Calendar of Seasons: A Cycle of Days, Moons and Trees

August

This is a good time to give thought to where our food originates and reverence for the cycles that produce it. Better still, tending a garden keeps us in touch with the Goddess and her bounty. Even if your garden consists only of tomatoes or herbs grown in pots on a balcony, these taste all the sweeter for having been nurtured by your own hands.

Moon of Delight
Lazy days are offset by dazzling thunderstorms that tear the night sky asunder. Summer is winding down and yet autumn seems a distant horizon. This is the time to enjoy the warmth, the freedom of lightweight clothing, and the night chorus of crickets as you recall pleasant summer memories.

Other names for this moon: Herb Moon, Barley Moon, Corn Moon.

In the Celtic Tree Calendar
August 1 - 4: Holly
Associated with unity, energy, guidance for the future, and the waning year.

August 5 - 31: Hazel
Associated with creativity, wisdom, authority and justice.

1 – Holly, Cypress, Apple/Crabapple, Gorse, Oak, Rowan, Vine/Bramble
Lughnasadh, Lammas – Lughnasadh Ritual

2 – Holly, Cypress
Feast of the Black Madonna

3 – Holly, Cypress
Third to tenth, Panathenaea – Greek festival honoring Athena

4 – Holly, Cypress
Mindfulness Day (Buddhist)
The water of Loch-mo-Naire in Scotland was considered magically healing on this day

5 – Hazel, Aspen
Celtic tree month of Hazel begins

6 – Hazel, Aspen
Tan Hill sacred fire festival (Celtic)

7 – Hazel, Aspen
Meditate on Danu, Gaia – by whatever name you know the Great Mother Goddess

8 – Hazel, Aspen
Romans celebrated the birth of Venus; Christians celebrate the birth of Mary

9 – Hazel, Aspen
Honor Arinna

10 – Hazel, Aspen  
Honor the sky gods

11 – Hazel, Aspen, Maple 
Puck Fair, Ireland – the faery Robin Goodfellow is celebrated

12 – Hazel, Aspen, Maple  
Dark Moon
Honor St. Clare of Assisi

13 – Hazel, Aspen, Maple  
Runic half month of As begins

14 – Hazel, Aspen, Maple
Grain fields are golden, and haze softens the horizon

15 – Hazel, Maple, Cedar, Hackberry
Polish harvest festival of Dozynki
Assumption Day (Christian)

16 – Hazel, Maple, Cedar, Hackberry
Honor Grainne
Birth of Krishna (Hindu)

17 – Hazel, Maple, Cedar, Hackberry, Ash
Beginning of Odin’s nine-day ordeal

18 – Hazel, Maple, Cedar, Hackberry, Ash
Best time for basil, corn, eggplant, sorrel and tomatoes

19 – Hazel, Maple, Cedar, Hackberry, Ash
Harvest the first grapes

20 – Hazel, Maple, Cedar, Hackberry, Ash
Romans celebrated the early grape harvest

21 – Hazel, Cedar, Hackberry, Ash
Feast of Thor

22 – Hazel, Cedar, Hackberry, Ash
Best time for mangoes, peaches, raspberries and watermelon

23 – Hazel, Cedar, Hackberry, Ash
Sun enters Virgo

24 – Hazel, Pine, Ash
Weather prophecy day – “If this day be clear, a prosperous harvest this year.”

25 – Hazel, Pine, Ash
Odin perceives the runes

26 – Hazel, Pine
Finnish goddess Ilmatar celebrated

27 – Hazel, Pine 
Birth of Mother Teresa (1910)
Hindu goddess Devaki celebrated

28 – Hazel, Pine 
Full Moon – Moon of Delight – Full Moon Ritual
Freyfaxi – Norse harvest celebration

29 – Hazel, Pine 
Runic half month of Rad begins

30 – Hazel, Pine 
Honor Amaethon

31 – Hazel
Afternoon thunderstorms leave a mist over the land