She Knows How to Swing the Scythe
Blessing of the Reaper + Celebrate the First Harvest
Dear One,
Can you feel the shift in the air? A crackling of dry leaves, sweat on the brow, bundles of lavender hanging up to dry …
It’s nearly time to celebrate the First Harvest, also known as Lammas or Lughnasadh. Today’s post is all about honoring the Reaper, the One who presides over the season of Summer-Turning-to-Fall. The seasonal change from Midsummer to the First Harvest marks a shift on the Wheel of Life from the peak of fullness at midlife to a sharpening, a winnowing, and a take-no-sh*t attitude as one enters their late midlife / early elder years.
Before we dive into it, I can’t help but note the significant change in American politics that took place last Sunday. There has been such a profound upswelling of excitement and possibility since Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee. I’m hearing it everywhere, even from my friends in other countries. I can’t help but notice that Kamala Harris’ age and attitude puts her firmly in Reaper territory.
I’ve chosen not to cover politics for the most part in this newsletter, but today I want to share just one resource for taking action to support Kamala Harris for President. I don’t assume that everyone reading this will agree with me, and if you feel you need to unsubscribe, please go in peace.
I’ve been following Jessica Craven’s Chop Wood Carry Water for quite a while now and can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s a weekday newsletter that “gives you easy, effective political actions to take to stave off despair, effect positive change, and elect more Democrats.” I love how Jessica often ends her posts with “OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.” We all need a little encouragement.
Thanks for listening.
The Lammas Reaper
For those of you who are new to my work, the following blessing and artwork above are part of a project I’ve been working on for quite a few years. In it, I compare the eight holy-days of the Wheel of the Year and the eight lunar phases to life stages. An archetype or “Numinous Being” presides over each of the eight seasons. I taught a course based on this material twice called “Walking the Sacred Wheel” in 2022 and 2023. I share excerpts from this work-in-progess regularly in this Substack. Prints of the Reaper are available in my shop here.
You may want to read the following piece aloud to yourself. Take a deep breath, sit back, and receive …
Blessing of the Reaper
May the blessing of Deepening be upon you.
May you spiral down into the heart of your story, following its twists and turns.
May you sort grain from chaff, keeping one, releasing the other.
May you bake bread from grain of the first harvest, flavoring it with rosemary and longing.
May you cut away anything and anyone that does not support your wholeness.
May you know that when your physical fertility begins to wane, your soulful fertility begins to flourish.I bless you with golden fields ready for harvest, and shooting stars that blaze like diamonds in the velvet night sky.
I bless you with a feast of wild salmon, who gave their life that yours might be sustained.
I bless you with an unshakeable sense of your own beauty and worth.I am the Reaper.
I make the story sharp and lean.Go now, head down the hill, and remember me.
When the moon begins to wane just past the peak of fullness, remember me.
When you hang onions and garlic from the rafters to dry, remember me.
When you lay ripe blackberries on the altar of change, remember me.
When you savor fresh corn, all the sweeter because its season is short, remember me.
When you give up something you love in favor of something else you love, remember me.Go now, and know we shall be one.
Today, tonight, and forevermore.
— by JPC, from the Sacred Wheel Oracle, a work-in-progress
The Reaper cuts away all that no longer serves her innate wholeness. She is fierce in service to the land, to soul, to the collective.
Her season is Summer-Turning-to-Fall, her holy day Lammas, her lunar phase the Disseminating Moon (just past Full), her life stage late midlife (50s and 60s).
You’ll find her in the scent of pungent hops under a sweating sun, in dirt-encrusted fingernails, and in the scratches left on her skin by blackberry thorns and motherwort. She harvests, she sorts, she threshes, she grinds. She is the baker and the bread, the brewer and the beer.
She knows how to swing the scythe.
Celebrate!
Here are a few ideas for soulful activities you might want to do throughout the season of Summer-Turning-to-Fall. Don't try to do them all; just one or two that speak to you.
First day of Autumn in the Celtic calendar. Celebrate Lammas / Lughnasadh, the first harvest, by inviting friends to join you at a farmers’ market or county fair. Go camping together and have a communal feast. Play games, make music, dance, watch the falling stars, and give thanks for the first fruits of the harvest.
Sacred Bread. Bake a loaf of bread for Lammas in a sacred manner. Set an intention of being aware of the ancient heritage and symbolism of your actions. Add harvested herbs or berries from your garden, if you have any. Bring your sacred loaf to a community Lammas gathering, or share with your family and friends. You can pass it around the circle, along with a fine microbrew. Ask each person to feed the one next to them, first saying the ritual words: “May you never hunger. May you never thirst.”
Sacrifice. Consider what you have sacrificed in order for your metaphorical seeds to ripen into nourishing sustenance. What did you have to release or cut out of your life? What is over? Allow yourself to feel the loss. You could use faded flowers or dried grasses to symbolize your losses and release them by throwing them into the nearest body of water.
First Harvest. Make a simple meal from vegetables just appearing at a farmers’ market or plucked from your own garden. Offer up the first portion to the Great Mystery. As you eat your meal, consider your own personal harvest. Of the metaphorical seeds you planted last spring, which are now coming to fruition? Which still needs time to ripen on the vine? You might make a wheat weaving or other kind of decoration to symbolize the meaning of your personal first harvest.
What are some of your favorite ways to celebrate Lammas / Lughnasadh / First Harvest?
Journal Prompt
Call upon the Reaper to guide you with her wisdom. Pull a tarot or oracle card for inspiration in answering the following questions:
Swing your scythe. What in your life does not support your wholeness?
Consider: things, attitudes, beliefs, activities, people. What would it look or feel like to cut those away?
(Post your response as a comment, if you like.)
This Week’s Song #1: “When We Are Gone” by Anne Hill & Reclaiming
When we are gone, they will remain:
Wind and rock, fire and rain.
They will remain when we return,
The wind will blow and the fire will burn . . .
This song epitomizes the bittersweet nature of this season to me, as the first dry leaves begin to fall. We have been singing it at our local community’s Lammas campout for as long as I can remember. The fierce August heat, the cold river, the yellow cottonwood leaves drifting with the current down to the sea. Remembering the ones who are gone.
This Week’s Song #2: “Queen of Swords” by Idina Menzel
I’m slaying like the Queen of Swords …
This one is very different, and all about the Reaper!
Zoom Wisdom Circle Today, July 28th, 1 PM Pacific
If you’re a paid subscriber, a reminder email will arrive today about an hour before our Zoom Wisdom Circle call with all the details. (You should have received an email last Wednesday too.) I’m looking forward to gathering in virtual circle with you.
Thank you, as always, for reading. And for taking action — even one small step.
Blessings of the First Harvest,
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links to Bookshop.org or my website shop.
About me: I’m Joanna Powell Colbert, creator of the Gaian Tarot and the Pentimento Tarot, and co-creator of the Herbcrafter’s Tarot. I write and teach about tarot, earth-centered spirituality, seasonal & lunar lore, and creativity as a spiritual practice. You can also connect with me on Instagram or Facebook.
I was so empowered by your post today. After reading what you say about Kamala as the reaper, I started listening to the first song that you suggest and this began a ritual of singing, dancing, screaming, jumping, shouting as I listened to the whole track and felt the power of the goddess coursing through me. This is what I have fought for all my life for as a 67-year-old feminist. Kamala for President!!!
With much gratitude for your post today.
This is the time of year that I look forward to the first morning when I will be seeing Orion rise in the east several hours before dawn. In the days before Orion appears, the Pleiades rise in the east above the cottonwoods trees. Many years ago, a Vietnamese woman told me that in her culture, Orion was seen as a farmer. She told me that Pleiades was seen as a spoon. Your post is bringing to my attention the possibility of seeing Orion as a woman scything, the Pleiades as a spoon anticipating the enjoyment of a meal of harvest soup.
" I can’t help but notice that Kamala Harris’ age and attitude puts her firmly in Reaper territory."
"The Reaper cuts away all that no longer serves her innate wholeness. She is fierce in service to the land, to soul, to the collective."
Kamala rising in the east at Lughnasadh!