The bright super full moon of August 1st coincides with the ancient Celtic / European Cross-Quarter Holiday of Lammas or Lúnasa.
At the midpoint between the solstice and the equinox, this ancient fire festival is one of four that occur throughout the year to honour the turning of seasons, the life-death-rebirth pattern in nature and in the phases of our own lives.
Ancient Irish myth tells the story of Lugh, the sun god, raised by his foster mother, Tailtiu – the goddess of the earth and of grain. Tailtiu deeply loved Lugh, his people and the earth. She understood that the people needed to learn practices to enable them to sustain themselves, whilst maintaining right relationship with the earth. She laboured for them, teaching the principles of agriculture, demonstrating how to clear and till the earth, plant and cultivate grain crops. So fully did she give of herself, that she died of exhaustion in the fields as the grain ripened for harvest.
Grieving the death of his beloved foster mother through funerary rights, Lugh’s fire ceremony also honoured the sun and the earth, the givers of the harvest.
In so honouring Tailtiu, mourning her loss, and celebrating the harvest, Lugh showed respect for the earth and recognised the birth-life-death-rebirth cycle of nature and our own experience. His wisdom teaches the importance of honouring death, of actively grieving and letting go. By opening space in this way, seeds can grow and be cultivated, bringing new life to fullness in peaceful acceptance of what is.
