1^st August

Alternate Names

Lammas, Lunasa, Celtic 'Grain Festival'

Druidic Name

Lughnasadh

Christian Equivalent

Lammas

Place in the Natural Cycle

     Lughnassadh is the cross-quarter festival that heralds the start of the autumn quarter of the year and the end of the summer quarter. Even though Lughnassadh occurs at the warmest time of the year, it marks the time at which days become noticeably shorter.

Further Details

     The autumn season contains three harvests, and Lughnassadh is the first of these, the time when the first corn harvest is cut. Lughnassadh is named after Lugh (pronounced 'loo'), a Celtic deity of light and wisdom. At Lughnassadh, bread from the first harvest was eaten in thanks, and this tradition was continued in the Christian church's Lammas ('loaf-mass') service, where the first loaf would be blessed at mass.

     In terms of the Goddess cycle, Lughnassadh is sometimes considered as the time of transformation of the Goddess into her aspect as pregnant Earth Mother. The God is getting weaker as the days grow shorter, but his rebirth is assured as he is also present as the Goddess's unborn child. Though the God is often considered as dying at Samhain, there is a sacrificial aspect to Lughnassadh, with the Corn King being cut down to be transformed into the life-giving fruits of the harvest and resurrected as the new crop the following year. Deities and symbols associated with agriculture and harvest are all appropriate for Lughnassadh, and a symbolic eating of bread is often an important part of celebrations at this time of year.

Lughnasadh is a time to take stock and be thankful for what we have and what we have achieved. It is a time for sharing and appreciation, a time to consider our situation and learn the lessons of the ways in which we have reaped what we have sown, for good or for ill. It is also an auspicious time for deciding how to get the most from ongoing situations or projects, and how to bring more negative influences to an end.

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Ritual Preparation

     Use oatmeal soap as part of your ritual bath. Fashion a Corn Maiden from dried husks and keep this to decorate your altar every year so your household will never want for food. Staying with this theme, have a bowl of dried loose grain to sprinkle around the circle during invocation. This brings prosperity, protection, and fertility.

The Altar

     Cover the altar with an orange-colored cloth. Decorate the surface with sheaf of grain, wheat and crab apples. Add a bundle of Indian corn as an alternative God emblem and a loaf of corn bread for the Goddess. Place the bowl of grain at one side of the surface, your seedling from Candlemas at the other; in the center, place a small bowl with a teaspoon of honey and your magickal tools or other artistic implements.

     Also have a brazier of burning charcoal ready, upon which you can place any cleansing herbs you desire.

Invocation

     At the altar, pick up the bowl of grain. Disperse this evenly around the circle as you invoke the quarters. I suggest beginning the invocation in the south, since the Wheel has not yet turned to fall.

South~Warm Rays of Sun that nurture seeds to maturity, I call and charge you. Let your burning flames forge and temper my spirit through the smelted fires of creation. Hail, fire, hail!

West~Warm Water that saturates Earth's seeds to grow, I call and charge you. From you I am born, from the ocean's waves by sea, and spray, and mist. Hail, Water, hail!

East~Warm Airs that carry seeds to the waiting earth, I call and charge you. Let your singing winds fill my heart and soul with the canticle of the Mysteries. Hail, Air, hail!

Center~Great Spirit who gives life to the seeds, I call and charge you. Let your presence bind the elements together and birth the grains magic in me.Hail, Spirit, hail!

Mediation and Visualization

     In Scotland, it's customary to pay bills toady and make an accounting of finances on Lammas. Following in this tradition, this combination meditation and spell helps draw money to you. When the financial blessing arrives, set it aside for emergency use.

     Before beginning the meditation, prepare a dollar bill wrapped three times around with a string. Leave enough string so you can place the money across the table form you. Also find a green candle; carve it with the image of a dollar sign, and put it in the middle of the table.

     Light the candle, put the dollar bill across from you with the string in your strong hand, and sit at the table. Center yourself. Observe the candle flame. Use it as a focus. See nothing else, know the flame to be the same as the one in your heart. Slowly let this image blur, and close your eyes.

     Visualize the same brilliant light pouring down from the heavens to shower you with abundance. Change the color to greenish gold, the hue of prosperity. Let this energy fill you to overflowing. When you feel all but ready to burst, allow this power to flow to your fingertips toward the dollar bill across the table. Slowly draw the string into your hands, whispering,

"Money to me; magic fly free,"

until the bill reaches your hands. Wrap the remaining string around the bill, and tuck it into a wallet or purse. Leave the candle to burn down on its own (in a fire-safe container); this will further energize the magic.

     When this spell manifests, donate the dollar bill to a worthy cause to show thanks.

The Ritual

     Stand before the center of the altar. Sprinkle whatever significant herbs you've chosen on the charcoal. When the smoke begins to rise, lift one of your magickal implements and move it through the smoke saying,

"Today is the first harvest, and I wish to reap magick. Lord of Light, Lady of Creation, bless and charge this tool once again to be used in your service."

Repeat this procedure with each of your regularly used magickal implements.

     For those who have brought artistic tools to the altar, use this blessing instead:

"Lord of Inspiration and Vision, Lady of Muse, today is the harvest and I wish to reap creativity. Bless and charge this tool for my art that it may ever reflect the growing spirit of light within me."

Put these items aside, except for your Athame )or pair of scissors if you don't use an Athame). Cut a leaf, flower, fruit, or vegetable off the plant started at Candlemas. Drop a small bit of honey in the soil to thank the plant for its gift. This clipping is about to become your offering of "first fruits."

     Place the clipping in the brazier saying,

"This is my gift to the God of the Sun, and the Lady of the Earth. As this burns, so too burns away my _____."

Fill in a bad habit or anything else you need to release, such as a memory from the past.

"In its place, I reap____ ."

Fill in an attribute you want to cultivate, or a need you have.

"Teach me to receive nourishment and abundance even as you nourish and fertilize Earth."

Let this fire burn out of its own accord. As it burns, you may wish to chant this popular circle song, originated  by Ian Corrigan:

Hoof and horn, hoof and horn,

all that dies shall be reborn.

Corn and grain, corn and grain,

all that falls shall rise again!

Other Activities

     As part of your attire, consider making a corn necklace. Cut fresh corn kernels carefully off the ears so the ends are intact. Pierce each kernel with a threaded needle. Hang the strand in a dry, breezy room and turn the kernels so they dry evenly (I hang them on my balcony...). Use Indian corn for a more colorful collection. When dried completely, this lasts nearly forever. Longer strands make unique decorations later in the year. Put them on the Yule tree as a symbol of the returning sun.

     Another tradition is to begin the process of preserving food for winter today. Perhaps the easiest recipes are those for conserves. Blend together equal parts of sugar and symbolic fruits ~ perhaps raspberries and oranges, for foresight, abundance, and love. Boil these together until thick, then can them. Keep the blend for use at other gatherings (or your breakfast toast)!

Closing the Circle

East~Lord of the Wind, your seed carries the promise of future harvests from this place. As we sow, so we reap, and sow again. Go in peace.

North~Mother Earth, your bounty sustains and blesses all. Let it nourish my spirit and body until I join you in this sacred space again. Go in peace.

Water~Lady of the Seas, of the cleansing, nourishing waters, thank you for flowing into this place and my life. Leave drops of wisdom within me, as you go in peace.

South~Lord of the Sun, master of the Fire, thank you for ripening the crops, and maturing my soul. energize this magic, as you go in peace.

Center~Lord and Lady of Creation, thank you for watching over the seeds n the Earth, and in my heart. Manifest this magic, as you go in peace.

Post Ritual Foods

     Try homemade breads, and the first fruits and vegetables gathered from your own garden or purchased at a farmer's market, especially apples and zucchini.