Lammas: Time to honor Self and Sun

Whether you’re in the midst of a creative high or low, Lammas is an auspicious time to pause, measure, and appreciate your journey.

Lammas is the cross-quarter holiday most often ignored. We’re no longer an agrarian culture. Yet this “first fruits” celebration still runs in our blood, making this an ideal time to evaluate your year so far.  So under-celebrated, today we could even call this practice a “secret.” Here it is:  an August mid-year review can be as pivotal to productivity as your January new year’s resolutions.

Okay–technically we’re just about a week past the official Lammas date.   The farmers “first fruits” holiday is traditionally celebrated on August 1 and is astrologically exact on August 6/7 (when the Sun reaches 15 degrees Leo).   It is energetically exact whenever you become aware of the spiritual truth that you are an expression of the Sun–that everything in your life–if you trace it back far enough–begins with the Sun.

In the body, the solar plexus, the chakra behind your navel holds your sunniness. This is your energetic throne, the seat of your power and authority. Feeling punched in the gut is a common sensation if you suffer a blow to your ego, who is your internal Sun, the star of your own show.  To summon this archetype into awareness, start with a gentle awareness of your solar plexus. A good Lammas warm-up would be to gently breathe into this part of your body and notice, how are things feeling here?  You might even do this every day for a week. Notice the ups and downs. Become aware of your inner king’s triggers.

A vital solar plexus feels confident, energized, powerful. A tired king feels inadequate, depressed, directionless. On the scale between feeling “special” and “lackluster/ordinary,” rate yourself. What’s your Lammas score this year? The quality of each year’s first fruits may be different. I hope this is a great one for you, but if not, remember, a wise farmer doesn’t beat himself over a poor harvests. He learns from them.   Honor this cross-quarter moment with a sincere appreciation of how far you’ve come this year. Gift yourself with a Lammas break!

Journaling is a great way to honor Lammas.  Think back to January, the first weeks of spring, summer arriving.  Where did you labor?  Were there stormy weeks, any dark days of fear or doubt? An “achievement list” may be in order.  Most of us cut short the celebration of our accomplishments.  It’s important–especially now–to acknowledge those efforts that are beginning to bear fruit. As a parent, you may see a subtle maturing in your child; as a writer, you may see how an abstract idea took root to become a fully-formed project; or, if you are a businessperson you may notice how your company is beginning to prosper.

If you like ceremony, improvise an altar and in the center, put a candle or a picture of the Sun.  Beside this, place a symbol for the “first fruits” of whatever work you’ve put your heart into over the past six months. It could be a stone, a doll, an image drawn on paper, a dress or a hat representing someone important, a flower from a garden, a business ledger, musical instrument, a digital mouse.

Light the candle and/or draw your hands together.  Close your eyes, and first in imagination, enclose yourself and your altar in a bubble of energy.  Take the energetic temperature inside your bubble.  In other words, notice how you’re feeling. Once you have this baseline, get ready to work some magic. You’re going to empower yourself and others. The instruction is simple. Fill your bubble with the potency of gratitude. By doing this, you will charge and change the energy in your field. If you don’t feel it, pretend it’s happening. Eventually you will.

Repeating the mantra Thank You is quite helpful in altering your field.  But do more than think gratitude, try to feel it. Likely you’ll feel gratitude more in your heart than the solar plexus, but you may notice an interesting synergy building between these two centers. Likely it will be warm and bright. There may be a special person or deity you’re grateful to. Use this emotion, although finding honest gratitude for yourself is a talent worth developing.  It lets others off the hook!  Being less needy for recognition is liberating.

Remember how your bubble felt when you began. Is it different now? Have you charged your aura with the positivity of thankfulness? This emotion is a wonderful natural resource. You can create energetic works of art with it.  Can you feel how the space around you has transformed?  I hope you do!  For a moment or two or three, just enjoy this. Once you’ve soaked in as much uplifting energy as you need, allow this positive bubble to lift and float skyward, where it grows bigger and bigger, so that it hovers over your whole town. Then, quietly, majestically, it bursts, sending your magnified good vibes around the world.

Enjoy imagination and support with Dana’s monthly  Moon workshop and Mooncircles’ fabulous astrology reports.  If these times are especially crazy for you, check out your transits and progressions in the wonderful Skylog report. Got a birthday coming up?  Be sure to order your Solar Return!