This is the season of Lughnasadh, the feast of Lugh of the Long Hand, whose solar fire ripens the harvest. Heat hangs in the air by day, but the nights are growing longer, and the stars are bright. In Ireland, a month of athletic games honored Lugh's foster-mother, Tailtiu. In the night skies of this season, the Perseid meteor showers dance in the dark. They are still known in Ireland as the Games of Lugh. This is Lammas, the Loaf Mass, when bread is baked from the first harvest, and John Barleycorn goes into barrels for the winter.
This is the time of the gathering of the folk. In the Moon of Lughnasadh, clans come together from all the duns, driving their herds before them. They play and test their skill at games. The druids settle disputes and re-establish boundaries. On the mountain sides, the young women and men pick berries and make love. Sometimes, especially if there is a Beltane baby on the way, a handfasting is celebrated. They build bonfires on the hilltops and drive the cattle between them. There is dancing by torchlight and by firelight. Sometimes a cartwheel is set alight and rolled blazing down a hillside. An Irish faery tale calls this season "little lunacy week in August."
This is the long-awaited harvest. In Scotland, the youngest child in the family cuts the last sheaf and weaves a corn dolly or corn hag from it. The first family to finish its harvest makes the corn dolly and passes it on to others as they finish. It ends in the keeping of the last family to finish harvesting. On Brighid's Day, the corn dolly and a loaf of bread or a jug of whisky are put to bed in a basket and carried through all the houses to hurry the spring sowing.
In Britain, July is the season of haymaking, and August is the corn or barley harvest. Lughnasadh is the time to sacrifice the grain. In 1100 C.E. on the Morrow of Lammas, August 2, King William Rufus of England was shot through the eye with an arrow while hunting in the New Forest. The body of the red-haired king was carried through the countryside, and the folk came out to mourn him as John Barleycorn. The New Forest is still sacred ground to English witches and gypsies.
In mid-August, Odin found the wisdom of the Runes. He hung on the world ash tree, Yggdrasil, for nine days and nine nights, a sacrifice of himself to himself.
The Puck Fair is held in England at Lughnasadh by the old Julian calendar. In Scotland, the Lammas fair is called Great Saint Mary's Feast in Harvest. In Hungary, it is the feast of the Big Glad Woman.
These are the Dog Days, the Month for Hanging Dogs, the rising of Sirius the Dog Star, known in the North as Loki's Brand. Elen Llydaw, Welsh Goddess of the star roads, draws her maps in the sky. The Star Goddess Anahita and her attendants, the Parikas or shooting stars, dance by night in Persia. In Egypt, the rising of Sirius marked the beginning of the Nile floods and the end of the year. The Sky Goddess Nut gavebirth to her five children, Set, Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, and Hathor between the old year and the new. By torchlight, Isis searched for the slain Osiris, gathered the pieces of his body, and breathed life into him again.
In Macedonia, the first three days of August celebrated the Dryads, spirits of the trees. In Rome, the Heracleia honored Heracles with games and invoked the spirit of the hero into the hearts of those who needed strength and courage.
In Brittany, Lammas is the time of the benediction of the sea. Ahes, the Mermaid Goddess of the drowned city of Ys, gives her people bounty from the ocean. In the West Indies, the hurricane Gods walk on land from Lammas until Samhain. The last Monday in July is Hurricane Supplication Day.
Lughnasadh falls at moon-dark this year. Bendis of Thrace, the Goddess who first taught witches to draw down the moon, held torchlight races, parades, and initiations at the dark of the August moon. Hekate, the dark moon, was celebrated with offerings of eggs, fish, onions, and garlic left at the crossroads. At the new moon in Greece, Artemis of Brauron held her festival. Little girls dressed in bear costumes danced in her honor. Artemis was celebrated as Ursa Major, the she-bear. Artio, the Celtic Bear Goddess, was honored at Lughnasadh.
This is Luna Mass, the celebration of the Lady of the Moon. The August full moon marks the height of summer, the return of brightness before autumn. In Wales, the full moon is Arianrhod, "silver wheel." In Scotland, she is Gealach, the "bright white moon of the seasons." The Moon Goddess Diana's day in Rome was the Ides of August, the thirteenth. In the lunar calendar, this was the eve of the full moon. Her priestesses danced in sacred groves by torchlight. In Greece, Artemis was celebrated at the full moon as Calliste, the beautiful one. Ishtar was worshipped in her lion aspect at the full moon in Sumer. Pacha Mamaprepares the ground for the early sowing at the full moon in Peru. The Creek and Cherokee Corn Mothers are the sister Goddesses Elihino of the Earth and Igaehindvo of the Sun. The Green Corn Dances celebrate the grain they provide for their people.
This is the time of the Mothers, the Matronae, the Three Women. Carved in stone, they hold bounty on their laps: a basket of fruits and flowers, an infant, a foal. They are the Triple Danu, Goddess of the land; the Triple Brighid, Goddess of poetry, crafts, and healing; and Modron and Morgan and Morrigan, the ancient Triple Mother. They are Habondia and Cornucopia. They bring sleep and fertility and bounty. They are the Corn Hag and the Corn Maiden, the last of the harvest and the first of the seed. They are the little wisdoms that carry us through the winter. They are the first green shoots in the spring. They are the earth covered by snow. They gift all their children with secrets and seeds and dreams.
This is the season of John Barleycorn. He stands in the fields until his beard sprouts in the rains of Midsummer. Then he is cut down, rolled around the field, beaten, and tied. He is baked into bread and brewed into ale and distilled into whisky. A Scottish song tells of John Barleycorn meeting Brighid, who is searching for him in a snowstorm. He gives her a bannock and a drink of whisky: "She ate, she drank, she laughed, she danced, and home with me she did return. By candle light in my old straw bed, she wept no more for Barleycorn."* He is Crom Cruaich, the ancient God of standing stones and the harvest sacrifice. He wins every drinking contest. He leads us by winter roads to the return of spring.
Lammas, or Lughnasahd, is a cross-quarter fire festival and is celebrated on the evening of July 31 and August 1,2, and 3. The sun is in Leo.
Lammas is the first harvest, the time when Wwe reap the rewards of the seeds sown in this year's cycle, both literally in terms of the corn and wheat that the farmers have planted and that will feed us when they reach our shops as flour and bread, and metaphorically in the form of the goals Wwe have worked on since Wwe lit Oour wish candles at Imbolc. But in the midst of all this abundance is death. The God is cut down in the fields to go into the Earth, to fulfill the sacrifice that leads to renewal. In Oour own lives Wwe reap the harvest of Oour prior intentions, but must let go of much that has had its season so that there is room for new growth.
In Celtic times, when this was the feast of Lugh and the festival of first fruits, celebrations would probably have gone on for the whole of August. Lugh was a Celtic fire god, a sacrificial god who was cut down with the harvest and who, in later times, became John Barleycorn. The God can also be seen as the mature Lord married to the Goddess as the land, and responsible for the survival and well-being of his Ppeople. Ancient sacrificed kings were a representative of the God, and the old tradition of August or Lughnasahd weddings reflects both the offering up of the God and the marriage to the Land.
This festival also celebrates the more ancient theme of the Goddess as Corn Mother, She who gives birth to the harvest. But the forces of growth that began to emerge at Imbolc must now return into the Earth to rest and sustain the soil before the next growth cycle. This is symbolized by the Corn Mother going into the burial mounds to become the Cailleagh, the Winter Hag, to await her emergence as the Corn Bride at Imbolc. A Corn Mother can be made now, then dressed in white as the Corn Bride when Imbolc comes. In the old farming communities, She would have been fashioned from the last sheaf of corn to be cut during harvest.
Oour own energies begin to gear down now, too, ready for the inward turn at the Equinox and the descent to the depths at Samhain. We have to make sacrifices also, exchanging our failures and outgrown phases in exchange for reaping the harvest of our spring and summer endeavours.
Food is in abundance and can be symbolized on the altar by wheat and corn, fruit and bread. This is the only time when Ppagans symbolically drink the blood of the God in the form of red wine or juice, and this is the meaning behind the later Christian version of holy communion.
Click Magick Circle if you do not know how to form a proper magickal circle, BEFORE attempting to perform the ritual below.
PREPARING YOUR ALTAR
° Altar candles should be yellow.
° Incense should be frankincense.
° Circle may be decorated with summer flowers and grains.
° Circle candles remain the usual colors for the elementals (green, yellow, red, and blue).
° Have loaf of multigrain or whole cracked wheat bread on the altar.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CEREMONY
Sweep circle area; lay out circle and altar items; bathe and robe. Light incense and altar candles. Ring bell three times and say...
The circle is about to be cast and I freely stand within to greet my Lady and my Lord.
Take center candle from altar, light each candle of the circle moving north, then east, south, and west, and say...
(N) I call upon light and Earth at the north to illuminate and strengthen the circle.
(E) I call upon light and Air at the east to illuminate and enliven the circle.
(S) I call upon light and Fire at the south to illuminate and warm the circle.
(W) I call upon light and Water at the west to illuminate and cleanse the circle.
Take athame in upraised hand, begin circle at north and move around the circle north to east to south to west, and say...
I draw this circle in the presence of the Goddess and the God where they may come and bless their child, Say your magickal name.
Lower the athame at the north, and as you walk around the circle, envision a blue light shotting out from the point and forming the circle boundary, and say...
This is the boundary of the circle. Only love shall enter and leave.
Return to altar and ring bell three times. Place point of athame in the salt and say...
Salt is life and purifying. I bless this salt to be used in this sacred circle in the names of the Goddess and the God.
Pick up salt bowl and use tip of athame to drop three portions of salt into the water bowl and set salt bowl back in its place. Stir three times with athame and say... Let the blessed salt purify this water that it may be blessed to use in this sacred circle. In the names of the Goddess and the God, I consecrate and cleanse this water.
Take the salted water bowl in hand and sprinkle water from it as you move deosil around the circle (N-E-S-W-N) and say...
I consecrate this circle in the names of the Goddess and the God. The circle is conjured a circle of power that is purified and sealed. So mote it be!.
Return the water bowl to the altar and pick up censer; take it around the circle to cense it; return censer to altar. Take anointing oil, make a Solar Cross ringed by a circle on your forehead, and say...
I (state Yyour magickal name) am consecrated in the names of the Goddess and the God in this their circle.
If working with family members or a Green-focused Coven, open a door in the circle with the athame now for all to enter. Use anointing oil to trace a Solar Cross in a circle on their foreheads as each person enters, having said some kind of greeting, such as the Wiccan, "I come in perfect love and perfect trust." Then close the door with the athame. The text is for soliatry use but may be thus altered for family or coven participation.
Take the wand and hold it aloft with both arms open and upraised at the north of the circle (envision a powerful bull arriving) and say...
I call upon you, Elemental Earth, to attend this rite and guard this circle, for as I have body and strength, we are kith and kin!
Lower wand and move to the east, raise up wand (see devas, faires, or an eagle in flight) and say...
I call upon you, Elemental Air, to attend this rite and guard this circle, for as I breath and think, we are kith and kin!
Lower wand and move to the south, raise up wand (see a dragon) and say...
I call upon you, Elemental Fire, to attend this rite and guard this circle, for as I consume life to live, we are kith and kin!
Lower wand and move to the west, hold wand a loft (see a undine, a sea serpant, or a dolphin) and say...
I call upon you, Elemental Water, to attend this rite and guard this circle, for as I feel and my heart beats, we are kith and kin!
Return to altar and use wand to draw the symbol of infinity (an 8 lying on its side) in the air above the altar, the sign of working between worlds. Set wand on altar and raise up athame in both hands overhead and say...
Hail to the elementals at the four quarters! Welcome Lady and Lord to this rite! I stand between the worlds with love and power all around!
Set down athame and pick up goblet of wine. Pour a little into the cauldron. This is a libation to the Divine in which they are honored by offering to them the first draught, then you take a sip. You may prefer to have a bowl specifically for the libation. Ring bell three times and say...
I celebrate this day the First Harvest, the Festival of Bread.
Chant or sing and dance around the circle to the Shaker tune, "Gift to Be Simple (known in the Craft as "Lord of the Dance")...
Dance, dance, wherever you may be;
When you dance with the Lord, he will dance with thee,
Turn, turn, a circle you may form;
And the Lord of the Dance is the Lord of the Corn!
Stop at the altar and with upraised arms sing or chant...
Down, down, into the Earth he'll go;
Giving life to the grain that in spring we'll sown.
He rules the Shadowland till Yule;
When his sun is reborn and he joins us anew!
Ring bell seven times and say...
Great is the power of the God of the sun and the Goddess of the Earth from whom spring all life!
Take up wand, hold it upraised over the bread, and say...
The harvest of the corn that sustains us is brought through death and rebirth. The Lord of the Corn leaves the side of the Earth mother that his power may be passed into the Land for his children to live. Blessed be the God of the Corn, whose love for his children knows no bounds! In the Land of Shadows will be abide with the Lady as crone, awaiting the time of his joyous rebirth.
Lower the wand to touch the bread and say...
May bless this bread that I eat in the honor of the cycle of life that created it and me.
Set down athame and pick up goblet of wine Pour a little into the cauldron. This is a libation to the Divine in which they are honored by offering to them the first draught, then you take a sip. You may prefer to have a bowl specifically for the libation. Ring bell three times and say...
My Lord and my Lady, I am blessed by your gifts from the soil. These first grains are the promise of life to come, and remind me that I am one with the All. So mote it be!
Ring bell three times.
Cakes and Wine - Ring bell three times. Feet spread and arms upraised, say...
I acknowledge my needs and offer my appreciation to that which sustains me! May I ever remember the blessing of my Lady and my Lord.
Feet together, take up goblet in left hand and athame in right. Slowly lower the point of the athame into the wine and say...
As male joins female for the benefit of both, et the fruits of their union promote life. Let the Earth be fruitful and let her wealt00h be spread throughbout all lands.
Lay down the athame and drink from the goblet. Replace the goblet on the altar and pick up the athame. Touch the point of the athame to the cake in the offering dish and say...
This food is the blessing of the Lady and the Lord given freely to me. As freely as I have received, may I also give food for the body, mind, and spirit to those who seek such of me.
Eat the cake, finish the wine, and say...
As I enjoy these gifts of the Goddess and the God, may I remember that without them I would have nothing. So mote it be!
When all is finished, hold athame in your power hand level over the altar and say...
Lord and Lady, I am blessed by your sharing this time with me; watching and guarding me, and guiding me here and in all things. I came in love and I depart in love.
Raise up athame in a salute and say...
Love is the law and love is the bond. Merry did I meet, merry do I part, and merry will I meet again. Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again! The circle is now cleared. So mote it be!
Kiss the flat of the blade and set the athame on the altar. Take up the snuffer and go to the north quarter, raise up arms and say...
Depart in peace, Elemental Earth. My blessings take with you!
Lower arms and snuff the candle, envision the Elemental Power departing. Go to the East, raise up arms and say...
Depart in peace, Elemental Air. My blessings take with you!
Lower arms and snuff the candle, envision the Elemental Power departing. Go to the south, raise up arms and say...
Depart in peace, Elemental Fire. My blessings take with you!
Lower arms and snuff the candle, envision the Elemental Power departing. Go to the west, raise up arms and say...
Depart in peace, Elemental Water. My blessing take with you!
Lower arms and snuff the candle, envision the Elemental Power departing. Return to altar and set down snuffer. Raise up arms and say...
Beings and powers of the visible and invisible, depart in peace! You aid my work, whisper in my mind, and bless me from the Otherworld, and there is harmony between us. My blessings take with you. The circle is cleared.
Take up athame, go to the north quarter, point athame down and move widdershins around circle (N-W-S-E-N). Envision the blue light drawing back into the athame and say...
The circle is open yet the circle remains as its magickal power is drawn back into me.
When you return to the north having walked the circle, raise up the athame so the blade touches your forehead and envision the blue light swirling around back into you. Return to altar and say...
The ceremony is ended. Blessings have been given and blessings have been received, may the peace of the Goddess and the God remain in my heart. So mote it be!
Set down the athame. Put away all magickal tools and clear the altar except for candles or any objects that need to burn out or work for a stated time (such as candle magick). The cauldron or libation bowl contents are poured onto the earth (if not out in the yard, then into a flowerpot containing soil and perhaps a hardy, leafy green plant).
Traditional foods for this Sabbat include multigrain bread, blackberry pie and a dark, fruity wine (I like to use blackberry wine for this occassion).
OTHER ACTIVITIES
The following are a few suggestions for activities that may be incorporated into the Sabbat ritual or engaged in during the day.
Make sand candles to honor the Goddess and the God of the sea.
Eat a sea food dinner dedicated to the Goddess and the God of the sea.
If you do not live near a beach, you can achieve the same effect by putting sand in a large box, adding water, and working from there. This is definitely a porch or kitchen floor job, and I recommend newspapers under your work area for easy clean up.
-Melt wax from odd candles (save the stubs from altar candles) in a coffee can set in a pot of boiling water.
-Add any essential oil you want for scent.
-Scoop out a candle mold in wet sand (you can make a cauldron by scooping out the sand and using a finger to poke three "feet" in the sand).
-Hold the wick (you can get these ready-made in arts and crafts stores) in the center and gently pour in the melted wax.
-Wait until it hardens, then slip your fingers under the candle and carefully lift it out and brush off the excess sand.
String Indian corn on black thread for a necklace.
If the Sabbat falls on a rainy day, you could collect rainwater in a glass or earthenware container, add dried mugwort, and use to empower objects.
Create and bury a Witch's Bottle. This is a glass jar with sharp pointy things inside to keep away harm. You can use needles, pins, thorns, thistles, nails, and bits of broken glass; it's a good way to dispose of broken crockery, old sewing equipment, and the pins that come in new clothes. Bury it near the entry to the house (like next to the driveway or the front door) or inside a large planter.
Do a harvest Chant when serving the corn bread at dinner:
The Earth Mother grants the grain,
The Horned God goes to his domain.
By giving life into her grain,
The God dies then is born again.
Make a Corn Dolly to save for next Imbolc (although we keep the same ones and have one in the entry hall and one in the kitchen as a symbolic Guardian Goddess and Hearth Goddess). Double over a bundle of wheat and tie it near the top to form a head. Take a bit of the fiber from either side of the main portion and twist into arms that you tie together in front of the dolly. Add a small bouquet of flowers to the "hands," and then you can decorate the dolly with a dress and bonnet.
Bake corn bread sticks. You can find an iron mold shaped like little ears of corn in kitchen supply shops. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
1 cup flour
half cup corn meal
quater cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup milk
quater cup shortening
Sift dry ingredients together. Add eggs, milk, and shortening, and beat until smooth. Pour into molds and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Collect blackberries and make a fresh pie marked with the Solar Cross (equal-armed cross).
Have a magickal picnic with libations to the earth of bread and wine.
Sprout wheat germ in a terra cotta saucer (these can be found in nurseries for use under terra cotta flower pots). The sprouts can be added to homemade bread or used as an offering. Children enjoy planting the seeds and watching them grow, too.
God of the grain,
Lord of rebirth.
Return in spring,
Renew the earth.
Make a Solar Wheel or a Corn Man Wheel:
-Turn a wire hanger into a circle (standard circle mate0rial for wreaths, too), keeping the hook t hang it by or you could go to Walmart and pick up a variation of wreaths.
-Make a small cardboard disk to glue the corn tips onto. You can decorate it with any design, for example, a pentagram or sun.
-Place ears of Indian "squaw" corn (it is smaller than regular corn and fits easily on a coat hanger) with the tips in the center of the circle and secure with hot glue to the cardboard disk. Use eight ears for a Solar Wheel, or five ears for a Corn Man. If all the ears of corn meet just right you won't need the disk, but if they are uneven the disk is helpful.
-Wrap a bit of the husks of each ear around the wire on either side of the ear of corn, leaving some to stand out free from the corn.
This is the season of Lughnasadh, the feast of Lugh of the Long Hand, whose solar fire ripens the harvest. Heat hangs in the air by day, but the nights are growing longer, and the stars are bright. In Ireland, a month of athletic games honored Lugh's foster-mother, Tailtiu. In the night skies of this season, the Perseid meteor showers dance in the dark. They are still known in Ireland as the Games of Lugh. This is Lammas, the Loaf Mass, when bread is baked from the first harvest, and John Barleycorn goes into barrels for the winter.
Hail to the elementals at the four quarters! Welcome Lady and Lord to this rite! I stand between the worlds with love and power all around!