August 1, 2023
My Regular Pagan Holiday Post
It is the season for traveling in the northern hemisphere and I’ve been traveling along with millions of others, this year freed from covid restrictions.
The Santa Rosa airport was packed with more people than I’ve ever seen there, and my destination, Seattle, was just as chaotic. I was one of very few folks wearing a mask. On the plane, people sitting around me discovered we are all from the same neighborhood. Two were flight attendants, relieved that they no longer are required to act as mask cops, risking physical confrontations with MAGAs (they wore masks).
My full flight was smooth and on time. At SeaTac I always rush through the baggage claim level to the far south end of the airport where I catch the bus to Kitsap peninsula towns and my destination, Gig Harbor. This time the bus was just boarding and there was an empty seat for me. My luck may have been the result of my friend Barbara Sjoholm’s invocation of (and my introduction to) the two Roman travel goddesses, Abeona and Adeona. The goddesses are often petitioned together to provide safe travels.
Abeona–in Latin abeo means to depart—also indicates the birth of plant and animal life, including human beings.
Adeona–adeo means to return. “She who returns” is a goddess of plant and animal growth and death.
A prolific writer, Barbara has just published what I’d call her magnum opus, “From Lapland to Sápmi: Collecting and Returning Sámi Craft and Culture,” about the cultural history of the indigenous Scandinavian people. I know her from the murder mysteries she published in the 1980s and 90s, featuring a lesbian sleuth, Pam Nilsen. During covid she wrote and published two mysteries with an older lesbian protagonist, Cassandra Reilly. My cousin Gail, a student of Native American culture, is a big fan of Barbara’s writing about the Sámi, and I got to introduce them. At lunch in Port Townsend we met Barbara’s wife, Betsy Howell, who works for the US Forest Service and writes about it on her blog: https://betsylhowell.com/. She has a new book coming out in the fall. Mazel tov!
We Watch the Earth Burn
I left Santa Rosa as it was experiencing a heat wave. It was only 86 degrees when I arrived in Gig Harbor, also pretty hot for this time of year. For now, the West has mainly avoided heat domes and smoke from Canadian fires that have affected most of the rest of the country. Phoenix is experiencing nearly a month of temperatures above 110 degrees. July 4 was the hottest day in human history.
At one time I thought I would not live to see the effects of climate change, but the change is coming faster than anyone expected. It’s happening in my lifetime!
In California we worry this time of year about fire as well as heat. As a person with lung issues, I dread fire season and its smoky air, which starts earlier every year. It used to start in the fall with the diablo winds that come from the east. Our usual winds blow from the west, offshore, and while they contain pollution from China, they are not usually smoky.
On this trip I’m reuniting with my three brothers and two cousins. Then I’ll travel to Vancouver BC with my brother Don to commune with him and his husband. It’s gonna be great.
Celebrating the Cross Quarter Holiday
In the northern hemisphere, the autumn cross-quarter holiday was celebrated by the Celts as Lughnasa/Lammas on August 1. Astronomically the event occurs around August 6 or 7, the hottest time of the year in much of our hemisphere.
At Lammas we celebrate the harvest of first fruits. In Santa Rosa we’ve been harvesting beans for a while. Our first tomatoes are finally ripe. I look forward to summer BLTs and I ate the first one just before leaving town. The peaches are in the dehydrator. The neighbor’s apple tree that hangs over our fence is full of ripe Gravenstein apples. Holly made pies from the leftover last year’s apples so we’ll have room in the freezer for this year’s. Artichokes were prolific and I ate many but left some to flower. Bees love the purple-blue flowers and I love looking at them, but they are now over and the plants are ready to be cut down.
At summer solstice I celebrated my mother’s birth day. On August 9 I mark her death day, which is also Nagasaki day, the day in 1945 when we, the Americans, dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. August 6 was Hiroshima.
People all over the world mark the anniversary of the nuclear bombings. Some people fast from August 6 to 9, a nonviolent tradition to pause, reflect and create empathy for those who have suffered from nuclear weapons. Others fold 1,000 origami cranes, a long tradition in Japan, believed to bring a peaceful and healthy life. After the nuclear bombing, origami crane folding became an action for peace and nuclear abolition. It started in response to the story of Sadako Sasaki, a child who contracted leukemia from the radioactive fallout. She tried to make 1,000 cranes but died before she could finish. Her classmates finished the 1,000 cranes, then made crane making their message for peace, starting an international tradition.
As we face threats of nuclear war and see a new arms race developing, this anniversary must remind us to strive for a nuclear free world.
If you haven’t read Hiroshima, John Hersey’s 1946 piece about the bombing, I recommend it. He personalizes the experience, telling the stories of six survivors. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/31/hiroshima
Sending best wishes for a safe and peaceful Lammas.
tradeswomn musings 