Religious Thought on Lughnasadh

When I was a Christian, I lived in fear.

There was always the fear that I wasn't REALLY saved, that I'd just had an emotional experience and thought I was.

There was always the fear of Hell, that I was going even if I was saved. Because there would be godly men who'd worked miracles that Jesus wouldn't know, and if he didn't know them, what hope did I have for my non-miraculous self? After all, not all who cried "Lord, Lord" would be saved.

There was always the fear of the Rapture, and being left behind (see point A).

There was always the fear that God really did hate me, as my preacher said he did, that I wasn't fighting what I truly was hard enough and that God would give me over to my debased desires. (although how debased I could be at 15 was debatable)

I used the strictest fundamentalism I could find to hold my closet door shut and hide my real self from God.

Now. I have no fear. Because there is nothing to be afraid of.
I ride the Wheel of the Year, celebrating each season in its turning.
There may be one God, as some of my friends believe.
There may be many, as some of my grove believe.
Or there may be none at all, and gods are just focusing devices we use to harness our own energy to do things we never thought we could.
It doesn't matter.

I am a religious man.
Ritual and celebration are important to me, because it gives me a way to mark off the seasons of my life.
This is especially vital now, while I'm teetering in a limnal space that has no road signs for me. The rituals make the road signs for this uncharted territory I'm entering. (menopause and transition both, if you're curious, something no woman in my family has done for 3 generations, and as far as I know, I'm the first trans person.)
But, my faith has no fear in it, because there is nothing to be afraid of.

Now, we turn to the Harvest, reaping what we have sown over the last months and it becomes a time of reflection as well as action. My anniversary falls in this time, and Mudd and I make a point to take time as a couple for some relationship reflection.

As school takes up, so too witch school for our younglings will start. Our lives grow more regimented and the money becomes less tight.


But today, there is nothing to fear.
Celebrate Lugh the All-Gifted, call his blessing on your skills and his help for those you are developing.
Celebrate the end of summer.
Harvest comes, Beloved/