A Lughnasadh Thrashing

With my internet being down for a good part of the day yesterday, I was really able to focus on where I was and what I was doing. There were things I wanted to discuss with the Grandmaster of my tradition and a seasonal shift to honor. This seasonal shift is about bringing in the first harvest and preparing for the harvest season. The Gods, the earth, and spirits are thanked and regaled. However, this is also a time to look at what is wheat, what is chaff then separate them out and put those things in their proper positions in your life.

I have actually been doing some (recreational) reading lately. I became intrigued with a TV show on netflix called Legend of the Seeker and decided that while the show was pretty good, the books may have more to tell me. As usual this was indeed true. I cleared Wizard's First Rule in about 48 hours. And what does this have to do with the harvest season??? Everything. Sometimes the harvest you bring in is knowledge and understanding of a thing and your role in it. The first question that must be answered and understood: What is it that I believe? The next questions that come to mind are: How do my beliefs apply to this situation? How am I willing to act upon them?

By asking these questions and others like them, you it begin to get a picture of who you really are and the chaff begins to fall away. The truths that you find under this chaff belong to and are applicable to you alone. I think this is where we go astray. There are those out there who take this truth ( their truth) and wield it as a weapon against others by jamming their morals, beliefs and ethics upon others depriving them of the opportunity to dig within themselves and see what is really there. Sometimes they go as far as to pass laws to enforce their moral code. Some go further. They use weapons and violence to enforce their moral code and beliefs. I think many of us can point to a time in our personal lives and history where both of these things occur. The question you really have to ask yourself: what role do I play here and how do I plan to act upon that role?

The freedom to make your own choices is never a gift given freely. It is hard won and even harder kept. So ask yourself this and ponder deeply: when the chaff falls away from who I am, what do I look like? You also have to remember that chaff doesn't just fall off. It must be thrashed off.