Lammas is celebrated on August 1st and is the first of the three harvest festivals (the Autumnal Equinox and Samhain being the others). The first fruits of summer are enjoyed. There are many festivals and ceremonies but throughout, there is a custom of climbing hills and mountains – we have Lewesdon hill our our doorstep 🙂

August’s Full Moon is on Monday, 3rd and is known as the Sturgeon Moon.  So called because the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain in North America were most readily caught during this part of summer. It is also referred to as Full Green Corn Moon, signalling that the corn was nearly ready for harvest, Grain Moon, Fruit Moon, Barley Moon. Wheat Cut Moon, and Blueberry Moon.*

The word “sturgeon” means “the stirrer”, which is what this giant freshwater fish does when it is looking for food; it stirs up the mud and silt on river and lake bottoms.  The sturgeon is sometimes called a “living fossil,” as it belongs to a family of fish that has existed for more than 135 million years.
In ancient times, it was common to track the changing seasons by following the lunar month rather than the solar year, which the 12 months in our modern Gregorian calendar are based on.

*For millennia, people across Europe, as well as the Native American tribes, named the months after features they associated with the Northern Hemisphere seasons, and many of these names are very similar or identical.

#Broadwindsor #Dorset #WestDorset #Lammas #FullMoon #Sturgeon #LookUp #FirstFruits #Harvest #Celebration #StaySafe