Lammas Celebration

We are enjoying some new rituals at your favorite little pagan church in the woods. Actually, we are a little bit pagan, a little bit Christian, and a little bit rock and roll.

Sunday night at 6:15 p.m. we are having a ritual to celebrate Lammas. Here are the details:

Lammas is a harvest festival, marking the end of the period of summer growth and the beginning of the autumn harvest.

It has been associated with water and earth, expressed in wells, corn, flowers, and mountains.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of 921 CE mentions Lughnasa as 'the feast of first fruits'. In Britain it is also called Lammas, from the Anglo-Saxon hlaef-mass meaning 'loaf-mass'. A special Eucharistic thanksgiving for the first bread of the harvest was an extremely popular Christian practice during the Middle Ages. The "first bread" is brought forward with the offering, placed on the altar, blessed and broken, and given to the people as the body of Christ.



Join the Peacemaking Team on Sunday, August 7, as they celebrate Lammas/Lughnasa, as part of the Year of the Wheel observances at FPCe.





Bring fresh foods made from your garden or from items purchased at the local farmers market for the harvest meal that will be a part of the evening.

Observances will be on church grounds, weather permitting. In case of poor weather, the celebration will be held in Martin Hall. For more information, contact Elaine Kolp.

There you have it! Hope to see you!

It was upon a Lammas night,
When the corn rigs are bonie,
Beneath the moon's unclouded light,
I held awa to Annie,
The time flew by, wi' tentless heed,
Till 'tween the late and early,
Wi' sma' persuasion she agreed,
To see me thro' the barley.

The sky was blue, the wind was still,
The moon was shining clearly,
I set her down, wi' right good will,
Amang the rigs o' barley
I ken't her heart was a' my ain,
I lov'd her most sincerely,
I kiss'd her owre and owre again,
Amang the rigs o' barley

I I loc'd her in my fond embrace,
Her heart was beating rarely,
My blessings on that happy place,
Amang the rigs o' barley!
But by that moon and stars so bright,
That shone that hour so clearly!
She ay shall bless that happy night,
Amang the rigs o' barley.

I hae been blythe wi' Comrades dear,
I hae been merry drinking,
I hae been joufu' gath'rin gear,
I hae been happy thinking
But a' the pleasures e'er I saw,
Tho' three times doubl'd fairly,
That happy night was worth the a'
Amang the rigs o' barley.

CHORUS

Corn rigs an' barley rigs,
An' corn rigs are bonie,
I'll ne'er forget that happy night,
Amang the rigs wi' Annie.

--Robert Burns, It Was Upon a Lammas Night