other, on all levels of existence. This year, and in all future years, let us make a harvest of holiness for ourselves and for Themselves.
Blessed be!
Karl Lembke
Bio: Karl Lembke is a high priest in the Starkindler tradition of Wicca, and a member of the priesthood in the DCWA. He lives in Tujunga with two dogs, on loan from their owner. His front yard has lots of lavendar and rosemary growing in it, but the mugwort and rue are threatening to take over. Maybe it's time to sacrifice some of it...
