Lughnasadh 2023

For the first of our three harvests, we gathered in East Canyon at a site located beside the Old Pioneer Trail. The location was chosen with the intention of facilitating ancestral connection and transmutation of ancestral grief.

This gathering featured many nuanced discussions regarding ancestors who emigrated from Northwestern Europe. We honored their experiences and held grief for their - and subsequently our - loss of homeland, community, and culture. Through traditional practices such as kulning and keening, we vocalized the grief, anger, loss, and displacement accompanied by culture loss.

Interspersed throughout the gathering were ancestral songs of emigration, a large communal meal, and the sound of the river through the grounds. This gathering felt sacred in purpose as we carried and alleviated some of the weight of ancestral grief.