Simple Lammas Ritual

Supplies you’ll need: Bread (Home baked, store bought, heck, a cookie will do in a pinch) Wine (or beer, mead, fruit juice – you know you have a juice box in there somewhere!) A candle (A summer color is appropriate: gold or yellow, though white always works. Also appropriate? Anything that smells like baked goods – cinnamon, sugar cookie, etc..) Optional: anything season that you’d like to set out, such as summer flowers, things harvested from your garden, a corn dolly, etc.), an appropriate incense. Find a quiet place to sit for a moment, or gather around your table if sharing the ritual with others. Have your bread, wine and candle in front of you (don’t forget something to light the candle with). Take a quick moment to think about what Lammas means to you, and what it has meant to those who have followed the season through times past. It’s the first harvest, time to offer bread in thanks for the prosperity of the crops. Light your candle (and incense if you are using it). Take a bite of the bread and a sip of the wine. Say these words (or others, as you like): On this first day of August, I light a candle to celebrate the harvest. As the wheel of the year turns and the days start to grow shorter, I honor the Lord and Lady (or the seasons, or your specific deity) and thank them for the blessings and prosperity they have brought to me this year. I honor those who came before me, and all things living on this earth. Eat more of the bread, drink more of the wine, being sure to save the last bits as a sacrifice to the earth. Later pour them outside, in your garden, under a tree or into a potted plant. If you have the time, sit for a few minutes and meditate before snuffing the candle. As you go about your day, keep negative thoughts at bay and try to mentally tally all the wonderful things that have come into your life this year.

Lammas Ritual

Tools: In addition to your magic tools, you will need: Golden Yellow Center Cloth 1 Gold Candle 1 Silver Candle Summer Blend Incense (recipe from Litha Ritual) Harvest Vegetables Golden Stones or other Sun Symbols Cornbread Cupcakes Cauldron Apple Cider Any other personal items of choice Preparation: Sweep area moving in a deosil manner. Outline the perimeter of your Circle cornmeal or yellow sand. Place Gold Center cloth on the alter and garnish with Harvest Vegetables, (Corn, Squash, etc), Grains, (Oats, Rice, Wheat, Rye, etc), and Fruits ( Apples, Berries, Cherries, Plums, etc), on the alter. Set the Gold God Candle to the top right of center, and surround with Gold Stones or Sun Symbols. Place the Silver Goddess Candle to the top left of center. Place your (cauldron, if coven) chalice full of Cider in the center and surround with Cornbread Cupcakes. Take a shower or bath or purification. Sit quietly and meditate for a while, the ground and center. When ready, play some soothing music in correspondence with the ritual. Cast the circle and call Quarters... Pick up your wand with your right hand, face the North with arms stretched out above head, and say: "What will be is. What was will be. The Wheel of the Year forever turns. Dark to light, light to dark, each season passes with lessons learned. We plant with love, tend with respect, and at Harvest time our yields reflect The bounty of our Mother Earth, ripened by our Father Sun. Now upon our humble hearth, gifts we offer the Two that are One. As each day passes, shorter than the last. May we each be reminded of the seasons that have passed. The marriage and the seeding of the Goddess back in May, Her womb swollen with life anew at Summer Solstice Day, All this time the Father Sun has shone with so much pride. Rising early, setting late, and now that he's supplied The warmth and light to bring to bear, the Goddess and the lands He knows that his death is drawing near, but this secret he understands, that with the turning of the wheel, his rebirth has been planned." Place you wand upon the alter and with both hands gesture to the Harvest Vegetables, Grains, and Fruits you have adorned the alter with. "Truly blessed are we that receive the bounty of the Harvest, Blessed be our Mother Earth, Blessed be our Father Sun, As he teaches us of life, death, and rebirth. I honor Thee, The Two that are One." Pick up one of the Cornbread Cupcakes, and offer up to the God/dess, saying: "Blessed be the Harvest, Blessed be the Corn Mother, Blessed be the Grain God, For together they nourish both body and soul. Many blessings I have been given, I count them now by this bread." Now name all the things that you are currently grateful for. With each item that you name, break off a piece of the Cornbread Cupcake and eat it. Sip from the chalice filled with Apple Cider as well. When finished with list of blessings, take the a small handful of the Grain from you alter and hold it in you open hand at face level, saying: "Guardian of the East, I pray for your indulgence. Hear me now as I request your aid in the cycle of life. As your winds blow through fields of ripened grain, Carry loosened seeds upon your back That they may fall amidst the soil that is our Mother Earth. She will cover them in times of storm, protecting and nourishing Them until they sprout next Spring, beginning life anew." Blow gently across your hand as if imitating the wind taking the seeds air-born. Continue: "I give thanks to the Great Mother, Goddess of fertile land. And to the Great Father, Consort and Provider. For as their bounty sustains my life, so does their bounty sustain my brethren; All living creatures of wood and field, Of lake and stream, and of air. Of these blessings I partake And share. Blessed be this Harvest Night, The Givers and the gift." Face the alter and assume the Goddess position, saying: "All things have their season. Again the wheel has turned and brought us To the season of the First Harvest. A time when we think about sacrifices and reborn hope, A time when we reflect on what we have sown by what we reap, A time when we gather our memories, And from those lessons that we have learned, We plan for the future. Blessed Be our Mother, whose womb contains and bears all life. Blessed Be our Father, whose seed plants all life. Blessed Be the Two that are One, From Them life flows and flows back again." Now is the time for meditation and spellworkings. If no spellworkings are to be done, proceed with the Cakes and Ale ceremony, followed by releasing the Circle. --Adapted by: Akasha Ap Emrys for all of her friends and those of like mind. Copyright © 1997-99 Akasha, Herne and The Celtic Connection wicca.com. All rights reserved.

Lammas, also called Lughnasadh

Lammas, also called Lughnasadh, falls at the beginning of the harvest season. Apples are ready and grain is beginning to ripen. It's also a day for honoring Lugh, the Celtic craftsman god. Lammas, or Lughnasadh, celebrates the early harvest. Lammas is a time of celebrating the beginning of the harvest, a theme seen often in the sacrifice of the grain god. Lammas, also called Lughnasadh, falls at the beginning of the harvest season. Apples are ready and grain is beginning to ripen. It's also a day for honoring Lugh, the Celtic craftsman god. August 1 is known as Lammas, or Lughnasadh (it's February 1, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere). This is a day to celebrate the beginnings of the harvest, when the grain and corn is gathered. It's also a time, in some traditions, of honoring Lugh, the Celtic craftsman god. Here are some ideas for dressing up your altar for your Lammas (Lughnasadh) celebration! Lammas/Lughnasadh is a celebration of the early grain harvest In nearly every ancient culture, Lammas was a time of celebration of the agricultural significance of the season. Because of this, it was also a time when many gods and goddesses were honored. Honoring Lugh of the Many Skills August 1 is known in many Practitionertraditions as Lammas, and is a celebration of the early harvest. However, in some paths, it's a day to honor Lugh, the Celtic god of craftsmanship. Lammas is the first of three harvest Sabbats, and celebrates the crops of late summer and early autumn. A time of grain and fruit, Lammas (also called Lughnasadh) is the first of three Practitionerharvest celebrations. In some traditions, it's the day to honor Lugh, the Celtic craftsman god. There are a lot of myths and folklore surrounding Lammas, or Lughnasadh. Spirit of the Grain - Honoring the Soul of the Harvest The idea of honoring a "corn mother" at Lammas time is hardly a European invention. The Legend of John Barleycorn A traditional English harvest legend is the story of John Barleycorn, whose tale is a metaphor for the cycle of grain, and includes birth, suffering, death and eventual rebirth. The Final Sheaf In many countries, the harvesting of the final sheaf of grain was cause for celebration.