The Writing Witch

August’s Eve (also known as Lammas or Lughnasadh) is the midpoint between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox.

Celebrated around August 1, it’s known to witches as The First Harvest.

This time of year (in the long, warm, lazy days of Summer) it is easy for us to take it all for granted. But August’s Eve sweeps in to remind us that Summer does not last forever!

The beginning of August is our reminder to pause and acknowledge the beginning of the end of Summer. It certainly isn’t Autumn yet, but its time to begin shifting our consciousness to make way for the more solemn days of Fall and Winter.

Read on, watch or listen to discover how to harness the themes of this season to experience more fulfillment this time of year:

Agriculturally, the First Harvest was a lighthearted celebration; A time to enjoy the Summer fruits and vegetables before shifting into the more work-heavy harvest season ahead. This is our time to rejoice in the abundance of Summer one last time before Autumn sets in for good.

What is your current relationship to the August’s Eve season? What has it meant to you thus far? What are your memories, traditions and connotations about this time of year?

My three favorite themes to focus on this time of year are ABUNDANCE, CRAFTSMANSHIP, and TRANSITION.

Themes Of The First Harvest: Abundance

Late Summer is the time when nature has blossomed into its peak stage of growth. Wild and cultivated crops alike are ripe for the picking this time of year. Combine this with the comfort and joy of lazy, hot days, and we’ve got a recipe for extreme abundance! Just like we see in nature, this is our time to rejoice in the fullness of life!

What is actually in full bloom in your life right now? Which Summer intentions have manifested fully, and what unexpected gifts has Life granted you?

What’s in full bloom for me right now is my budding relationship. I used to have this belief that in order to have the ideal relationship, I had to already have all the other areas of my life figured out. In the past, when I was just beginning to explore personal development and emotional intelligence, I experienced toxic relationships. And so after the last one, I decided I would get ALLL of my shit together so that when I finally did meet the right person, I would be able to show up as my full and complete self…

But it seemed like the more I practiced self love and inner healing, the more things fell apart in my life. And when I did meet my ideal partner, it was at a very unstable time in my life. Rather than seeing some perfectly formed version of me, my partner is getting to witness me continuing to rise from the ashes of a major life change… And is actually the perfect person to help me evolve in the ways I’d been intending to all along.

This is a prime example of how in manifestation, we receive what we need, but not usually in the ways we can control or in the ways we would expect. So rather than wasting energy continuing to judge myself for being imperfect (or being disappointed that I’m a non-specific manifestor according to Human Design) I’m instead giving myself permission to be imperfect and to enjoy my life anyway.

One very noticeable way is by allowing myself to be loved even in my imperfection – And having the courage to love another in spite of their imperfections. But unlike past relationships where I was making excuses for someone’s poor behavior at the expense of my own mental health, in this relationship, it’s about accepting the harmless imperfections that make us human, and working together to heal and improve any unhealthy patterns that aren’t serving either of us.

For the first time in my life, I’m in a relationship that I actually see growing – Not just in forced or superficial ways, but in a genuinely ingenious and authentically awesome way! I’m finally getting to experience the power of being in a power couple – And realizing that’s not about two perfect people coming together and being flawless. It’s about two imperfect but perfectly aligned people sharing a common interest of growing into our best selves together.

And unlike in past relationships where I was constantly pressuring the person to change, or desperately wishing the relationship was on a different level, I now get to experience the manifestation phenomenon known as “slow down to speed up.”

When we’re detached from obsessing over the outcome, and are instead willing to slow down and enjoy the present moment, things naturally have a way of “speeding up” – Even though the journey is evolving in a way that’s different from what we would have planned if we were trying to control every detail.

This relationship became serious almost immediately, and we continue to grow closer and fall more and more in love as time passes. Two and a half years have passed like the blinking of an eye, while yet it also kind of feels like we’ve known one another for lifetimes.

Because our life goals are different from most other couples our age, we’re able to unsubscribe from the time pressures that are normally placed on couples in their thirties. Instead, we get to experience life together at our own pace while simultaneously providing a fertile environment for each other to grow into the people we’re meant to become.

Much like my garden this time of year, which is growing abundantly but not yet in full harvest, so too do I get to enjoy the beauty of a now well established relationship where I still know the best is yet to come. I’m grateful to have learned how to respect the cycle of the seasons in this area of life, and it’s helping to bring hope, lessons and perspective to the areas of my life where I’ve been struggling.

Craftsmanship

Historically, late Summer was not just a time of harvest, but also a time of creativity! While there’s still warm weather, an abundance of materials, and strong life force energy afoot, it’s the perfect time to show gratitude for the gifts of nature by creating something with them!

Whether it’s time to build something to prepare for the cold season ahead, or if it’s just an act of free creative expression, this is the perfect time of year to get crafty!

What can you craft physically with the gifts you have in your environment right now?What can you “craft” energetically with the gifts Life has granted you this Summer?

There’s been a lot of crafting going on in my neck of the woods! In addition to the balcony garden makeover and the revival of my love for designing junk journals (which you saw in the Summer Solstice video) I’ve also been playing with come décor.

Ever since Cancer season started, I’ve been really feeling drawn to the Water element. I’ve been listening to my Water Element playlist, saved tons of nautical design ideas on Pinterest, visited as many local bodies of water as possible, been eating seafood, and even started watching Dawson’s Creek for the first time… Ya know, all the “coastal granddaughter” vibes.

And I decided I wanted to update my tablescape to a nautical theme in one weekend, even though I didn’t have much in the way of sea themed décor. I thought I was going to have to order some things online, but I decided to first have a creative brainstorming session to see if there were any materials already in my possession that I could up-cycle or re-purpose instead of buying something new.

And as it turns out, I was able to curate a whole new vibe for my dining room without purchasing a single thing. And the best part is I was able to “feed two birds with one hand,” so to say, by making use of some materials that were simply taking up space otherwise.

For example, I saw the woven place mats that are trending on Pinterest, and it occurred to me that I could cut up this burlap tarp my sister had gifted to me last year. Her intention had been for me to use it as a backdrop for product photo shoots… Which I did for several months. But I’ve since moved on to a different idea that works better for photos, so it’s just been contributing to the clutter in my studio lately. One weekend, I decided to cut it up and re-purpose it into both a tablecloth and braided place mats.

I also realized I needed to adopt a “use it or lose it” policy when it came to recycled glass bottles. They’d been piling up in my kitchen cabinet for months, and I’d kept telling myself I’d be really glad to have them around if I was ever in the mood to make an epic spell jar. Well, since some of them had been sitting there unused for years, I decided to make those spell jars now!

I’d found an idea for a DIY “message in a bottle” trinket on Pinterest, and being me, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to whip up a magick spell. I wove my intentions for peace and prosperity into the knotted ropes of the bottles and decorated them with shells and pearls to represent wealth and shelter.

I used some of my handcrafted petition paper to write down some of my affirmations to manifest my dream home (which I’m now wondering if it’s a seaside cottage?!) and used these as the messages in the bottles. I didn’t have any sand on hand at the moment, so I got crafty and threw some tinted epsom salts into them. This can actually double as a ritual bath whenever I’m ready to empty the jars – Perhaps I can soak up the intentions into my skin later on in the fall after enjoying the arrangement on my table all summer.

I’ve also been focusing more on arts and crafts in my business as well – Both investing in new craft supplies to incorporate into my handmade products, and by incorporating more art into my newsletters and blog posts. In due course from my evokation of the Inner Child at the Summer Solstice, I’m still in the process of rediscovering and reconnecting with the simple, playfully creative crafts that used to bring me joy before grown-up life became so complicated… And it’s giving me a new lease on life!

Transition

Time to celebrate the Summer Sun one last time before the days really begin to shorten! This is the First Harvest, and of course, what we’re planting, tending, and harvesting along our self-development journey are our intentions!

We sowed seeds of intention in the spring, and now is the time to pause and assess how they’ve come into fruition thus far. Summer isn’t quite over just yet, and this is our chance to check in and see how much more fun and growth we can squeeze in before autumn really sets in.

How are your Summer intentions coming along? Did some come easily, while other’s needed more patience? Did I release any of my intentions in favor of accepting the spontaneous lessons and gifts of Nature? What are my final wishes for this summer season, and how can I make them happen?

Well, one of my most tangible intentions for the Summer was to have a real garden… And I’m going to count that one as a success! Other than a few salad leaves and herb cuttings here and there, most things aren’t yet ready for harvest. But my ventures in gardening this year were not so much about being overly attached to the outcome of the harvest, and were moreso about the simple joy of being surrounded by plants and learning as I go along.

As lovely as it will be to have actual fruits of my labor, I’m not in a mindset of judging my sense of success purely on tangible input vs output. I’m focusing more instead on whether or not I feel successful while I’m doing something – And if the small “wins” along the way feel rewarding enough to be motivated to continue. Afterall, I’m learning first hand that true success is about the journey, not just the destination.

So, what are your favorite things about the August’s Eve season? Are you planning to journal on the topics from this post? If so, I would love to invite you to join me for a seasonal journaling adventure this summer! Here are three different ways:

You can download the printable PDF files of the grimoire pages you saw in the video from the Writing Witch Shop. Your download will include all of the August’s Eve information discussed in this video as well as journal prompts and space to write about your relationship with the season.

You also get access to four different printing options – Color and black and white (the black and white version is great for saving on ink and getting to decorate the pages yourself) and full page binder sheets and a smaller folded book template for junk journaling.

You get to print these out as many times as you want for your own personal use, so if you want to do binder pages in color this year for an instant option, you can… And then next year, if you decide you want to get more crafty with your grimoire, you can print the junk journal template versions.

Don’t feel like printing? You can also order pre-printed copies.

Doing these same journal prompts each year in different journals or as binder refills has helped me and my Writing Witch members to up-level our capacity to experience fulfillment each year, and I want you to get to experience this magick too!

Are you also looking to connect with myself and other magickal mavens as you embody your most fulfilled version of yourself this season?

If so, I’d love to invite you to join our Late Summer Seasonal Living Challenge!

This challenge is for the Grimoire Goodies tier, Magickal Mavens tier and the Writing Witch Subscription Box tiers on Patreon.

Every Wednesday for the five weeks around Lammas, I’ll be posting a prompt to help you maximize your fulfillment by harnessing the themes of the sabbat.

All you need to do to participate is be aware that…

• The challenge begins on the third Wednesday in August when the first post goes live. There will be one challenge post per week for five weeks leading up to the final post which will come out in mid-September.

• Challenge prompts will always be posted on Wednesday mornings.

• You can join late and catch up on the previous posts at your own pace, if need be.

If you’re not already an eligible patron, I invite you to sign up now! I’m so excited to get to know you better as we share our experiences with the seasons! I hope to see you there!

August’s Eve blessings to you!

Thank you for being your magickal self.

Until next time, blessed be.

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