The World Tree and First Fruits

Well hello there, I think I have finally finished my World Tree painting. People ask me what it's supposed to represent. Well this is a symbol of connection. Alan Watts said the Universe is like a tree. Just as a tree produces apples, the Universe produces people. We are the fruit of the Tree of Life. We may think of ourselves as separate individuals, but we are all connected to the tree, everything that is anything is produced by this one tree, nourished by this tree, part of this tree. This is a symbol of Oneness. Around the tree you can see the full spectrum of visible light, each "separate" colour blending into the next, to show there are no lines to separate them, they are united. Humans are the same, we may categorise ourselves into separate groups, but those lines we draw are in our heads. On either side of the tree are two globes, they are supposed to represent the Moon and Sun, Night and Day, Winter and Summer. They are two sides of the same coin, equal and opposite, enveloped by the branches and roots of the tree. The roots inter-twine and curl like tendrils, like the arms of an octopus, they seem to swim freely. They represent the ever expanding, infinite nature of the Universe. It is called the Tree of Life because the Universe is a living being, and all life is part of this one life. 

I was looking at my little colour spectrum painting and thinking some more about elements and seasons, the colour wheel. I always think of the spectrum as starting with red and working towards green in the middle, and purple at the end, with magenta as a cross over between beginning and end. So if the year starts with January then that could be red, but you might also think of the year as beginning with spring. Then again, red is a "hot" colour so wouldn't you put red at the hottest time of year? I'm still thinking about this....

As I write this blog entry, we are transitioning from July to August, which is the hottest time of year! It also seems to be fairly damp though, so I can see we are moving toward the Water quarter of the year. The garden is looking good, the grape vine is sprawling and the tomatoes are plentiful although green. The apples are small and hard. Many strawberries and raspberries have been plucked. This is the time of "first fruits".

The 1st August is recorded as an important festival date in the Tochmarc Emire, one of the legends in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. It is known in most sources as Bron Trogain, "the wrath of Trogain". In the Tochmarc however, the festival goes by the name Lughnasadh, Lugh's festival. Lugh was a god, but not of the sun or the harvest. He was the patron of all human skills, with a particular interest in kings and heroes. There is no evidence of this festival outside of Ireland, although I'm each land would have had its own seasonal festivals. The Anglo-Saxon festival was called hlaef-mass or "loaf mass", from which derived its medieval English and Scottish name of Lammas. It appears regularly in the Anglo-Saxon Cronicle as "the feast of first fruits". In the Scottish Highlands, this was a time to perform rites of protection. Rowan crosses were put over doors, or a ball of cow's hair put in the milk pail, or tar daubed upon the ears and tails of beasts, or blue or red threads tied to tails, or incantations spoken over udders. It was a common British custom to reap the first of the ripe cereals and bake them into bread to be blessed by a priest on that day. An Anglo-Saxon book of charms advised the division of this holy bread into four pieces to be crumbled into each corner of the barn that would store the grain. This festival was also known as the Gule of August, which may be an Anglicization of the Welsh gwyl aust, meaning "the feast of August". It seems very likely that a pre-Christian festival would have existed among the Anglo-Saxons on this date. The Catholic Church replaced it with the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.  In the Church of England the day is a Festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In pre-industrial Britain, August was the month of the cereal harvest. This was the most concentrated period of labour in the entire year. In modern Britain, this may be the most leisurely time of year, when families embark upon their summer holidays. In France, August is known as Le Grande Vacance, "The Long Holiday", when factories come to a stand still and workers are given their annual vacation. I myself shall be off with the boyfriend and his family for my first caravan holiday. Let's hope the weather is good!