Happy Lammas!

Celebrating the first harvest of the year on August 1st

Lammas— which lands on August 1st this year— is an early pagan harvest festival focused on the energy of having-ness.

“What is having-ness”, you might be wondering?

Well, it’s a better, more grounded version of what is otherwise referred to as abundance energy. With having-ness, the focus is less about manifestation, money, accumulation or effort and more about receptive gratitude for that which we already have available to us— particularly in the realm of food, herbal remedies, and community.

Lammas marks the midpoint between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox, reminding us that fall will soon be here and, with it, our final opportunity to harvest literal and metaphorical gifts from the earth before we let our fields go fallow in the winter.

I invite all of you to celebrate Lammas with me this year, bringing a bit of this ancient holiday’s magic into the modern world:

Lammas Exercise #1: Gather Herbs

Lammas is, in part, a celebration of the power of the sun.

The rays of our local star permeate and animate all of nature, infusing plants, herbs, flowers, and trees with its magical, life-giving energy. This energy is then alchemized with water, nutrients from the soil, and the unique spirit of each plant species to yield powerful plant medicine in the forms of flower essences, herbs, and teas.

By harvesting these plants on Lammas, we’re ensuring that we will have a direct line to the healing properties of the sun and its many manifestations via various plant medicines throughout a long, dark and cold winter season. Traditional herbs and flowers to collect on Lammas include:

• Arnica

• Calendula

• Dill

• Lovage

• Mugwort

• Sage

• Tansy

• Valarian

• Yarrow

That said, I harvest any flowers and herbs still alive and kicking in our TOTEM Flower Essence Garden on August 1st— a small miracle come Lammas time considering the oppressive summer sun in central Texas! These herbs tend to include lavender, wormwood, sage, rosemary, thyme, and mint, and embody the resilient energy of surviving and thriving despite the pummeling sun.

And, if you don’t have your own TOTEM Flower Essence garden, don’t let it stop you! Head over to a farmer’s market, Whole Foods or Central Market, or your local herb store to gather these magical bits via your New Yorker tote bag! To anyone interested in this option, I recommend Merz Apothecary in Chicago (Lincoln Square neighborhood) and The Herb Bar here in Austin, TX— and both offer online shopping via their websites.

Of course, after you harvest a bunch of crunchy hippy shit, you might be wondering: “What exactly am I supposed to do with all of these twigs and leaves and stuff?”

The answer? Anything you want.

I make our TOTEM Flower Essences and also set a bit aside to dry as culinary herbs. In fact, I’m still using containers of dried thyme, sage and lavender from last year’s Lammas harvest in my cooking— and, every once in a while, I add some of these dried herbs to my afternoon herbal tea. Last year, I made three herb-infusion body oils, and I’m just now getting around to using them post-salt bath!

If you want to get super pagan and witchy with it, you can even make little charms and amulets out of your herbs, placing them in a small burlap or similar, sealable sacks. If doing so, be intentional about the herbs, flowers or roots you’re using— and check out our TOTEM Flower Essence Deck if you need a refresher on the specific spiritual and energetic gifts of various species of flora (it’s a 60-card oracle deck, so there’s at least 60 flowers up in that bitch for you to explore and consider this Lammas!).

And, if you want to get super old school with it, you can place grain (wheat, barley, or rye) in with the herbs, setting the intention of it growing into a larger “harvest” for you in the form of your small business’ revenue, new professional opportunities (like a new job offer or promotion), and even a desired love relationship.

Then, place your handmade herbal bundle in a place of honor in your home or office— I always like to store them in my altar (which has some closed drawers beneath it) or the office in which I do most of my TOTEM work.

Pro tip: on Lammas, we’re not supposed to use any metal in this work, so ditch the scissors and knives in lieu of hands or, if you can swing it, crystal or stone implements!

This whole “the old ways are the best ways” theme isn’t unique to Lammas, and is in fact being reinforced by the upcoming July 21st Capricorn Full Moon, further reinforcing (if not downright screaming) the importance of kicking it old school in this spiritually dynamic Wood Dragon Year.

I mean, it’s not like modernity is going all that great anyways;)

Lammas Exercise #2: Host A Feast

Lammas’ focus on having-ness is best embodied in hosting a ritual feast with friends or family— or both! You can host this dinner on either Lammas (August 1st) or the evening before, treating it a bit like a happy, laid back summer version of Christmas Eve.

A few key elements to focus on if hosting a Lammas ritual feast this year:

• The more, the merrier: Lammas isn’t some stuffy black tie affair— it’s a casual, summer fete focused on building and expanding community! If you feel called to host, ask folks to bring their own dishes to contribute— and maybe even their own chairs if you’re busting at the seems of your present dining set. Hell, head outside and set up some temporary tables or picnic blankets if you need the space! The overall key to harnessing Lammas’ having-ness energy is to reconnect with your local community in real life, ideally expanding your network to include new neighbors or friends of friends instead of your standard crew.

• Create arrangements with herbs and flowers: The most traditional decoration for Lammas is wheat, which can be placed in vases ala fresh cut flowers or placed in a plate or bowl. But if you’re near a field with wildflowers, grow your own herbs, or just want to experiment, get creative! I especially like to make floral arrangements out of “weeds” like Queen Anne’s Lace, Clover, and Yarrow. Whatever you pick, be intentional— look up the spiritual significance of your plant of choice online or via resources like our TOTEM Flower Essence Deck booklet.

• Make an offering of bread: For Lammas, the name of the game is “grains”! Grains represent the harvest, sustenance, and the goddess of Agriculture, Demeter. One great thing to do this Lammas is offer a loaf (or half-loaf) of bread to spirit on your home altar— or, if you don’t have one of those, on a nice plate in the middle of your dining table. You can also get *very* pagan with it and bring a gift of bread and milk out to a nearby hedge— this could be a spot just next to some trees or prairie or nature beyond your backyard. This gift is for the faeries, nature spirits, and maybe even a goddess of the crossroads, like Hecate— give it with a spirit of generosity and expansion, and watch as the energy comes back to you threefold!

The biggest thing to remember on Lammas is that life is a feast, not a famine. Hosting a dinner party or decadent picnic is a perfect way to ritually codify this intention in material reality, reminding ourselves to share, expand and enjoy— and not constrict or white-knuckle life on our own!

Lammas Exercise #3: Write Reviews And Testimonials

Lammas is the best energetic window of the year to practice active gratitude.

I do this by sitting down to pen handwritten thank you notes to clients and friends, placing them in the mail with all of the happy “good luck” vibes I can possibly muster.

I also try to spend some time throughout July, which is a quieter time of the year here in Austin, TX, to write reviews or testimonials to support businesses that have made a positive impact on my life.

To that end, if you have a small business and are in my community, please reach out via email and let me know how I can support you: rachel@totemreadings.com. I’m happy to write a review on Yelp or Google, or give you a shout out— or have you on as a live guest— on Instagram. These activities can be a challenge for me to fit in during busier times of the year, so don’t be shy this July!

And it’s not an accident that our TOTEM Review Raffle wraps on 7/31— aka Lammas Eve. If you share a public review of anything TOTEM-related on Yelp, Google, Amazon, Etsy, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc., just take a screenshot and email it to me with your full name and snail mail address for a thank you note and, for one of you lucky bugs, the raffle grand prize!

Reviews and shout outs on social media make a HUGE difference for small businesses like TOTEM, and this is particularly true for our two self-published decks and handmade flower essences. Thank you to all who have already entered to win and who submit their reviews ahead of the 7/31 deadline!

Lammas Exercise #4: Expand, Don’t Contract

I’ve become increasingly convinced that herbalism, flower essences and plant medicine more broadly are going to play a pivotal, beneficial supporting role in the high strangeness of this very dynamic year. Through my increasing contact with new totem animals, spirit guides and plant spirits, I’m more motivated than ever to bring the old ways and the old gods— like nature spirits— into the present.

After all, there’s nothing new under the sun!

This revivification of older systems and their wisdom permeates all of the work I do at TOTEM Readings. I often joke that I don’t innovate or invent a new damn thing, but rather stick to the basics and take advantage of the collective wisdom of humanity that came before me.

To this end— and to celebrate Lammas— I’m offering Substack subscribers a secret/ discount code to get 20% off of our new TOTEM Flower Essence Deck on Etsy. Use code “LAMMAS” to secure this discount for our new deck, and/or enjoy an already ongoing 60% off all TOTEM Flower Essence sale on our Etsy Shop!

I try to create discount codes and sales during this time of the year, as well as give out gifts in an effort to expand and move the energy so that it doesn’t stagnate while everyone is traveling and enjoying their summer vacation.

Feeling stagnant or succumbing to the scarcity underpinning our economy at the moment? Scared that your big idea or new product or offering isn’t resonating? Find ways to intentionally part with belongings that no longer serve you and thoughtfully give small (or not so small!) gifts to friends, family and collaborators.

This gift-giving can include gifts to yourself, a tremendous exercise in feast thinking during periods marked by fears around money, professional advancement, or isolation. Buy yourself something bright, beautiful and energy-enhancing as a way to kickstart your having-ness this Lammas.

Investing money and resources in small businesses owned by folks in your life or community will supercharge these efforts!

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Have Some Damn Fun!

If nothing else, use this coming Lammas as an excuse to mandate fun in your life.

I recently had the pleasure of hosting the Austin version of the Summer Porch Tour, a live comedy stand-up event that Robbie Bernstein hosts every summer. This experience felt like a time machine, taking me back to the “Before Times” when humans were courteous, authentic and…most importantly…fun.

The world is wild right now. If you’re watching the news or checking in on social media, you’re probably very stressed out about our collective prospects across political, social and economic vectors.

But if you close the computer and turn off the TV to go for a walk outside, you’ll be quickly reminded of just how beautiful and awesome real life actually are. Is it perfect? No. Is it easy? No. But as long as we have our breath and the sun above us, we can make this all work.

This Lammas, tap into the energy of having-ness all around us in the natural world. Connect with friends. Cook food. Pick flowers. Laugh. Dance. And know that all things come and go in cycles.

After all, it can’t be a continual harvest.

But, on Lammas, it IS.

Feast on, lovely people!