Abundance as opposed to a bun dance

Followers of the "old way" will already be aware that today is

Lammas and that corn dollie season has begun in ernest.

Traditional corn dollie

It's the day on which to celebrate the first fruits of the harvest

by baking loaves made with the freshly milled flour from

this year's crop.  If you're gluten free like me you'll just have to

improvise.

Makes your back ache just looking at it.

The wheel of life turns on, the sun has ripened the grain,

seeds must be set aside for next year's planting and then it's

all down hill again until Yule (147 shopping days to go)>

Meadowsweet, I can smell it from here.

Today's colours are golds and oranges, as well as red to

celebrate the Goddess as mother.  Hazel, gorse and sage are

hot to trot and don't forget the meadowsweet, the bride of the meadow,

whatever you do with it's heavy, almost sickly-sweet

migraine inducing perfume.

There were some more interesting pictures but they
really were very rude indeed!

Lammas also embraces the festival of Lugh the Celtic Sun King and

Lord of Light.  So set fire to something, dance around in

the rudie nudie (any excuse eh Deb), go pick your beans because

with the cutting of the first corn the old god, the green man,

the essence of life, John Barleycorn - call him what you will -

surrenders his life to the scythe.  It's a story as old a time

itself, of death and rebirth so that the cycle can begin again anew with the

coming of the spring.

He's definately not a "leg" man.

Now out with your besoms (no Alice dear, those are your bosoms)

and sweep after me:

By one, two, three and four

Sweep Lammas gifts to my door.

May abundance be a constant friend

By my hearth till winter's end.