The jester or holy fool is an oft-necessary role within religious communities. It is far too easy at times to get over-serious and forget the inherent joy and playfulness that can come with living the Pagan life. It is during those times when we forget joy and humor that the fool points out that our fine clothes are imaginary, and we’ve been parading about naked. For many in modern Paganism the semi-official holy fools are the Discordians, worshippers of the sexy goddess of chaos Eris, a joke-cult/cult-joke popularized in such works as “The Principia Discordia”, “The Illuminatus! Trilogy”, and Margot Adler’s “Drawing Down the Moon”.

“In a way, it’s ridiculous even to talk seriously about the Erisians, a group, or collection of groups, that has called itself a “Non-Prophet Irreligious Disorganization” this “dedicated to an advanced understanding of the paraphysical manifestations of Everyday Chaos”, and at other times stated, “The Erisian revelation is not a complicated put-on disguised as a new religion, but a new religion disguised as a complicated put-on”.

But for some the joke can go too far, allowing the chaos to spread to a point where it turns a holy day into a jumbled mess of tired pop-culture references. That seems to be the experience of one woman who attended a CUUPs service for Lammas that seemed far more about Monty Python than first-harvests or the god Lugh.

“Our local CUUPS group hosted a strange Lammas/Lughnasadh ritual last night. Members of the group take turns as High Priest and Priestess and this ritual was led by our local Discordians … it’s not that I don’t appreciate some of the points made … I like the emphasis on those un-looked-for blessings, the life changing moments that come out of nowhere. It is good to notice and appreciate those once in a while. It is good to remember that while harmony in a worthy goal, disorder always lurks beneath the suface of order and that is not always a bad thing. I believe there really is a time and place for last night’s ritual. I don’t think Lughnasadh is it … It felt like I needed to hear the lessons about reaping the works of your labors and being multi-skilled. I was hoping for a ritual experience that would embed the ideas swirling in my head. Instead I got a quick thank you to Lugh, mixed for some reason with Gaia, but now let’s really talk about Eris all night … when people started quoting Monty Python as part of the ritual I knew my spiritual needs were not going to be met.”

Worse still, she left feeling “negative” and “conservative” for not being able to join in the laughs. No doubt part of this can be attributed to the ups and downs of a rotating eclectic gathering, sometimes the Discordians are put in charge when you are more in the mood for something a bit more reverent and serious, but I also think this might be a failure on the part of the CUUPs organizers. The Sabbats/High Holy Days/Fire Festivals can certainly include mirth and irreverence, but they are also meant to transmit deep truths, help us commune with the gods, and turn the wheel of the year. If the holy fools appointed/chosen as ritual leaders can’t control their own chaos long enough to mark the holiday, they are not only out-of-balance, but they imbalance all those who chose that event to connect to the mysteries of that holiday.

There are certainly times when the lunatics should take over the asylum, when chaos should overrun our natural inclinations towards order and safety, but those liminal times should be chosen carefully and not assigned arbitrarily. There are times for mayhem and there are times for work and for harvest. And on a personal note, quoting Monty Python (no doubt “Holy Grail”) in circle is sooo played out. Seriously, get some new material folks.

Today is Lughnasadh (also known as Lammas) the first of three harvest festivals celebrated in many modern Pagan traditions. Lughnasadh originated as one of the four main Celtic fire festivals and was dedicated to the Celtic god Lugh/Lugus the many-skilled (or, in the case of Ireland, Lugh’s foster-mother Tailtiu). It is a time of thanksgiving, first-harvests, and the end of summer.

Lammas food altar (Photo: BBC)

Here are some quotes for the holiday.

“Lammas, or Lughnasad, has always been one of my favorite Sabbats. It is celebrated from July 31 to August 2, generally, and we are fortunate this year that all the dates are on the weekend. Lammas is the first and biggest of the harvest Sabbats, for it is at this time that in the temperate places in the northern hemisphere the earth’s bounty most fully opens. … Lammas celebrates the abundance that can come from our hard work and creativity. But to receive requires reciprocity if the gift is to be truly honored.  We can give to the giver, or keep the circle flowing outwards by giving to another.  Lammas is in this respect an echo of the old gift economy that once sustained so many of the world’s people and has to some extent been reinvigorated with the rise of the net.” - Gus diZerega, Beliefnet

“Celebrate a Happy Lammas with the family, and friends, then begin the work to stock the shelves for the long winter ahead. Make a toast to the passing of Summer. Lammas Harvest Feasts include: tomatoes, peaches, corn (popcorn), potatoes, cabbage (sauerkraut or cole slaw), onions, grains (breads and fest breads), berries (especially blackberry pies are traditionally eaten in honor of the Harvest), cider, cornbread sticks, and barley soup. Bake any of these breads on Lammas: wheat; corn; gingerbread; or just make popcorn! Feed a piece of the baked bread to someone, saying, ‘May you never go hungry.’” - Terry Smith, The Town Talk

“This is the season of Lughnasadh in my spiritual tradition. We also celebrate it as the Cross-quarter day that marks the beginning of Autumn on the modern Celtic calendar. Modern, of course, because the tribal Celts divided the year into only two seasons–Bealtinne and Samhain. It’s the time when we gather in the First Harvest–the harvest of grain–and we share the bounty of squash and tomatoes with our friends, neighbors and co-workers. In fact, we know that all car doors must be locked starting the first of August, lest you return to find a box of baseball-bat-sized zucchini waiting for you.” – Byron Ballard, Asheville Citizen Times

“On the Pagan calendar, the summer began with Beltane on May 1, hit the midpoint at Pagan Midsummer (Litha Sabbat) on June 21, and ends August 1 with Lammas (Lughnasadh) Sabbat: the beginning of the harvest season. County fairs are traditionally held around this time in the UK to celebrate the early harvest, and county fairs are often held in the United States before children go back to school, too. The fertility and growth seasons have passed, and the earliest signs of autumn can be seen.” – Dr. Deb Brown, Examiner.com

“The Celts celebrate this festival from sunset August 1 until sunset August 2 and call it Lughnasad after the God Lugh. It is the wake of Lugh, the Sun-King, whose light begins to dwindle after the summer solstice. The Saxon holiday of Lammas celebrates the harvesting of the grain. The first sheaf of wheat is ceremonially reaped, threshed, milled and baked into a loaf. The grain dies so that the people might live. Eating this bread, the bread of the Gods, gives us life. If all this sounds vaguely Christian, it is. In the sacrament of Communion, bread is blessed, becomes the body of God and is eaten to nourish the faithful. This Christian Mystery echoes the pagan Mystery of the Grain God.” – Waverly Fitzgerald, School of the Seasons

May you have a fruitful holiday!

Today is Lughnasadh (also known as Lammas) the first of three harvest festivals celebrated in many modern Pagan traditions. Lughnasadh originated as one of the four main Celtic fire festivals and was dedicated to the Celtic god Lugh/Lugus the many-skilled (or, in the case of Ireland, Lugh’s foster-mother Tailtiu). It is a time of thanksgiving, first-harvests, and the end of summer (though it doesn’t feel like it here in the Midwest).

Lammas food altar (Photo: BBC)

“Although in the heat of a midwestern summer it might be difficult to discern, the festival of Lammas (August 1) marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. The days now grow visibly shorter and by the time we’ve reached autumn’s end (October 31), we will have run the gamut of temperature from the heat of August to the cold and (sometimes) snow of November. And in the midst of it, a perfect midwestern autumn.” – Mike Nichols, The Witches’ Sabbats

“It may still feel distinctly like summer outside, but Aug. 1 has long been celebrated by some Europeans as the beginning of fall. Known to some as Lammas and others as Lughnasad, the festival of the harvest is most commonly celebrated by baking a loaf of bread from the season’s new grain supply. Although predating Christianity, the celebration has been incorporated into church traditions as well, as the first loaves of bread were brought to Mass on Aug. 1, from whence the name Lammas (loaf-mass) is derived. In addition to the celebration of the year’s bounty, some traditions also incorporate a farewell to the sun, as the days become shorter and the nights cooler. Whether the celebration is spiritual or merely symbolic, there’s something to be said for reconnecting with the seasons and with the sowing, growing and reaping of food in our community. Sitting in air-conditioned cubicles and commuting by car, we can so easily become separated from the natural world that we have little chance to recognize the rhythms of nature which were so essential to our ancestors.” – Theresa Hogue, Corvallis Gazette Times

“The first ripe fruits in Ireland in August are the bilberries, a cousin of the North American blueberry. In Ireland, it became a tradition to gather the wild berries on the last Sunday in July (known, variously, as ‘Bilberry Sunday,’ or ‘Lughnasa Sunday.’” – Cathleen Falsani, Chicago Sun Times

“In modern times this agricultural core of the festival is all that has survived, but formerly, when Celtic lands were under native rulers, Lúghnasadh was the occasion of major assemblies where legal matters were settled, political problems were discussed, craftsmen, artists and entertainers got a chance to show off their talents, and sporting events brought scattered communities together. All this was under the patronage of Lúgh (the 9th-century Sanas Cormaic explains ‘Lúghnasadh’ as “the assembly of Lúgh”), who was said to have instituted the games in memory of either his wives or of his foster-mother Tailtiu, whose name (from Old Celtic Talantiu, “The Great One of the Earth”) and life-history give her a special affinity with the Harvest. But it is Lúgh alone who allows the Harvest to actually begin, by setting the right conditions for it and by combating the hostile elements in the Land that are trying to destroy the crops.” – Alexei Kondratiev, Lugus: The Many-Gifted Lord

“Have a magical picnic and break bread with friends. Do a meditation in which you visualize yourself completing a project you have already begun. Make a corn dolly charm out of the first grain you harvest or acquire. Bake a sacred loaf bread and give a portion of it to Mother Earth with a prayer of appreciation. Make prayers for a good harvest season. Do prosperity magic. Harvest herbs in a sacred way for use in charms and rituals. Kindle a Lammas fire with sacred wood and dried herbs. If you live in or near a farming region, attend a public harvest festival, such as a corn or apple festival.” - Selena Fox, Lammas

May you have a fruitful holiday!

Today is Lughnasadh (also known as Lammas) the first of three harvest festivals celebrated in many modern Pagan traditions. Lughnasadh originated as one of the four main Celtic fire festivals and was dedicated to the Celtic god Lugh the many-skilled. It is a time of thanksgiving, first-harvests, and the end of summer (though it doesn’t feel like it considering our recent heat-waves).

Lammas food altar (Photo: BBC)

“Through photos or in the flesh, more than 55 people brought in their cats, dogs, gerbils, rabbits – even a Venus’ flytrap – to celebrate Lammas, the annual blessing of the animals. The ceremony was hosted by the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans … The devotion and support that animals provide people are part of nature’s abundance, and that is something to celebrate…” – Amy Sowder, The News Press

“Lammastide was also the traditional time of year for craft festivals. The medieval guilds would create elaborate displays of their wares, decorating their shops and themselves in bright colors and ribbons, marching in parades, and performing strange, ceremonial plays and dances for the entranced onlookers. The atmosphere must have been quite similar to our modern-day Renaissance festivals.” – Mike Nichols, The Witches’ Sabbats

“Today is Lammas Day. Not a lot of people know that … Traditionally Lammas Day was the first opportunity when this year’s harvest was made into bread and used in the communion. Tenants also gave a donation of the harvest to their landlords. Part of my passion for the licensed trade is the recognition of the indivisible relationship with agriculture and the rural community. Our core product, beer in its many guises, is essentially a mixture of barley, hops and water. And barley and hops are around us, here, in abundance. It would be ridiculous to claim that, as a licensee, I am root and branch an integral part of the agricultural community but every time I pass a field of barley or a hop garden I am mindful of the role they play in the job I do.” – Chris Maclean, The Publican

“Someone, somewhere, is harvesting wheat, but the way I know it is Lammastide is that the fog has settled in over San Francisco as though it intends to stay. Most Pagans chart the seasons where they live and for me, the end of July and beginning of August, known by the old Irish as Lughnasad, and the English as Lammas, is always heralded by fog. Thick and blanketing, it rises up from the water bounding this city, rolling in two directions: over the hills in the West and past the downtown buildings, East. This is not the light fog we have earlier in the summer, that comes in after a few days of heat. No. This is actual pea-soup-at-night fog that covers all but a couple neighborhoods and only burns off for a few hours a day. Once it settles in, it seems to be settling for good.” – Thorn Coyle, “Loaf Mass is Nigh”

“…Lugh dedicated this festival to his foster-mother, Tailtiu, the last queen of the Fir Bolg, who died from exhaustion after clearing a great forest so that the land could be cultivated. When the men of Ireland gathered at her death-bed, she told them to hold funeral games in her honor. As long as they were held, she prophesied Ireland would not be without song. Tailtiu’s name is from Old Celtic Talantiu, “The Great One of the Earth,” suggesting she may originally have been a personification of the land itself, like so many Irish goddesses. In fact, Lughnasadh has an older name, Bron Trogain, which refers to the painful labor of childbirth. For at this time of year, the earth gives birth to her first fruits so that her children might live….” – Mara Freeman, Chalice Centre

“…the bread we celebrate at Lammas is the fruit of the earth and the work of human hands–both farmers and bakers. For that reason alone, the bread is already sacred in itself. When we blessed the bread Saturday night, we were simply remembering those who came before us, those who discovered agriculture and that alchemy of fermentation that gives us both bread and beer. And of course we were honoring the abundance of the earth itself. I rather like the idea of a “loaf mass” in which we are all the celebrants, and that which we consume needs no transformation by a priestly caste.” – Victoria Slind-Flor, “Lammas returns, and we celebrate the sacredness of bread”

May you have a fruitful holiday!