LAMMAS (First Harvest) August 1 (Lughnasadh, August 7th)             This is the celebration of the first fruits of the harvest. (Lughnasadh, the Celtic festival of first fruits in honor of the Sun God, is held on the 7th of August.) The Sun King, now the Dark Lord, gives his energy to the crops to ensure life while the Mother prepares to give way to her aspect as the Crone. Now is the time to teach what you have learned, to share the fruits of your achievements with the world. It is considered a time of Thanksgiving and the first of three Pagan Harvest Festivals, when the plants of spring wither and drop their fruits or seeds for our use as well as to ensure future crops. Also, first grains and fruits of the Earth are cut and stored for the dark winter months. Key actions associated with Lammas are receiving and harvesting, honoring the Parent Deities, honoring the Sun Gods and celebrating the First Harvest. Crafts such as wheat weaving, and the making of corn dollies, is traditional. You can create a Solar Wheel or a Corn Man Wheel using a wire coat hanger, cardboard, and several ears of Indian corn complete with the husks. Here is how: Bend the wire hanger into a circle keeping the hook to hang it by. Cut out a small cardboard circle to glue the tips of the ears of corn onto. You may want to create your Corn Man Wheel as a pentagram using five ears, or a Solar Wheel using eight ears to represent one ear for each Sabbat. The choice is yours. Attach the ears of Indian corn around the perimeter of the wire circle. Wrap the husks around and glue where necessary, leave some of the husks hanging loose to fray out from the edges and make it more decorative. Where the ears of corn meet in the center, glue them together. This is where the cardboard circle comes in to use. Bread is baked and the altar is decorated with fruits and vegetables of the harvest. It is also appropriate to plant the seeds from the fruit consumed in ritual. If the seeds sprout, grow the plant with love and as a symbol of your connection to the Divine. A cake is sometimes baked in place of the bread, and a non-alcholic cider (not juice) may be used in place of the wine.