And so it is - that the Wheel of the year turns from the height of Summer Solstice with its dreamy cosmic expansiveness, past St. John’s Tide with its Call to Conscience – to meet now at the Cross-Quarter – the half way point between Summer Solstice & the Autumnal Equinox - marking the point on the wheel when we pick up the Scythe - to reap what we have sown - for now begins the Festival Season called by folklore: Lammas, Loaf mas, or Lughnasad which means: Assembly of Lugh –
a festive gathering hosted by the Celtic Solar King: Lugh – representing the Sun that has gone into the grain. He calls the people together for the funeral games—to commemorate the death of his foster-mother Tailtiu, an earth goddess, who embodies the dying vegetation that feeds humankind. A role that he now takes on. It was also the wake for the death of Summer – the end of the milk & honey season & the beginning of the harvest toil. The harvest is: the sacrifice of Lugh - the Sun God is cut down, to become our bread From death comes the Staff of Life – The staff of Life baked into bread –
Bread is like the cosmic love child born from the union between Sun & Earth - for the loaf takes the gift of Nature further – it involves the fruits of human labor. Grain is crafted by human hands - combined with the 4 elements - to rise up as bread
& Some of the first fruits are ready for harvest, but some, too immature to be eaten, must be culled – removed – fed to the animals or the compost - so they won’t drain the life-force away from the good fruit. If everything was left on the tree, the vitality would be weakened, or worse, the bad fruit could weigh the branch down until it breaks, destroying the entire crop, or sometimes killing the tree. The culls are taken so the good fruit, & those who depend on the crop for survival, might live.
The King is Dead Long Live the King – This is the essence of the grain harvest sacrifice - for now begins the Season of death in service of life. Even though the Sun is still hot for the ripening, it has been decreasing since St. John’s – the shadows are lengthening as we make our descent toward the dark half of the year. One of my favorite Irish folk songs says it all: ‘John Barleycorn must die’…There are many versions, with tons of verses, the band Traffic made it popular in the 70’s – it describes in anthropomorphically gory detail the process of barley becoming bread & beer - John Barleycorn is Cut down – Winnowed well – beaten with sticks as the folk-song goes - to separate the wheat from the chaff - crushed by the mill-stone – etc. & so we see that "John Barleycorn" is an allegory of the passion of the Christos. And just like the Christ, the grain will rise again within us. ~hag
Saturday 2 August 2025Lammas Festival on Zinniker Farm3 pm - Gather for the Harmonizer Prep Stir – & gifting to the Elementals & the Land5 pm – Seasonal Activities w/ Ultra-Violet Archer & FriendsBonfire – Make & burn the ‘wicker man’ / Parable of the Sower / Song Circle w/ Garrett & UVA…6 pm - Potluck dinner$30 Donation
30 July 2025 - “Speaking with the Stars”: The Delta Aquariids Meteor Shower peaks TODAY
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
1894- Birthday of Ernst Lehrs a German anthroposophist, science teacher in the 1st Waldorf School in Stuttgart, lecturer & writer. Having fought in World War I, he then studied science & graduated with a PhD in 1923. In 1935 he moved to The Netherlands, where he worked as a teacher, before moving to Britain as a Jewish refugee from the Nazis. In 1952 he returned to Germany & worked as a lecturer at the newly established course in anthroposophic special education in Eckwälden, where he remained until his death. In his important work “Man and Matter”, Ernst Lehrs talks about how today’s researcher is an uninvolved spectator, he reveals not only how science has led inescapably to the illusions it believes in today, but more important how we may correct in ourselves the misconceptions science brings into our views through today’s education, giving us a spiritual understanding of nature based on the work of Goethe; which requires an activation of the cognitive consciousness, leading the true researcher back to themselves. Ernst Lehrs was a personal pupil of Dr. Rudolf Steiner, one of the 12 founding members of the Esoteric Youth Circle, which celebrated its 100 year anniversary on 16 October 2022.
Written by Ernst Lehrs a few days after the burning of the 1st Goetheanum: “ Dr. Steiner’s open criticism in various directions concerning the Society & the various activities within it, in the weeks leading up to the fateful Christmas-New Year’s time, made one clear about the fact that it was due to the failure on the part of the Society, that the necessary spiritual protection was missing from the building. Yet, it was out of an experience of this failure that the impulse for the Youth Course arose, as well as what led to the coming about of our specific endeavor - The Esoteric Youth Circle Meditation. ~Ernst Lehrs (CW266/3 part 3)
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Greetings Friend, you currently a free subscriber to Cognitive Ritual. Thank you for receiving my workings freely offered. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. ALL donations go to support Zinniker Farm - The oldest Biodynamic Farm in America! Together we can spiritualize the Universe. XOX ~hag
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Wednesday, 30 July 2025
Pick up the Scythe
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