Greetings friends and welcome.
Welcome to this seasonal journey with the Kitchen Witch and her garden.
An invitation perhaps to pause in the year,
To notice the natural world around you,
And take a short and sweet journey somewhere in between meditation and story and reflection.
These little in-between places are where we may find a little magic perhaps.
So as always,
Take your time.
We're going to take just ten minutes out of our day.
Now I'll guide you through a few ideas,
Images,
Reflections on perhaps how the Kitchen Witch's garden may appear to us in this season.
Close your eyes and rest,
Dear one,
For you have travelled far through the seasons and through the year.
We arrive at Lammas and Lunasa,
The first harvests of the year.
In the evening sunlight of long summer days,
Fields shine golden and baskets of mushrooms might be gathered.
Seen in fairy rings that appear overnight,
You might just find the first apples of the season,
And gardens may hold ripening tomatoes,
Courgettes and beans and peas.
In farmers' fields the first grain is harvested,
And the first loaves made with it might be blessed for good luck.
The Kitchen Witch might have her mason jars ready,
Sitting in rows,
Clean and sparkling,
Waiting to hold the colours and flavours of July and August.
Juicy,
Bright and sweet,
Cherries,
Redcurrants,
Bilberries,
Plums and raspberries.
Many modern pagans may mix the traditions of Lammas and Lunasa and similar harvest festivals across Europe.
The underlying theme of abundance and gratitude,
Bread and sunshine run through all these festivals,
And celebrations take form around these foundations.
Viewing human life as part of,
Not separate from,
The natural world,
And giving thanks for the agricultural prosperity that sustains us every year.
If perhaps you harvest from your own garden,
Allotment or the hedgerows,
In the long evening light,
Take pause and reflect on the idea of the harvest.
Have you planted other seeds of intention this year?
Have you laid foundations for a new plan or big decisions?
What is abundant,
And what are you grateful for?
When you feel ready,
Feel free to stretch and move and open the eyes when you wish.
As we return from this short journey,
Take your time to come back to the day and come back to the room.
And also take as long as you wish to sit within your own reflections of what is abundant in your life,
And what we can be grateful for.
I wish you joy and happiness this Lammas and Lunasa,
And I thank you for joining me.
I look forward to meeting you again soon as the wheel turns.
Until then,
Thank you and namaste.
