This is the time of Lammas, a Pagan holiday that celebrates sacrifice. The days begin to shorten and fall is on the horizon. It’s the time when the bounty of summer is harvested to be stored and used through the long winter. Sacrifice isn’t something to be feared, it’s an open invitation. Everyday we are asked to give back so that we might receive. The question to ask ourselves is what do we actually give? I’m not talking about the things we don’t notice or mind giving up, I’m talking about the things we think we could never give up. Usually what’s asked of us is what’s most difficult. The fact is there has to be an equal exchange of energy to get this thing called life right.
It’s easy to get caught up in thinking we can get something for nothing, or that somehow we are owed. Just because we think this way doesn’t make it true. There is always a price for how we are living and the choices we’re making. To get something for nothing is a cheat, but the thing it really cheats us out of is our own power and sense of worth. When we don’t give something back we become that missing connection. It’s energy and hard work that make our lives happen. That exchange of energy is what gives us our rightful place in the bigger scheme of things. This time of year not only points out the necessity of sacrifice, it wants to be celebrated.
Everywhere people are becoming part of the solution to restore what’s been damaged inside and out. The careless disregard for the oceans and earth, the mistreatment of women and children, the toll of poverty and war, and our fundamental lack of self compassion all ask the same question, what can we give back. Lammas is a time to celebrate our sacrifice to heal the greater whole. We are infinitely creative beings, we can figure out our part of the solution.
As the season shifts and the days gather more darkness, it’s the perfect time to think about what we can give back. It’s a time to think about something larger than our own wants and needs. What is the offering you can make to the forests, oceans, creatures, and people we share this planet with? What are the gifts inside that want to be used to soothe the wounds of the world?
Honor Lammas by bearing your individual burden and transforming it into something miraculous. Recirculate the energy that’s been given. Give back what you’ve taken and stand firmly rooted as an integral part of the world.
kb
