Lammas

~ Ashley

white-tail-bumblebee

Small Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae on Verbena

On every flower,
A butterfly, a bee;
Summer's bounty.

Goodness!  It’s the beginning of August already and isn’t the cycle of life amazing?  All Earth’s creatures are aware of the changes in the season.

Lammas;
Gathering grain for winter,
Seeds for sowing next year.

Lammas, the Saxon name for this time of year, meaning “Loaf-mass”, or as it is called in Irish Gaelic Lughnasadh, is a celebration of the rich harvest that is beginning across these islands.  Whilst the harvest occurs people still make corn dollies or rattles and healing wands but for me I continue to whittle Ogham sticks when I find the right wood. Here are my latest: Hazel and Gorse.

hazel & gorse lammas

Hazel (Corylus avellana) is the ninth tree in the Celtic Tree Ogham.  Its straight coppiced poles have been used in many ways by humans for thousands of years.  It’s been a good companion to humanity and with that in mind I hope to make a walking stick with that extra long piece I was given.

Gorse (Ulex europaeus) is the seventeenth wood in the Ogham.  Not actually a tree, it is found mostly on moorland and rough ground where its flowers can be seen throughout the year.  It is also known as Whin or Furze.

Ashley

54 thoughts on “Lammas”

  1. Hey Fraxinus, I like your end-of-summer hokku with the photo of the bee, and the first-day-of-fall hokku about Lammas (aka Lughnasadh) and the butterfly image! And I always enjoy seeing your Ogham sticks. Do the symbols mean Hazel and Gorse?

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    1. Hullo Edo! Thanks for your comments! I’m not sure if the symbols themselves mean something except that you could count using them. They are so ancient it would be difficult to truly decipher them.🙋‍♂️

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  2. Happy lughnasadh! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and what you are up to. I always find your posts so interesting. I know so little about the trees. 🙋‍♀️🌾🌾🍞

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    1. Thanks, Morag! Where you are now is a good place to begin learning about trees. There must be lots nearby? Here, it’s not so good. 🌹🙋‍♂️

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      1. Yes I even have trees in my garden. I am going to make up a little pamphlet for myself… Or maybe I will find one online or in a book shop

  4. Indeed time flies, August already, yes we already harvest some beans, tomatoes, lettuce and it is great fun eating our own products. It is ongoing now.
    Very interesting your post and beautiful pictures and rhymes.
    Wishing you a wonderful August, Ashley ♥

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    1. Many thanks, Ute. It is great that you G-Y-O! This year we only had one potted hanging strawberry plant but the fruit is really sweet even though we’ve not had much sun this July. 🌹🙋‍♂️

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    1. Hi Marina, thank you for your comments. I really must finish the set (Ogham sticks). Only a couple more to go, Yew & Heather! Happy Lammas! 🌹🙋‍♂️

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      1. I’m familiar with ogham. (I’m the person that complained that there wasn’t ogham on the standing stones in Outlander… Also have a tattoo.) But I’ve never seen it on sticks before. Do you use them in any practice?

  14. Beautiful photos and I love your sense of curiosity! I spent the morning picking wildflowers and saw so many flowers with honey bees, butterflies, and some hummingbirds. Your post made the perfect end to my evening. 🦋🐝😊

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    1. Dear Jennifer, thank you for your lovely comments! Are you going to paint the flowers? That would be a great record for Lammas especially with the bees and butterflies harvesting nature’s bounty. It’s hard to believe that reading the ancient agricultural calendar, we have entered Autumn. In a few weeks time on the 23rd September it will be the autumn equinox (my next post) and after that the days will begin to shorten and the nights lengthen! 🌹🙋‍♂️

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  15. Those pictures are so beautiful 😊 Thanks for sharing. It’s hard to believe it’s already August. Over here, we only had one week of sun and for the rest of the time it’s been dark and rainy. Those sticks looks very beautiful though. I had a walking stick that was a fallen tree branch when I was younger that meant a lot to me.

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  16. Nice to learn about this festival. It’s sowing season here. Beautiful poems and pictures! Happy Lammas, Ashley 🌾💐🙏

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  17. A fellow in a wood carving group I attended carved mighty fine walking sticks with just a stanley knife. Sometimes he turned them into concealed sword sticks. Another attendee, a judge, told him he would give him ten years if he ever appeared before him after being caught with one of his creations .

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    1. Great yarn, Graham, thank you! It’s unlikely that I will ever be that proficient in woodworking. The members of the club that I’m in refer to themselves as bodgers! We work outdoors, in the woods, with only hand tools and the wood is green, that is freshly cut and full of sap. If I’d learned about green woodworking earlier in my life I think I might have looked for a small wood to buy and live in! Too late now, I’m too fond of many modern comforts! 🛏🚿🙋‍♂️

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  18. Yes, bees love yellow flowers. Especially those that have a lot of nectar. I like this beautiful photo of a picky bee that has definitely found her favorite flower.
    Thank you, Ashley!
    Greetings from the beautiful Rhine-Highlands / Germany…🌻
    Rosie

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    1. Thank you, Andrea. Hopefully, soon, I will have a complete set of 20. Each one is made in the wood of the symbol & so it has been a slow gathering up of pieces. 🌹🙋‍♂️

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    1. Thank you, Charlotte for your comment. When it comes to writing about the seasons I follow an ancient agricultural calendar & so for me Autumn began at the start of August, Lammas. 🌹🙋‍♂️

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