Lughnasadh 2017

As a modern pagan I've always made a habit of changing my spiritual outlook as circumstances change, my point of view changes, and as I see that certain things don't "work" or don't fit into reality as I observe it. I meditate and do shamanic journeying, but have come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter if what I "see" during times of altered consciousness is objectively real or "just" exists in my mind. Are the gods objectively real, or just expressions of greater truth? Who cares? How about magic? If doing a ritual helps me focus so that I can mundanely bring my will to pass, what difference does it make if it's supernatural or not?

One of the things that I'm relatively faithful at doing as part of my pagan spiritual practice is spending some time in "the woods", i.e. Wilderness Park at every one of the sabbats.  Today was Lughnasadh, the "cross quarter" day approximately halfway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. There's a variety of ways that modern pagans view this sabbat, one, which I subscribe to, connects it to the first harvests. It's a time when plans begin to come to fruition. If you compare the Wheel of the Year to a person's life, with either Samhain or Yule as the beginning and end, Lughnasadh is about where I am now, about ¾ of the way through a typical lifespan. And wouldn't you know it - in a lot of ways things are coming together pretty well. I live a stable, yet fulfilling life, with a great wife and pretty cool adult kids; I have a job that is challenging yet not stressful, I make a difference in people's lives a wedding minister and I am beginning to get recognition for my main creative outlet: photography. As Lughnasadh marks a time in the year where the time of planting and growth is mostly past, but there is still plenty of time to reap and to enjoy the fruits of labor, so I stand at a similar point in the Wheel of Life.

This is one of the reasons why I do these nature walks on the sabbats - I get insight into life and living. This year was no exception.