Tracing MS Through the Cycle of Ancient Irish Festivals

Many of our readers will know that Ireland is a very important place to my wife and me (and our cast of five dogs). We have been welcomed into our community far deeper and far faster than we ever had a right to hope for. We contribute as we can and try to keep the balance of give-and-take as even as possible (but the Irish are a very giving people …).

Because of that affinity, and as a bit of a primer to those who aren’t well acquainted with this Celtic nation, I thought I’d take advantage of the celebration of Lúnasa (sometimes known as Lughnasadh) to begin a yearlong examination of multiple sclerosis (MS) through the cycle of ancient Irish festivals based on the Celtic calendar.

The ‘Midlife Crisis’ of the Year

It might seem a bit odd to start (almost) in the middle — Lúnasa is celebrated on August 1 (sometimes August 2) and is the festival of the harvest. But the Celtic calendar is seen as a wheel that turns back and renews upon itself, so it matters not where we begin.

Besides, starting now allows me to finish the series next June on the high note of Grianstad an tSamhraidh, the summer solstice.

This August festival (the month of August is also called Lúnasa in the Irish language) is old — dating back some 1,500 to 2,000 years — but still celebrated in modern times. Some of you may remember Meryl Streep in the film Dancing at Lughnasa, based on the Brian Friel play of the same name.

In many ways, Lúnasa is the midlife crisis of the year. It’s like the remissions in between MS attacks, or relapses. It’s the moment we celebrate our achievements — new and old — but it’s also the time when we realize that the longest, warmest, “best” days may be behind us.

A Time to Look Forward and Back

My birthday falls dead in the middle of the month of Lúnasa — August 16 — and I’ll be 60 years old when that day comes around this year. So August is a time of looking back and looking forward for me, maybe a little bit more than most times of the year.

There have been times I’ve lit proverbial (and sometimes actual) fires and danced around them to celebrate or lament the Augusts of my life.

Since multiple sclerosis made its way into that life — a quarter of a century ago now — those times of reflection and or celebration have become more poignant. But maybe because of my advancing years, the good is remembered better than it was and the bad, not as severe.

There’ll Be No Dancing at Lúnasa for Me This Year

Surely as this Lúnasa comes around, I’ll not be dancing around the festival fires. I’ll be one day out of hip revision surgery — that’s taking out the old replacement prosthesis and replacing it with another. All of the risks and complications of a revision are the same as an original replacement, only doubled.

Thinking of the festival of Lúnasa as part of the wheel of life, and thus my life with multiple sclerosis, it makes sense that I can celebrate the good, lament the awful, and situate all of my MS life experiences in between those two extremes.

My life’s harvest has been bountiful, even though some seasons were harsh and unforgiving. Today, my contributions to the community that counts on me may falter now and again, but I have and will continue to be a part of the greater whole of our society.

How I View MS at Lúnasa

The reality of MS at Lúnasa isn’t the longest of days, and it isn’t the shortest. It isn’t the warmest or the coldest, the darkest nor the brightest.

It is a moment of celebration for what was and a turning to what may be. It’s a time to take joy in the good days and, because Lúnasa also marks the beginning of Celtic autumn, to prepare and take stock, for I can be surer than many that there will be difficulties ahead.

But for now, I dance, if only in my heart!

Wishing you and your family the best of health.

Cheers,

Trevis