29/07/2018
For pagans, neopagans and other followers of Earth based religions, including the ancient faiths of the British Isles, August 1st will mark the ancient festival of Lughnasadh. LGBT Pagan networks will be amongst those celebrating as the first corn harvest comes in. For these faiths, many of whom have a strong resonance for queer people and women, it is time to, in the words of the Pagan Federation, "give thanks for the bount of the Goddess as queen of the land".
A card sold at the Pagan Shop "The Goddess and the Green Man" in Glastonbury, puts it another more poetic way:
Amid the poppies and chamomile, young men toil to cut the wheat and barley, wielding scythes as sharp as razors. The work is hot and dusty, and thirst is slaked with John Barleycorn’s ale from the nut-brown jug. When the stooks are loaded onto the carts the last sheaf will be made into a ‘corn dolly’ to preserve its life force until the seeds are sown for a new crop next year. It is the hottest time of the year, the Celtic Sun-God, golden Lugh, shines down mercilessly burning the faces of those who venture out too long. At evening, the harvest moon is huge and red, its shadows displaying the mark of the hare; the spirit of the harvest.
https://paganfed.org/index.php
http://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/
http://www.queerpagancamp.org/
http://www.soulrebels.com/beth/glbt.html
