Lammas Reflections
by Iris Amara
Up until a few years ago, I would have said that Lammas is my least favorite of the sabbats. I've had Lammas issues ever since I first became interested in Wicca. At our open sabbats for Lammas, we focused a lot on the idea of sacrifice - symbolized by the God of the grain being cut down to nourish his people. We gathered in circle where we all meditated on what sacrifices we could make in our lives to help others. It was really quite nice. The God was represented by a figure made of raffia which was paraded around the circle as we each wrote down on a small piece of paper what sacrifices we planned to make and tucked them into the figure. Then the whole thing was burned in a bonfire - symbolizing the God sacrificing himself and each of us making our own personal sacrifice.
But I still didn't like it. It's taken me several years to figure out what exactly I didn't like and to work my way through it, but I can now say that I do like Lammas just as much as the other sabbats, and I look forward to celebrating it each year. One of the main problems that I had was simply the use of the word "sacrifice" - it sounds so big and so meaningful and so heavy. Not like something you do every day. Something that you have to really prepare yourself for and suffer from, and that others should honor you for. Something that if you're on the receiving end, you need to feel guilty about. While that certainly is one possible meaning of "sacrifice", it doesn't have to be the only one. There are small sacrifices that we all make every day, often barely noticing them. Things we do to help people we care about, things we do that benefit a larger group, things we do for people we don't even know. Things we think of as "just being nice". And for me, Lammas is a time to think about those things - think about what you've done and can do for others, and also to remember what others have done for you. The God might be in a position to sacrifice his life for us - our sacrifices don't need to be quite so grand. This is a great time of year to think about charitable giving, or volunteer work. (It was during a Lammas ritual that I decided to begin exploring possible volunteer jobs.)
At our rituals, we tried to emphasize the idea of willing sacrifice and sacrifice from abundance. Thinking about willing sacrifice helped me to get away from the whole concept of guilt that I associate with sacrifice. If I choose to make a sacrifice, there's no reason for anyone to feel guilty. If someone willingly chooses to make a sacrifice for me, there's no reason for me to feel guilty. I might feel grateful, I might feel incredibly lucky, but why should I feel guilty? Of course that's an ideal - in the real world sacrifices often turn into bargains ("I'll do this for you if you do that for me"), or tools of manipulation ("I did this for you, now you owe me!") But Lammas is a time for me to re-examine my own motivations - when I make sacrifices, am I doing it because I expect something in return? Or am I doing it because it's what I really want to do?
Sacrifice from abundance is another concept that helps me keep things in perspective - a sacrifice that you can afford to make is not less valuable than a sacrifice that wipes you out. Taking care of yourself, or keeping enough for yourself does not negate the value of what you choose to share. We can't all be like Mother Teresa, but we can do what we can do. It still counts. It still helps someone. Lammas is a good time for me to remind myself that even my little one-person, drop-in-the-bucket contributions really do make a difference. It's so easy to get overwhelmed by the massive problems in the world, by the sheer number of people who need help in so many different ways - Lammas is a time to remind ourselves that even our seemingly small actions have positive results.
So Happy Lammas everybody - enjoy the fruits of the first harvest, and take the time to help someone if you can. And if someone wants to help you, let them. You'll both feel better for it.
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