a Blessed Lammas

[sunset, last night at Echo Point. a hot night, softened by a gentle mountains breeze. Katoomba. a power spot of mine]

DRYING HERB BLESSING
grown from the earth with mothers love
fed by water and the sun above
taken for your power true
hung aloft in life anew
let your magick grow so strong
for you’ll be called before too long
Lammas season for me. Instead of trying to do all my little ritual & such in oneday, I am doing it over the month.. makes alot more sense to me - I bet the Cornish ancestors didn't run around trying to fit it all in.. things like: decorating the home with Hollyhock flowers to bring the "good luck" fairies to the village and home. Hollyhock flowers attract money. [The Druid would cut mistletoe with its oak branch to be nurtured on the altar for magical energy until spring when it would be placed back in the oak tree.] or baking oat cakes to share with friends.. [the cook would bake one pretty stone into one cake and the young lady who received that cake by chance would marry well the following year or if married produce a fine baby]
autumn joy... heads of brilliant orange flowers will open during the coming of autumn. Butterflies will clamour for the nectar...flowers will change from orange to rust bringing colour to a winter garden
Lammas is supposed to signify the ending of summer.. which is where I immediately become confused.. February is our hottest month.. and this year is no exception. the first day of February was over 40degC... and today, promises to me not much cooler.. plants are wilting nearly as much as I am. is it eco friendly to have the airconditioner on as much as I do? I think not.

butterflies enjoy the last of the summer lavender and dragonflies flitter two and fro...

The Sun's strength begins to wane and the plants of spring begin to wither [the only thing they are withering from at the moment is the intense heat of February sun] and drop their fruits or seeds for our use, as well as to ensure future crops. [so please God, make it cool]

hydrangeas hanging to dry ~ a kind of harvest
but, I can give thanks for my harvest.. mini capsicums, tiny sweet bite tomatoes[which by the way were self seeded. coming from the compost that i bought with me from Inglewood..] and I have been gathering handfuls each day, basil, cucumbers. Comfrey for the comfrey tea and for my clucky girls..

and I can decorate my altar[s] - with the colours of traditional Lammas.. in doing this I bring myself closer to my ancestors

not very Catholic, I know BUT... you see, I am more than a catholic... an eccentric mix [see my profile above]. it is ok to be me. Mother Mary does approve. I am sure.
[and so for the month of February.. I will continue to observe the ending of summer.. as it happens - year after year - and will share as life goes on..]