Themes of an Ozark Summer Thermstice

Celebrating the Cross-Quarter Day of Summer Thermstice (Lúnasa) in America is different from in the Old Countries. There is a lack of continuity in tradition for it; unlike the Halloween and May Day traditions that held on throughout those ancestors’ New World immigrations. Yet, there remains a seasonal event to commemorate. 

Here, corn (maize) is the prominent grain. Though the harvest start times can vary widely in this country, there is a corn harvest starting around mid-August for Arkansas and Oklahoma. Around the first weekend in August, there is a grape festival held in Tontitown Arkansas. So we see those same themes of first fruit and grain, but in quite a different context.

We have many traditions surrounding corn. Cornmeal is a traditional land spirit offering here, and it’s used many different ways in our breads, often combined with wheat flour. It is also used as the base ingredient in herbal powders used for magic. In Appalachia, fodder of corn stalks is placed about the home as a magical charm to ensure the family always has food. Red corn necklaces are made to help with fevers and bleeding. Dried corn cobs are attached above the doorway to the house, so that haints, or evil spirits, have to count each hole in the cob before entering. In the Ozarks, dried corn cobs are used in a similar way to feather and egg sweeping traditions; it is rubbed over the body then burned to destroy sickness. When you talk about “corn dollies” here, people’s first thought is of corn husk dolls, not the grain dollies of Europe. Cornsilk is prized for its many herbal and magical uses as well, as it is used much like Irish moss in prosperity spells, and as hair for poppet dolls.

Mid-august is also when pawpaws are beginning to ripen, though this sacred food may not be fully ready until the next harvest holiday. This is also the time to see if the incredibly delicious muscadine grapes are ready for harvest.

The days here in August are the hottest, as we’re in the middle of the dog days of summer. It’s much hotter here than in the countries our ancestors came from. Many Southern Pagans celebrate this holiday with an emphasis on water, for without it, an outdoor gathering would be unbearable in our August heat. Yet this is in keeping with some of the lesser known Lúnasa traditions which symbolized a quenching of the now oppressive sun.

Looking to the realm of folklore, we have our Summer Thermstice theme there as well. The Appalachian story “Old Fire Dragaman” has some parallels with Lúgh’s story: there is the symbolism of securing the land against (a Fomorian-like) force of nature, to claim the land itself, and to secure a harvest. Jack is like Lúgh in many ways. He is small and crafty; a triumphant underdog figure. Jack may not be as bold as Lúgh, but he is sneakily clever. Unlike Lúgh, Jack returns to ordinary life after every adventure. 

Following the symbolism of the story of Whitebear Whittington as a cyclical seasonal narrative, we find ourselves at the point in the story where Whitebear and his wife have three children. These three children can be seen as symbolic of the three harvests of the year. 

Also, in the latter part of the story of Ashpet, she is held prisoner by a Wild Man figure, who may represent a chaotic or Fomorian element of Nature, threatening to take back sovereignty. Like the goddess Bloddewydd, she learns her captor’s weaknesses, and relays them to her rescuer so that she may rejoin her true love. But unlike Bloddewydd, Ashpet then returns to civilization and resumes her happy ending. 

(Note: I include a lot of Appalachian lore in my Ozark Paganism because they are linked, often overlapping, and can inform and fill in the gaps for a more fleshed out tradition. We are, after all, a part of “Greater Appalachia”.)

So what might an Ozark Summer Thermstice look like? A trip to a harvest festival such as the Tontitown Grape Festival, or a “pick your own” berry farm (if not from your own garden), or maybe a trip to a favorite swimming hole may be just the thing. It’s a time to enjoy regional foods of the season; like cornbread casserole, Arkansas tomatoes, and for dessert- Ozark berry cobbler or gooseberry pie. It may also be a time for corn magic, and for ritual, one of the aforementioned tales could be played out, and/or the themes displayed in arts & crafts or altars of the day.

Bonus: a playlist!

•Dawn Chorus by Maiden Radio
•Rise Sun by The Infamous Stringdusters
•Summertime by Billy Strings
•Ozark Summer by Jed Melton Band
•Snakes and Waterfalls by Nick Shoulders
•Sweet Sunny South by Maiden Radio
•Mighty River by Railroad Earth
•Meet Me at the Creek by Billy Strings
•There Is a Time by Whiskey Shivers
•Thunderbolt’s Goodnight by Josh Ritter

Jack the Hero

The character of Jack from the Jack tales of the Ozarks and Appalachians embodies many of the traits of the Sacred Son or Maponos figures of ancient myth. Jack is the everlasting hero, but also somewhat of a trickster. These are very old tales, evolved and localized. The very name Jack, when used in storytelling, assures the listener of a triumphant hero.

As for the name, it is a diminutive of John (it evolved from John to Johnkin to Jankin to Jackin…), and means “God is gracious; he who supplants”. In folktales, he is always the youngest of three brothers. You might say he’s the male equivalent of the brave Maiden (like Mutsmag and Ashpet).

In American tales, he is also a modest underdog. This sets him apart from the old Sacred Son archetypal figures, which were characters that faced many trials, but were shown to be of high birth at the onset of the story, and were restored to that at the end. Jack, on the other hand, always starts out in very poor circumstances; he is not of royal or divine birth, and his adventures are often initiated by a dire need to obtain the necessities of life. 

“Most notable about the Jack Tales is their cycle form: It is always through the ‘little feller’ Jack that we participate in the dreams, desires, ambitions, and experiences of the whole people. His fantastic adventures arise often enough among the commonplaces of existence, and he always returns to the everyday life of these farm people of who he is one.”  –The Jack Tales, Collected & Retold by Richard Chase

In the Appalachian tale “Old Fire Dragaman” (and the almost identical “Jack and the Wishing Ring”), we see the classic quest for sovereignty, stealing away the goddess(es) of the land from a primordial creature or giant. A very similar Ozark tale is “Jack and Old Tush” (“tush” meant tusk in old Ozark dialect). In all these stories, a monster stealing Jack and his brothers’ food, is what sets the events in motion. In Dragaman/Wishing Ring, the creature/giant eats the food up on the spot, but in the Ozark version of the tale, Old Tush is sent by a willy-waw (an Ozark leprechaun-like creature that lives in the bottom of wells), and the food stealing is a means of getting Jack’s attention and help.

“I’m sorry, Jack,” said the willy-waw. “But ever’body knows about Jack, and how brave you are, and how you’ve had so many adventures and all.” […] “And all how you’re the onliest one can help us here in the Belowground.”  –Ozark Tall Tales by Richard & Judy Dockery Young 

Ah, did I mention that these two stories take place in the underworld (the “Belowground”)? I find it interesting that Jack is the only one who can help. One might consider him to be a psychopomp figure, as he can traverse worlds and deliver three maidens back from its depths and into the “Aboveground”. (And of course, we all remember his adventures in a sky realm, via beanstalk. “The Time Jack Went Up in the Big Tree” is another of his sky-realm/world tree adventures.)

Jack rarely wins the day all by himself. Sometimes his brothers try to help him, but being the smallest and cleverest (or just the luckiest– in some stories he plays the fool), circumstances lead to him going forth without them. And there are often supernatural or wise helpers in his tales, such as the willy-waw in Old Tush, and a magical one-eyed blacksmith (Odin, is that you?) in Jack and the Gowerow, and numerous cunning and magical unnamed Maidens in many of the tales. Often, the Maidens know just what Jack needs to do, they actively help, and they encourage him to keep going, lest his adventures be cut short. 

In Jack and Old Tush, there is no magic ring, and he must fight to free the maidens. The giants he must battle in the Belowground can only be defeated with rusty farm tools. This may be another indicator that the story is about sovereignty and harvest. But also, the fact that the tools are rusted, can have many layers of meaning. First off, the rust would indicate that the tool is old, and thus has accumulated power. However, most people throw out rusty tools if they’re too far gone- such corrosion dulls edges and leads to breakage. Using such a tool reiterates that Jack is a humble figure, and uses what others might cast aside. But also, in folk magic, rusted items are used for cursing; perhaps the giants could only be defeated with such a curse. Rust breaks down the strongest of items- metals, and returns them, crumbling and transformed, to the Earth herself.

This theme of choosing something old and worn out is also in “The Time Jack Learned about Old and New”. It is there that we learn another layer of meaning; the youngest and oldest go together. The youngest child inherits the hand-me-downs of all the siblings, and in many families, they are the caretakers of the elders of the family. In many of Jack’s stories (and this is true of folk stories about the Maiden as well), wonderful magical things happen as a result of him being kind to elders. It is in these bonds of oldest and youngest that great wisdom is carried forth.

The way storytellers of the Appalachians speak of Jack confirms his place as an everlasting God of Youth, as they say that Jack always comes young again, and is alive and well in the Appalachian mountains.

The Jack tales carry forth a great deal of Old World mythology in its storylines and themes. “Old Fire Dragoman” has been compared to tales in the Mabinogion, and “The First Time Jack Came to America” is very much like the Welsh myth of Taliesin. There are many others as well; Jack is a magnet for themes of heroic youth and tricksters. It is through such folktales that we experience the myths of old in a new way, ever evolving for a new time and place.