The Barley Moon of August

August's full moon is the Barley (or Lammas) Moon, the definitive lunar observance of first harvesting, grain and wildflowers, and it falls at a point in the year's turning when those of us who live in the northern hemisphere are becoming aware of the inexorable waning of the light which began at the Summer Solstice. Days are somewhat shorter now - as we journey along, we notice the slowly attenuating shadows in the landscape, and we sense the faint whisper of autumn in the air around us.

Lammas or Lugnasadh comes from Old English hlaf maesse, which means loaf mass, an old Christian rite or observance in which bread was baked from the milled grain of the first harvest, consecrated on church altars and then shared among the community. The tradition is common to many cultures on this island earth, and it is one which predates Christianity by many centuries, but it has entered the mainstream of Christian observance, fits in perfectly and is very comfortable there, continuing to be enacted today in many places - I have noticed that rural churches in Lanark often celebrate the harvest and the season with a "blessing of the bread" service, followed by an open air potluck dinner in which all the fruits of the first harvest are on offer, corn, potatoes, summer squash, beets, peppers, carrots, spinach, salad greens and (of course) bread. The ancients would certainly have included beer in their festivities - one of its main ingredients is malt oasted from the barley which is now being harvested.

We also know this beautiful golden moon as the:

Acorns Appear Moon, Autumn Moon, Berries Dried Moon, Berry Moon, Big Harvest Moon, Big Ripening Moon, Black Cherries Moon, Blackberry Patches Moon, Blueberry Moon, Centáwen Moon, Cherries Turn Black Moon, Claim Moon, Corn Is in the Silk Moon, Corn Moon, Crest of Hill & Rising Moon, Cutter Moon, Dahlia Moon, Dispute Moon, Dispute Moon, Dog Days Moon, Drying up Moon, Eighth Moon, Elembivos Moon, End of the Fruit Moon, Feather Shedding Moon, Fruit Moon, Gathering Rice Moon, Geese Shedding Their Feathers Moon, Gladiolus Moon, Grain Moon, Green Corn Moon, Green Moon, Harvest Moon, Hazel Moon, Joyful Moon, Leaves Moon, Lightning Moon, Middle Moon , Moon of Freshness, Moon of Life at It's Height, Moon When All Things Ripen, Moon When Cherries Turn Black, Moon When Elk Bellow, Moon When Indian Corn Is Edible, Moon When the Geese Shed Their Feathers, Moon When the Choke Cherries Are Ripe, Moon Young Ducks Begin to Fly, Much Heat Moon, Mulberries Moon, Paper Bark Moon, Pear Blossom Moon, Plum Moon, Prunus Moon, Red Moon, Ripe Berries Moon, Ripe Corn Moon, Starts to Fly Moon , Still Green Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Thumb Moon, Weodmon Vegetation Moon), Wheat Cut Moon, Women's Moon, Wood Cutter’s Moon, Wort Moon