The Old Ways:
Damp Mother Earth
The beginning of August is the home of Lughnasadh or Lammas, which derives its name from “hlåf-mæsse,” or loaf-mass, and is often celebrated as a festival of bread, beer, and other grain-centered edible treats. This is the first of three harvest festivals, and it is also the moment farmers are about to partake in the backbreaking work of harvesting their crops. It is not surprising that the beginning of the harvest was viewed with trepidation in ancient times.
In Poland, a set of rituals was placed down to ensure a good harvest. Scythes used for reaping were blessed before entering the field. Harvesting generally began on a Saturday, a day sacred to the Great Mother. The Polish people originally worshiped a snake, bird, and bee goddess, but this changed to an earth goddess with the influence of Indo-European peoples. They knew her as Matka Syra Zemlya, also known as Matka Syra Ziemia, literally “Damp Mother Earth.” As a goddess of the soil and all that inhabit it, if she takes human form, she will appear as the color of dirt. This is rare, however, since the ancient Slavs viewed Matka Syra Zemlya as the earth itself without a body or human form. Each spring, bread was buried for her to eat, and beer and wine were poured into holes for her to drink, according to the Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic Myth and Legend. Her sacred day is August 1, and bread and beer would be left in the fields for her to ensure a healthy harvest. Before beginning the harvest, reapers would bless themselves as well as the field. Reapers would don their most formal clothing. Often girls were sent into the field first to dance with their hair decorated with flowers and ribbons, their joy consecrating the crop.
Upon beginning the harvest, the initial stalks of grain were gathered and formed into the shape of a cross. Other traditions that ensured good luck or strong future harvests included tucking stalks behind a mirror, placing stalks in the corner of a room, or tying them around the waist of reapers (Hodorowicz Knab). It was a hard day, and the people worked from dawn to dusk, careful to leave a sheaf of wheat standing in the field as an offering. After all this work, the celebrations began.
It was traditional for the landowner to either wear a wreath or crown, or the landowner would bestow this honor on one of the peasants, who would wear the wreath for some of the festivities, and then they would ritualistically return it to the landowner’s head. This presentation of the wreath was the hallmark of the festivities. It was made of the most appealing stalks of grain harvested and then decorated with ribbons, flowers, and herbs. As might be expected, much of the celebration included bread and ale in honor of the grain gods.
In Lithuania, the first harvest was traditionally celebrated on August 15, a day sacred to Žemyna, an earth goddess who, like many of her grain and harvest counterparts, governed birth, fertility, and nature. It was common to bestow beer and bread along with flowers, corn, and herbs upon altars in honor of Žemyna at this time of year. Another fascinating tradition in Lithuanian is that of keptinis, which is ale made from hops and malts and baked in a bread form and added to the beer. There are a few brewers in Lithuania today who are revisiting this old method of beer craft.
Another beer tradition in Lithuania is that of the feast of the goddess Gabjauja (also known as Gabija, Gabieta, or Gabeta). For this feast, women made beer and bread to honor this goddess of the hearth, fire, and grain. Only family was allowed to attend the celebration. It was the task of the head of the household to spill beer onto the ground and begin the prayer to Gabjauja.
The Latvians honored Cerklicing, the god of corn and fertility, by leaving corn and beer in the fields to ensure crop abundance. According to the Jesuit Joannis Stribingius, Latvian farmers gave the “first bite of any food, and the first drop of any drink” to Cerklicing when he visited eastern Latvia in 1606 (Putelis). Another god that the Latvians called on to ensure a strong harvest was Jumis. It was believed he lived in the fields.
The ancient Russians worshiped the sky and thunder god Perun until Christian times when he was merged with the prophet Elijah. Together Elijah-Perun were given the unofficial title of “Lord of the Harvest” (Gilchrist). Elijah-Perun is honored on August 2. This is a day when no labor is to be performed. It was believed if rest was not taken in honor of the god, then those being active might be struck down by lightning or be unfortunately punished with the destruction of their crops by fire or hail.
Matka Syra Zemlya was not the only Slavic goddess honored at the first harvest. The Baba Yaga, a Russian goddess figure featured in many fairy tales, is represented at the harvest time as a repulsive, frightening old woman who flies around in a pestle and mortar and lives in the middle of the woods in a hut that stands on chicken feet. A representation of death and decay in old traditions, a straw figure of the Baba Yaga was fashioned and then destroyed as a reminder that the great reaping will come to all.
As Lughnasadh comes closer, perhaps it is time to honor the great reaping and first harvest by donning fancy clothing and weaving flowers and ribbons through our hair and taking a walk through a field (if one is readily available). For those who are more introverted, try baking bread and celebrating the grain holiday with a few close friends or family in honor of Gabjauja. Perhaps organizing a party at a friend’s farm to celebrate the first harvest would be a better choice for those more social. Don’t forget to bring beer and bread out into the field to honor the gods and ask for a successful crop yield. Try your hand at the hard work of harvest to take you back to ancient rites. Craft a wreath crown of wheat and flowers to take turns wearing when the hard work is over and the celebrations have begun. End your day by burning an effigy of the Baba Yaga as a reminder that the harvest will come to a close. But don’t forget to rest on August 2 to honor the harvest deities of the Slavic states. Summer is drawing to a close. Blessed Be.
Bibliography
Dixon-Kennedy, Mike. Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic Myth and Legend. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO INC., 1998.
Gilchrist, Cherry. Russian Magic: Living Folk Traditions of an Enchanted Landscape. Wheaton: Quest Books, 2009.
“Harvest Holiday, Aug. 15 (Dozynki),” Polish Genealogical Society of America, accessed Aug. 3, 2015. http://pgsa.org/polish-traditions/.
Hodorowicz Knab, Sophie. Polish Customs, Traditions, & Folklore. New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., 1993.
“Introduction to Lithuanian Paganism,” Romuva, accessed August 4, 2015. http://www.romuva.lt/new/?page=en.
Lars Marius Garshol, “Lithuanian beer, again,” Larsblog (blog), Nov. 18, 2012, http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/239.html.
Putelis, Aldis. “Cerklicing,” Encyclopedia Mythica, accessed August 6, 2015, http://www.pantheon.org/articles/c/cerklicing.html.