The Teachings of the Harvest

It is high Summer and the World is golden. The grasses are dry and seeding. The wheat is ready for harvest. The Sun is at home in Leo in the heavens.

Sometimes I feel there is a strange bleakness to this part of summer, even in all its golden glory. The dryness, the heat. The lush green of Spring is well and truly gone, the cacophony of Autumn’s colours not yet arrived. The earth is dry and cracked, dust is kicked up with each step. And there can be a heat so intense that all anyone can do is stop and find the shade. On these days there is a pregnant type of stillness, where the buzz of insects holds centre stage in the quietness of those too hot to move.

And yet, there is so much abundance. The blossoms have made way to fruit that is ripening on branches and vines. The Roseaceae, my favourite of all botanical families, shines in this season, as they are the ones serving all the plump fruit we associate with this time of year. Is there anything like the pleasure of picking a sun-sweetened berry and putting it straight in your mouth? A juicy peach? A crunchy apple? This is the gift of the harvest.

Even though many of us do not venture into the local fields to help bring in the grain these days, we all are tending to our own harvests and celebrations. The frenzied activity is still preserved in festivals and summer love and big celebrations. This is time of vibrancy, desire, and delight. The blackberries are already dark and sweet, wild plums abound and are delicious to pop in your mouth on a walk along the fields. Comb your fingers through mugwort flowers and crush them between your fingers, smell the heady scent of roses as you pass.

As you enjoy the land’s bounty, can you rise to meet your own abundance? What did you tend and trust to sprout? What is it that is ready to be plucked from its vine and served to nourish you? Whatever seeds we have sown are coming to fruition and it is time, friends, to enjoy their ripening.

Do not be fooled though. This is busy work, as intoxicating as it can be. Revel in your success and enjoy its wonders, but remember it has to be preserved in order not to rot. It is also time to separate the wheat from the chaff and prepare your stores, otherwise there will be nothing to nourish you when Winter approaches.

What of this harvest do you want to last, and how are you going to make sure it does?

It is joyful work and necessary work, this. May you approach your abundance with the discernment and care that it requires. And may you bring your harvests forward with you so that your Summer reaches into the rest of your year.