Human Design inspired guidance for Lammas on the Wheel of the Year by Libby Hoffmann - Moderne Homemaker
On August 1 each year, we have the opportunity to celebrate Lammas, a Christian inspired sabbat (aka Loaf Mass Day) or Lughnasadh, a traditionally Gaelic holiday named for the Celtic god Lugh. On the Wheel of the Year, this is the first traditional harvest of grain, between Summer Solstice and Mabon.
If you’re in the northern hemisphere, you may feel caught in between saying goodbye to summer and welcoming autumn. It can certainly feel precarious! However you choose to celebrate, I invite you to see it as a good time of year to begin reflecting on the theme of harvest in an individual way – tuning in to what is present for you in your life at this time, and looking at how you may open yourself to receive even more.
As Lammas takes place during Leo season, I feel it is also attuned to similar themes, like self sovereignty, true desires and keeping the heart open for what is to come. Leo is the regal, courageous and big hearted leader who takes equal pride in shining their own light and caring for their community. This divine archetype shows us that when we care deeply for ourselves, we naturally care for the world around us. In order to thrive, we too should seek balance between our inner and outer worlds.
A few years ago, on a late July day right before Lammas, I experienced this lesson first hand as I felt myself sinking into an emotional low. As an Emotional Projector in Human Design, who is very aware of my emotional waves, I recognized I needed support to move through it in a positive way. So, instead of pushing myself to bypass what I was feeling or for myself headstrong into overcompensating, I called upon my inner wise woman for guidance.
I let a few things fall from my schedule so my mind could rest. I allowed myself to cry as much as I wanted, and I reminded myself that emotions are always changing. This is just the natural process of my body and doesn’t mean a thing about my soul. I continued with my self tending as I could that day. I worked with what I had and didn’t exhaust myself trying to create a lavish environment.
I gave my small altar some TLC, lit a candle, wrote a few short intentions and thanked God and the flower beings that rested there for their love and provision. By the end of this simple ritual, my heart was bursting with gratitude. I still felt I was in an emotional low, but I also felt deeply nourished. I was thankful for the support to successfully move through my feelings, not around.
The next morning during my daily solo walk, I gathered thirteen wheat-like stems of grass to hang on my front door for Lammas: twelve for each month of the year and one for good luck. Then, I received another validating gift from Mother Nature. I found some flowers growing on the hillside of a pond that I’d never seen before. They had delicate blush colored bell shaped blooms with ivory frill petals on the end, dangling from thin bright green stems. All the fairy vibes!
I learned they’re called Maidens-Tears (Silene vulgaris), which again filled my heart to the brim. The Earth knew exactly the right gift to send, to remind me of the wealth and beauty that can show up when I am present in my lows, as well as my highs. I can trust that I’m provided for without having to perform beyond my current capacity. I don’t have to overexert myself, I can just be present to receive.
I know this way of simply being sounds easier said than done. The world around us presses in more often than not, and I recognize our circumstances do not always allow us to simplify. However, this is a gentle reminder that true beauty and abundance begins within.
Using my experience with Human Design, I have some insight to support yourself in the pursuit of utilizing heart centered Leo and harvest energy, from the inside out. The Heart Center in your Human Design is where to begin.
The Heart, or Ego Center is the most biologically complex Center of energy in our bodies. Each of the four Gates of the Heart is associated with a specific organ and serves an individual biological function: the heart, stomach, thymus gland, and gall bladder. Energetically, the Heart has the potential to say “I want”, and “I have,” or “I don’t have but I want/need.” The rise of capitalism and toxic masculinity, among other unhealthy systems of oppressive competition, have contributed to the Heart becoming the most conditioned and at risk for dis-ease in our present day society.
Anytime we’re not living according to our true nature, the functions of our Centers deteriorate. This is true whether the Center is undefined or defined; there is healthy and unhealthy expression for both. Without awareness of how to properly release conditioning and use the ego/willpower of the Heart Center in a healthy way, we see heart disease, stomach troubles, collapse of the immune system, failed gall bladders, and eventually destroyed livers, as the Heart has a direct connection to the G center which correlates with the blood and liver.
Please don’t be discouraged! We each have the power to choose personal freedom from dis-ease through aligning with our true nature. If you don’t already know your individual design, you may take a look using your birth info at mybodygraph.com to see if the Heart Center is defined (colored in red) or undefined (white or clear) in your bodygraph, before reading on.
If your Heart is defined, less than 40% of the population, then you have consistent reliable access to this driven willpower to support yourself and others. This is one of your natural strengths. Using this energy to follow through on your aligned desires and to prove yourself in alignment with your Authority, is the path to feeling personally rewarded. At the same time, your healthy ego will help contribute to the community around you staying well cared for. Remember that if you overwork the Ego, then you will probably burnout and Not Self Themes for your Type will arise, like frustration, anger and bitterness. When your Heart is done working, give it rest.
If your Heart is undefined, like the majority of the population, then you have unreliable access to your willpower. This is a natural source of wisdom for you. You’re here to take a step back from the competition, and you get to see others deeply— who has a healthy Ego and who has an unhealthy Ego. You have the freedom to live your life with nothing to prove. To experience consistent satisfaction, success, and peace through your design, trust your Authority for making promises and committing your energy, not your willpower.
No matter what your Heart definition, or what energy Type you are, you are an integral part of Creation. You are worthy of nourishment and rest. I offer these reflection prompts to guide you into contemplation during this first glimpse of harvest...
What’s feeling bountiful in your life at this time? How can you sink into gratitude for it?
Where do you feel the call to begin releasing and simplifying?
Where or how are you craving support for yourself at this time? How can you let Mother Nature provide for you?
How are you celebrating what is present for you to harvest today?
During Lammas, and beyond, I encourage you to honor your own heart’s design and let go of comparison. Be present for what is. Consider the beauty in all things, no matter how small or how difficult your circumstances. Accept that abundance is directly related to our ability to be grateful and our capacity to receive. I invite you to take a break from flexing your own ego, and ask the plants to prove it.
Love through all seasons,
<3 Libby
Libby Hoffmann - Moderne Homemaker is an earth intuitive and holistic wellness guide for women, specializing in the Human Design System for pregnancy. She is a mother of two boys, author of the children's book We Are All Light, and a birth + postpartum doula serving the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. Connect and find out more
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