Circles of Time

 We've made it to August 1. In ancient times this was a holiday called Lughnasa or Lammas, and was celebrated as the beginning of the harvest season. It marks the halfway point between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. 

There are 4 of these quarter feasts, but this is the only one that has been lost in modern times. The halfway point between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice is October 31, when we celebrate Halloween. The next one is between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox on February 2, when we observe Groundhog Day. And the fourth is Beltaine, May 1, when May Day falls. 

To me, these ancient feasts, celebrated for thousands of years, show that we as humans are not able to control the forces of nature and the passage of time. Only the Creator can. Whenever we humans think we can seize control of nature, the results are pollution, a decline in our environment, and unbalances in the Food Web.

In our human self-centeredness, we forget that we are part of that Food Web, too. When we hurt or destroy parts of this delicately balanced web, we are also jeopardizing our future. Eventually, the things we do will tip the scales, and our Mother Earth will be uninhabitable.

Past geological records show that there have been several mass extinctions in earth's past. We don't fully understand what caused these mass extinctions, and we understand even less about what the next one will be--or when. But it appears that the next one--the first we know of since humans appeared on the earth--will be caused, or at least exacerbated, by humans.