Deluge of Summer

Lughnasa and the first harvests

I am standing under the waterfall, the deluge that is mid-Summer pounds down into my muscle and shakes my bones. I am unable to move yet there is too much movement, rooted to the spot, yet nearly drowning.

I receive it deeply, while it also threatens to drive me off balance. All the light, heat, sun, warmth, busy-ness. My physical strength and energy generally improve during the warm season, yet now, it is being tested. The extra hours in the day invite me to do more. To take the kids swimming after camp, to go blueberry picking before dinner, band practice after that, and perhaps even planning time to go for a run in the morning when I’d normally already be driving the kids to school.

We are at the height of it all - and the past few days, have really tipped over the other side. And though Summer Solstice is technically the height of the sun as he travels north, the most recent marker point is really when we experience the fruits of all that solar energy. Around August first, and between the Solstice and Autumn Equinox is Lughnasagh (or Lammas.) Lughnasadh is the cross quarter day that marks the first of the harvest festivals. Lugh, as the holiday is named after, was a multifaceted and many-talented mythological Celtic King who wore his helmet of gold into battle.

I see gold everywhere - the Black-eyed Susans, the first goldenrod blooming, the backs of bumblebees, the rays of morning sun over my gardens.

I feel that all the madcap energy in the people is reflected in the nature…the winds increase, the flowers pop, die, go to seed, the garden is ripening, and dying and there are free veggies bins everywhere (I heart zucchini!) We are not able to keep up with it all, the last chance for the birds, bunnies and bees (literally) to grown their families this season. My garden is in danger of being seeded by the wild overgrowth of plantain and primrose going to seed in the lawn.

Yet I also feel the stillness. The pause between the inhale and exhale. It’s short, but it is vital and necessary, and there is no rushing the next. I await news of what Fall will bring. I just finally peeped at the academic calendar to see when first day of school, and when Soccer will start. But there is not yet need for action.

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This is a powerful and often overlooked seasonal transition. In Ayurveda, it is the transition between Summer and Fall, between Pitta and into Vata season. Just over the past few days, here in Vermont we have gone from low-90’s and a heavy humidity that is hard to sleep in, to nights and mornings that are in the low 50’s. As a New Englander, it is a pattern I know well in my body. And my heart tries not to drop, while at the same time there is a cooling of my blood that is vital for my mental clarity when I was just about to ‘pop.’

In these late Summer days, I tend to start leaning on crutches to get me through the final stretch of very full, and often, disorderly, LONG days. Sometimes this involves thinking I can drink caffeine again and be okay.

Between some black tea, green tea, or chai sneaking in,, I start to wonder why I feel more tired, why my sleep is not coming as deeply, why I start getting afternoon headaches, and I start to feel like I need a CBD gummy (not a crutch I recommend casually) to keep me steady and grounded. The irregular schedules, the long days in which we have filled up every minute with fun and adventure are partly to blame, and also, remebering that caffeine is quite a strong substance. That the cravig I have to help me keep up is actually a sign my body is trying to slow down and rest and recoup, as well as deal with the internal changes that come from the external, environmental ones happening.

A plant ally that I credit for saving my live - the one I have named this blog after - is ready right now. I gathered this Motherwort on Summer Solstice, and I just bottled it last week on Lughnasa. I also made the essence overnight Lughnasagh eve, to bring in more of that adulting, mid-life wisdom into this year’s Triple Mother.

Another way I have used Motherwort in the past is as a caffeine antidote. That might be borderline abusing the herb, but really, she can be helpful if you find yourself in this situation ;)

Motherwort is 'hypo' (slows things down) whereas caffeine is 'hyper' and speeds things up (or in general if we are overworked and in overdrive Motherwort comes in a brings us back to center.)

So, if you have followed some of my writing over the past several months, you have seen that I am taking a harder look at caffeine (even though honestly, I drink very little - yet still, it is not a medicine for me) and my mental health, breast health, menstrual health, etc and now I am making another commitment, to NOT get stuck in the cycle again during this next seasonal shift.

Motherwort could be helpful if you find yourself anxious and overwhelmed or in hyperdrive this time of year, for all the above mentioned, totally legitimate, reasons.

—

I am the divine Mother

She lives in me

And everything she needs

Comes to me

Easily.

I am the divine Mother

She lives in me

And everything she needs

Comes Through me

Easily

.