Meditating on maturity

This time of year, Lughnasad, is traditionally the time when maturity moves into ageing. Most of our group have given up the paid work which used to be a significant part of our identity, and today we contemplated what our purpose might be for our remaining years.

We cast the circle by naming our mother and how old she was when she died, or her current age if she is still alive. I suggested this because I recently heard that it’s hard for women to imagine living longer than their mothers.

Then we sat quietly, with eyes closed, and considered each of the four elements. Earth is related to the physical body and we thought about what we need to do to maintain good physical health. Air is related to the intellect and we considered what we each need to do to keep our brain active and working. Fire is related to the spirit and we contemplated what we need to maintain a sense of awe and connection with a higher power. Water symbolises emotions, and we mused on what we need to stay emotionally healthy and maintain good relationships.

Element symbols for planned actions

Each woman then took a small drawstring bag and placed in it symbols of the actions she planned. There was an opportunity to share one thing each hopes to achieve over the next year.

I read On Aging by Maya Angelou:

When you see me sitting quietly,
Like a sack left on the shelf,
Don’t think I need your chattering.
I’m listening to myself.
Hold! Stop! Don’t pity me!
Hold! Stop your sympathy!
Understanding if you got it,
Otherwise I’ll do without it!
When my bones are stiff and aching,
And my feet won’t climb the stair,
I will only ask one favor:
Don’t bring me no rocking chair.
When you see me walking, stumbling,
Don’t study and get it wrong.
‘Cause tired don’t mean lazy
And every goodbye ain’t gone.
I’m the same person I was back then,
A little less hair, a little less chin,
A lot less lungs and much less wind.
But ain’t I lucky I can still breathe in.

Lughnasad is also traditionally the feast of bread, which was long believed to be the one essential food. Salt is identified with the Mother’s primal sea, and is a symbol of rebirth because of its preservative qualities. We each took a piece of bread, dipped it in salt, and while we ate it the group said: “May you be nourished and well-preserved”.

Then we opened the circle and feasted.