Harvesting Ancient Wheat in Modern Times

by Rob Henderson
Originally published in Cup of Wonder #5

Since our group's beginnings, Shining Lakes Grove has been working to understand the practices of the ancient Indo-European pagan cultures, and recreate them within a modern context. As part of this process, we have been growing our own wheat. This variety of wheat is called "emmer wheat", and is one of the earliest known cultivated plants [1]. The ancient Egyptians used emmer wheat to make their bread and beer. It was a staple of cultures throughout the Middle East and Europe for thousands of years, including the Indo-European cultures that our group focuses on. These days, more modern varieties of wheat have taken its place in the fields.

Back in 1996, our then-Senior-Druid Fox took a trip to England. During the trip, he visited Butser Ancient Farm, a research center that studies ancient agricultural techniques. They had been cultivating emmer wheat, the earliest plant ever grown by farmers. It was grown by many of the ancient Indo-European peoples, and was even used in ancient Egypt to make beer! Fox brought back some of the emmer wheat seeds, hoping that we could grow them here and gain a deeper understanding of the agricultural cycle of our ancestors.

Unfortunately, it took a few years for us to find a suitable place to grow the seeds. In the fall of 1997, Jan Henderson bought a farm in Green Oak Township, and offered us a patch of land to grow the wheat. So our first planting was in the spring of 1998. It was risky, since the seeds were a few years old by then, and we weren't sure whether they would sprout! We did manage to grow 20 heads of wheat - and we managed to harvest three of those heads before the deer ate them all. (Obviously, the deer knew a lot more about when to harvest the plants than we did.) Our yield has grown steadily each year, and at this year's harvest we had about 500 heads.

Throughout the year, we tend the wheat. In April, we go out to the patch and plant the seeds, along with an offering of eggs which we smash and mix with the soil. We also place a birch branch in the center of the patch, since birch is associated with protection and new beginnings.

On the night before our Summer Solstice rite, we bring the flame from our ritual fire and throw burning embers into the patch. The plants are much too green to catch fire, this early in the season, so there's no worry about that! This is based on medieval Irish custom [2], which we believe has its roots in pre-Christian Irish custom, though this isn't proven.

In late July or early August, we harvest the grown wheat just before it starts to dry out, and hopefully just before the deer get to it! The first bundle taken by the Senior Druid is spun around his or her head, and thrown to the ground. Tradition says that if the bundle falls to the ground without scattering, then the harvest will be fruitful. We also offer three heads of wheat to Lugh at our Lughnasadh Festival.

During the winter, there isn't much to do with the wheat heads - but we use the straw from the wheat patch to make our Bríd crosses at Imbolc. In previous years, we had to mix our small amount of sacred straw with ordinary straw to get enough for our crosses. Last year, we had enough straw to make 17 crosses without mixing, and this year we should have five times as much straw to work with.

At our Spring Equinox ritual, our Grove come together and bless the wheat seeds, with the help of Ana, our local river goddess. And then the Wheel of the Year completes its turning in April, and we go back out to plant the seeds again.

Tending the wheat like this does a good job of connecting us to the way our ancestors lived, and while we don't need to worry about starving if the crop doesn't come in, it does give us something physical to work with, to see and smell and hold in our hands. After spending so much time doing our research in books and trancework, working with something real and solid is a powerful experience.

I've often said that this slow, steady growth of our wheat supply reflects the slow, steady regrowth of our religion in this modern age. Not only does the tending of the wheat connect us to the ancients, it reminds us that we are continuing their legacy, and even though our numbers may seem small now, we are still growing.

Footnotes:
[1] Butser Ancient Farm web site
[2] The Year in Ireland (Danaher)

Bibliography:

• The Year in Ireland, by Kevin Danaher, Mercier Pr Ltd; ISBN: 1856350932
• Beer Making in Ancient Egypt (http://blavatsky.net/confirm/peb/peb1997/egyptianBeer.htm)
• Butser Ancient Farm web site (http://www.butser.org.uk/)
• Shining Lakes Grove's Spring Equinox Ritual (http://www.msen.com/~robh/slg/slgse.html)

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