As we pass Lugnasadh and start into the harvest part of the year, we may be struggling to find the bounty this year. It has been a hard year for so many people, and a strange year, and things just don't feel right. We are facing issues that we haven't ever had to deal with in our lifetimes, and so much is thrown off balance, trying to celebrate the harvest can feel monumental.
I feel like we are the closest to understanding how our ancestors felt, during years of bad harvest. When something happened and the fields didn't give enough to put away for the winter, and it wasn't just going to be a lean year, but there was this knowledge that many people wouldn't see the spring.
Celebrating the harvest and honoring the cycle of the year will be just as different as everything else this year. We are firmly reminded that even though the Sabbats honor the turning of the wheel, it isn't actually a proper circle, it is a spiral, it is coming back around but also being in a different place, and we are definitely in a different place than we were last year. And honoring the harvest doesn't only mean the good times, but recognizing what is and deciding how we move forward.
For me, a big part of this is drawing a firm line between what I can control and what I can't. There is a lot going on right now that I can't control. I can't control what the virus does, I can't control what the government does, I can't control what restrictions are placed on me, or what the other people in my town do.
Acknowledging what I can't control is really just the first step to letting it all go. Yes, I am upset about all of these things, and some of them make me rightly mad. But what am I doing with those emotions? If I am just holding onto them, then they are poison to me. They are me giving up the control I have and allowing my circumstances to conquer me.
On the other hand, if I start asking myself what I can control, I can control what I choose to do, giving my circumstances. Shall I do my part to keep myself and those around me safe? Shall I find ways to turn my anger into action and work towards changing things? Shall I sit with my feelings, and sort out what they are trying to tell me?
I think a big part of our harvest for the year is a reminder that we may not see the results of our actions for a long time, and we still have to put in the work. So much of the 'harvests' in our life are subtle, and sometimes feel mysterious. We do stuff at work, but we may work hard for many years and not see any signs that we are moving ahead in our job. We might put money aside, but problems keep coming up and that money slips through our fingers, no matter how hard we try to save it.
What we are seeing right now, across the country, is how the actions we take from the start effect how things turn out in the end. We are seeing what over-reaction and under-reaction looks like (sometimes in the same place!) We are realizing how important action is but also accurate information and knowledge...and we are seeing the effects of blind ignorance.
The harvest this year might not be physical, we may not be counting our blessings and seeing the bounty in our lives the way we normally do. We might be looking back at the past year and wondering how we made it as far as we did and how we are going to make it through the next few months. We may be starting to think about the turning of the year in a very different light.
But harvest time is a time of reflection, and it is time to look back, and to really think about what has happened this year. To take an accounting of what we started with, and where we are at now...and where we are going.
There is a tendency, when things get bad, to avoid looking. Because if we actually see what is going on, then it's real. If we distance ourselves from it, if we hide from the truth or distract ourselves with fantasy, then we don't have to deal with the harsh reality. But reality is funny in that just because we avoid acknowledging it, doesn't mean it goes away.
Honoring the harvest means opening our eyes. It means really addressing what is going on in our lives, and what has been going on in our lives over the course of this year. It means making plans for the rest of the year, and trying to find ways to do our best to see the next spring (whether that is an actual spring of a metaphorical one).
It also means finding the blessings that might be hidden under all the chaff. When the harvest is light, it is easy to loose the valuable grains, but it is more important than ever to find each and every one. I think that when things are crazy and horrible and it feels like everything is burning, that is the time when we most can benefit from counting our blessings, from actually stopping and listing out each and every thing we can think of that in any way makes our lives better.
It's times like this that shift your perspective, that make you appreciate all the tiny things that often go unnoticed. So stop, and really seek out the parts of your life where there is bounty, where there is goodness and where you have found value. And write it down! It is so easy to forget the blessings when the next wave of sorrow hits, but we can turn back to our journal, we can read our own words and remember.
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