It's always Lammas
Jul. 27th, 2004 02:52 pmSince it is once again almost Lammas, I thought I'd share a thought that came to me---I think last Lammas, although it could have been the Lammas before. It's about the Lammas sacrifice. I was thinking hard about what I was going to sacrifice, and what I thought the meaning of sacrifice was in a Pagan context: something you give up to gain transformative, higher level understanding and growth. Something given for the greater good...yours and others. That's why it's the first harvest festival---you offer up the first fruits in gratitude to the gods, before you can accept the whole harvest. Same principle as the libation plate, really.
So then I thought, hey, wait a minute. It's always Lammas here. Everything that can be reasonably sacrificed to the dissertation process/full time job combination (and some that is not) is being sacrificed and will be sacrificed until the process is over. Everyday I wake up, and it's Lammas. And the next day I wake up, and it's Lammas again. Now mind you, I have become addicted to this Lammas in a kind of unhealthy, workaholic kind of way. I understand that I am getting a very sad rush from this lifestyle, and that I learned this lesson from my mother, who taught us that it was Lammas everywhere, all the time in our family. She learned it from one of her grandmothers, and it has been dogging our lineage ever since.
So, I was thinking, given this, what I am going to give up for Lammas?
The answer is, I am going to give up Lammas.
After I mail out the diss.
So then I thought, hey, wait a minute. It's always Lammas here. Everything that can be reasonably sacrificed to the dissertation process/full time job combination (and some that is not) is being sacrificed and will be sacrificed until the process is over. Everyday I wake up, and it's Lammas. And the next day I wake up, and it's Lammas again. Now mind you, I have become addicted to this Lammas in a kind of unhealthy, workaholic kind of way. I understand that I am getting a very sad rush from this lifestyle, and that I learned this lesson from my mother, who taught us that it was Lammas everywhere, all the time in our family. She learned it from one of her grandmothers, and it has been dogging our lineage ever since.
So, I was thinking, given this, what I am going to give up for Lammas?
The answer is, I am going to give up Lammas.
After I mail out the diss.