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Friday, 31 July 2026
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Pick up the Scythe
Greetings Earthlings - 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 leave the Garden of Paradise - to pick up the Scythe - to earn our own way, “by the sweat of our brow” - 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. Lughnasad is also the wake for the death of Summer – the end of the milk & honey season & the beginning of the harvest toil. Lugh was an Atlantean Solar God come to serve as the sacrifical Celtic Folk-Soul. He wields a piercing ray of Sunlight – the Sacred Spear – one of the 4 Holy tools of the mystical Tuatha De Danana. His Lance of Light vitalizes the earth, ripening the grain. This magical tool is transformed at the ‘Turning Point of Time’ into the Lance of Longinus - the spear that spills the etherized blood of Christ into the Earth – that the Earth may become a New Sun. 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.
The harvest season is a time of judgment. We are called upon to sift through the things that have grown up during the past half-year, & decide what we will keep - & what we will cut away. We must make choices, & act on them. The cycle of life turns past the peak of growth, into the time of release. The wealth of beauty in Nature surrounds us - Now we begin to take in this abundance - digesting & cultivating seeds which we store in our memory for future growth. Like the animal kingdom gathering food for the barren time of Winter, we store the meaning of Summer’s richness within our souls, harvesting with a discerning eye – full of appreciation & compassion for our current crop – looking ahead to the next harvest…
Learning from our endeavors, we take the late Summers gifts into our heart & soul & belly – we know, that like the Season’s inevitable movement, one into the next, we too are always becoming. We are always creating, always moving from the already been, to the not yet, always strengthening in the present what will happen in the soon to be. And as we do this, we reap a gift grander than any earthly treasure - We give ourselves to our Self…
Let us stand in uprightness at this milestone Cross-Quarter - a powerful turning point on the wheel of the year. We have breathed out into the lushness of Summer, & now we can hold the reflection of Summer within us – as soul strength – as we prepare to turn inward during the furthering of the Autumn harvest, & the Winter’s long in-breathing digestion.
Invisibly & silently, the cosmic light is moving into each of us, just as it goes into the grain, preparing us for the threshing floor. Even as we nourish our bodies from the fruits of the earth, we become the fruit that will sustain the Soul of the World. It is a waltz of being & becoming, waxing & waning, feeding & being fed…Such is the dance of life…
Some Divine Archetypes to tap into:
Demeter (the Greek version of the Roman goddess Ceres = cereal) is the goddess of abundance seen in the fruiting grain. It is her job to feed the world. After her reunion with her daughter Persphone, Demeter gave the gift of agriculture to humankind, so we could cultivate for ourselves.
Freya on the Boar – The boar as totem personified prosperity, vitality & ceremonial feasting for both the Norse & Celts, also represented the time before agriculture, when food was foraged - the Boar is a great forger. Freya riding the Boar is a symbol of the cultivated grain overcoming the old ways of hunting & gathering.
Born from a tree that was gouged open by a boar, Adonis was later killed by a boar, he is an example of the dying vegetation god, sacrificed so that all may live.
Danu – Irish Goddess of fertility & plenty, Mother of the fairies – the force that turns the flower to the Sun.
The Empress –represents the Mother principle, referring to reproduction & growth - She sets all things in order. Symbolic of Venus & the material world, she rules the senses, teaching us to appreciate beauty in all forms. She is the figure of Creative Imagination, displaying the art of visualization. She is fertile & nurturing, providing the means to attract our desires. Confer with The Empress to increase creativity, manifest prosperity, & magnetize love. She is a wise woman who makes decisions based on her intuition & the facts at hand. She is a woman who can be forceful & strong willed in her position of authority…She is not only the Matriarch, but she understands the business of world becoming. She is level-headed & practical - kind & charitable, one who instills confidence & nurtures others. She is a role model. The throne of The Empress is built of endurance, tenacity, loyalty & sheer determination…
It is also the Feast Day of Joseph of Arimathea, who according to all four Gospels, was the wealthy initiate merchant who brought the sacred burial herbs to the women at the tomb, the 3 Mary’s - The Myrrhophores. It was his tomb that held the body of The Christos. A number of stories that developed during the Middle Ages connect him with both Glastonbury, where he is supposed to have founded the earliest Christian oratory, & also with the Grail legend. “One must penetrate to an understanding of the Mystery of the Bread, which is said to have been broken by Christ Jesus in the same chalice in which Joseph of Arimathea caught His blood. As legend tells it, this chalice was then removed to Europe, but was preserved by angels in a region high above the surface of the earth until the arrival of Titurel who created for this Grail, this sacred chalice, a temple on Mont Salvat” ~Rudolf Steiner, Dornach, April 16, 1921
So bake a loaf of bread. If you’ve never made bread before, this is a good time to start. Honor the source of the flour as you work with it: remember it was once a living stalk growing on mother Earth. If you have a garden, add something you’ve harvested–herbs or onion or veggies. If you don’t feel up to making wheat bread, make corn bread, or gingerbread people, or popcorn. What’s most important is intention. All that is necessary to enter sacred time is an awareness of the meaning of your actions. ~hag 
Enjoy this free Seasonal presentation
BTW: Zinniker Farm offers Biodynamic Pfeiffer Wheat for sale - If you know you know - & if you don’t, well, you can ask - Contact the Family Farm Initiative –
*Saturday 1 August 2026 – anytime between 4 & 9 pmCome celebrate The Silver Anniversary of ~hag & CG - 25 years of Wedded Bliss ;)4 pm – Prep-stir – a gifting to the Elementals of the Spirit Lodge land acknowledging the Cross-Quarter Festival of Lammas / Loaf-mas / Lughnasad 6 pm – Potluck – Please bring food & drink to share 7 pm - Bonfire – Weather permitting If you would like to gift our land, we invite you to bring a plant to add to our growing garden. RSVP hazel@CogRite.com
To honor & foster the Christian Community of Southeast Wisconsin, we gather for ‘Devotional Services’ in-between Priest Visits. All are welcome to join 9 August 2026 Please arrive by 10:15 am so that we can be ready to begin promptly at 10:30 am– when the Consecration of the Human Being is being celebrated all over the country Potluck social time after At the ‘Spirit Lodge’ in Elkhorn WI. RSVP Hazel@CogRite.com
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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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