Enrichment
Thursday 7/31/25 is a turning of a page/chapter, a shift into August and marks (roughly) the halfway point between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox, historically known as Lughnasadh in ancient Celctic cultures.
In Celtic mythology, Lugh is a solar deity associated with skill, justice, and maturity. His foster mother, Goddess Tailtiu, is said to have cleared the plains of Ireland so humans could cultivate crops and grow food for sustenance. As a result of her hardwork, she dies (a motif shared in Native American origin stories as well). Her last request to Lugh, before passing, was that she be honored this time of year to ensure continued sustenance for years to come (Forest, 2016).
Since time immemorial, humans have lived alongside nature, story, and the mystery as pathways and relationships for deeper knowing, wise guidance, holistic well-being, and spiritual integrity.
We are beings of nature, story, and the mystery and when stripped or separated from that, our choices, desires, values, clarity, purpose, and well-being become a bit muddled, to say the least; when we are disconnected from nature internally (bodily sensations, intelligent impulses, genuine desires, our heart and soul, discernment, etc.) and externally (land, place, community, environment, etc.), we lose track of who and what we are, the capacity to relate and be in community, and the inherent wisdom of being alive; sustenance grows thin.
How we tend and mend this experience is subjective and unique to our genuine desires, however, some generalized practices and approaches can be found across time, space, culture, and religion and the overarching term I'm going to use to for one of these approaches is- Ritual.
Ritual comes from the word rite as in religious rites or rites of passage. The term rite hails from the proto-indo-european root rē, meaning to reason or fit together.
This makes me wonder- is ritual the practice and embodiment of how we fit or mend ourselves back together, within ourselves, with each other, with the other than human world; how we deepen in meaning and reason when it has been cut off at the root. Is this what Thomas Moore meant when he said “genuine ritual has the power to maintain the world’s holiness.”
There's all kinds of cute rituals out there for x,y, and z on social media and in mainstream healing spaces, but are they really ritual if there isn't embodied awareness and a genuine desire to remember, relate, and re-integrate ourselves back into the nature of who we are, the interconnected fabric of life to which we belong and have a responsibility to, and the holy? I think not, I think now we're just talking about routines, which are valid and valuable, but different.
This Thursday, in Rhythm & Ritual (a yoga, meditation, and tarot practice in Franklin NC) we'll slow down and take care to come into our bodies through movement, deepen in awareness, get curious about our internal landscape, take note of what's happening in nature and our hearts, and explore an archetypal theme via a group tarot reading as a ritualized experience for turning the page from a place of remembering, relating, and re-integration; from a place of embodying the mythic invitation to honor Tailtiu to ensure continued sustenance, growth, and transformation in ourselves and with each other.
If you aren't able to join us in person but would like to lean into this seasonal celebration ritually- carve out time + space (whatever is accessible to you, 5 minutes to a whole day) to bring your awareness into the present, into your bones, into your heart, into the holy, and get curious.
Some of the questions I've found helpful (partially inspired by Venessa of Wildly Rooted & Jacqui from Xālish Medicines) and have been exploring as we move through Lughnasadh are:
What insights, skills, and genuine desires have ripened as the result of my efforts so far this year?
What desire am I being asked to take seriously now?
Where am I still performing in order to be loved, chosen, or validated?
What would change if I let that go?
What do I need to shed to be who I'm here to be? To move from my heart, fully, with courage, love, authenticity- like integral, congruent authenticity?
What is the rest of this snake year asking me to step into?
If you ponder these questions..I'd love to hear about your experience and what intelligent responses you uncover <3.