Let me just start out by saying I was not born in August. I was however, born again yesterday. Yesterday I finally fell into Summer. I walked slowly down the drive, which is really more like a country dirt road since it goes for a good quarter mile, tracking my perceptions. Time slowed down. Time seems to slow with the lazy sound of crickets, the high heat and sunshine. Strangely, in the presence of so much heat, a naturally moving force, at its peak, things actually begin to turn, to slow and ripen. This is an interesting turn of events. In all the activity, all the chaos of wild growing green, suddenly yellow or red begins to appear.
Fruits begin to hang heavy on the branches, waiting for us to harvest. Deep magenta, deep purple, the color of fire mixing with water, the alignment of our will, our purpose with our now opened hearts. What fruits are hanging heavy in our hearts, ready for harvest, for opening, for sharing? I find deep solace, deep nourishment in these moments when my heart opens and my mind stills, captured by the brilliant expression of the world.
Today is the eve of the cross-quarter day between Summer solstice and the beginning of Fall on September 21st. These mid-points in each season always bring special messages, special energies to us. August 1st (sometimes August 2nd) is traditionally called Lammas or Lughnasagh, an ancient holiday celebrating the first harvest of grain. Historically celebrated with bread and beer made from these grains, these days with everyone going gluten-free (or in my case, grain-free. Check out the links below for my favorite grain-free bread and beer!) we might wish to find a new way to honor the harvest. What have you brought to fruition this Summer? What needs honoring? How can you honor that in you that is coming to fruition, ripening and demanding harvest?
For me, the harvest of this Summer is the shift to a new cycle in life as I honor my own aging. In Chinese medicine we talk about our aging process in cycles of 7 and 8. 7-year cycles for women and 8-year cycles for men. My 9th cycle is beginning this year with my 56th birthday just a week ago. For this new cycle, I want to focus on writing. I have longed for many years to put more energy, time and attention to writing. I love to write, yet I also love to do many other things. The preceding cycle from 48 years old until now has been about teaching, growing in my capacity to communicate through teaching. Now, I wish to bring that same level of cultivation to writing, to finding a way to integrate and communicate my love for the world, for the dharma and for Chinese medicine through the medium of written words. I share this with you as a way to honor and enliven this commitment. And to encourage you to grow your own intentions and commitments in this way, aligning yourself with the energies of the earth, supporting yourself with the connection that you are between heaven and earth, a unique expression of wisdom that is both personal and global.
I will also be adding a new dimension of mentoring to this cycle. Mentoring is about fostering your own journey, finding ways to grow what is already alive in you in whatever direction will be the might wish. I love mentoring. I love to hear how things are arising for you and then to draw from both Chinese medicine and buddhadharma to nurture your growth. Mentoring relationships fertilize and water the soil of being for both parties in my experience. Inspired by your interest and intention, my own ideas and integration continue to grow. I think we can call this evolution. Co-evolution. What else are we here for? You can learn more about meditation mentoring or Chinese medicine mentoring with me and please do look forward to how this develops. The seeds for a more formal program have already sprouted and I will keep you posted as it begins to take shape. You can sign up for updates here at the bottom of the page if you haven’t already.
“Born in August” is an old Scottish saying that refers to this mid-summer holiday, a time when we show respect for all our hard work and enjoy our harvest with others. It has become a way of saying that someone is noble and generous, sharing the fruits of their experience, their labor. A little wisdom on this point from Donna Henes in her description of Lammas where she shares the history of the holiday and the origin of the phrase : “…we can behave, as they say, as if we were born in August. We can, in fact, become august, wise and generous and gloriously noble, each in our own chosen path.” Technically speaking, I was born in July, but hopefully I was “born in august” and again and again as the noble summer begins to ripen and the harvest begins to come in.
Paleo Sandwich Bread (No Grain!)
Grain-Free Beer!
warm, even hot wishes that you will enjoy the stillness and harvest of this late summer!
Share the fruits of your harvest with us here if you would be so kind…
Thank you! Such beautiful words…very inspiring, and just what I needed!