Solitary Lammas Ritual

Materials:

chime
loaf of bread
candles

The Chime is rung three times. Say:

“I come to this space in celebration
Within the Sacred Garden of the Gods.
The Sun God;
He gives forth light and the energy of life to all.
Through the Goddess and from the Goddess
All things grow and mature.
It is She who is the bearer of life and rebirth of the Harvest to
come.
The land is full and must be tended.
Let me now share Her bounty.”

Break off a piece of bread and eat it.

Prepare a candle for lighting, saying:

“I must open myself to change.
To do so,
I must abandon my faults,
Refresh and vitalize the body and spirit,
And embrace growth as I prepare for what is to become;
For what the future holds,
Yet for me to grow it is necessary for a part of me to die.”

Light the candle, declare any faults you would like to be cleansed
of, and stick the candle in the ground before you. The Energy Circle
is raised and at its climax blow out the candle. After a moment of
meditation, say:

“Out of the death of this small part of me, life begins anew.”

The ritual is complete and the circle is released.

Kitchen Ritual for Lammas

Most of us simply don’t have the time to bake regularly the way our
great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers did. But if you do
just a little planning in advance, most of us can usually carve out
the time to bake bread once a year, beginning on this day. By
slowing down and savoring each step of the process, we rediscover
the blessings of bread with our hands, our hearts, and our starved
spirits.

When your loaves are done, you may want to bless them by singing a
song over them, or saying a prayer, or wafting a smudge stick or
incense wand over them – or by simply touching them with your hands.
Now tear off a piece of your bread and place it in your mouth. Close
your eyes as you taste it. It is amazing how different we feel about
food when we cook it with the conscious intention of honoring its
sacredness.

You can save a tiny bit of your special, sacred bread to place at
your kitchen altar. Or wrap a piece in cloth and tuck it away until
next year, when you can burn it outdoors or compost it, giving it
back to the earth with thanks before you taste the first piece of
your new bread. When we actively participate in simple, cyclical
rituals like this one, year after year, we feel a sense of
connection that goes a long way toward healing our spirit-wounds.

You may also want to make or buy a small wheat figure (or corn
dolly) today. These harvest blessings were traditional in many
cultures to honor the spirit of the wheat and bring luck and
protection to the home. Craft shops also sell lovely sheaves of
wheat or barley, which are easy to soak and braid. Tie your braid
with a green ribbon and hang it over your oven. Or gather some dried
grasses and do the same.

Witch in the Kitchen by Cait Johnson

Witches’ Ladder

Another charm that can be made and blessed on your altar is a Witches’ Ladder. It’s intended to bring good fortune over the coming year. You will need the following:
9 different coloured bird’s feathers;
1 yard of red ribbon;
1 yard of white ribbon;
1 yard of black ribbon.
Here are 9 possible colours you could use:
green for money;
red for passion;
white for creativity;
black to stop bad habits;
brown for balance;
yellow for happiness;
orange for health;
blue for peace;
purple for wisdom.
You shouldn’t be limited to these. Personalize your Ladder depending on where you want the luck to be centred.
Begin braiding the ribbons together and attaching the feathers into the braid at equal distances as you go. As you braid in each feather bless it depending on its intended purpose. Here are a few for example:
Green, the colour of money be
Filling my pockets and blessing me
Red, the colour of passion be
Filling my heart and blessing me
White the colour, creativity be
Filling my soul and blessing me
Once all the feathers are braided in, tie the two ends of the braided ribbon together into a ring and place it on your altar. Bless it by saying something like this:
With this ring and braid of three
May good fortune come to me
Leave the Ladder on your altar until the candles have burnt out then hang it up somewhere in your home where it won’t be disturbed.

Ritual Ideas for the Honey / Mead Moon Esbat

June is the Honey/Mead Moon (June 11th)
Wear yellow and amber like the colour of honey.

Burn yellow and orange coloured candles. Your incense should be frankincense or myrrh. You can also use incense which contains honey as a binder.

Use flowers of all kinds to decorate your home and altar. To mark the boundaries of your Circle use shed feathers, egg shells, shed cocoons, or any other symbols of transformation.

This being a time of transformation means it’s also an excellent time to change aspects of ourselves as well. To aid you in your transformation, try making a special charm. You will need:
1 small cloth or knit pouch;
Symbols of transformation (egg shells, cocoons, etc.);
1 strand of your hair.
Place the pouch on your altar with candles lit and say something like this:
Gathered together, these things transformed
Lend me your power so I too am reformed
Into the person I know I can be
Bring me forth, a new reality
Then leave the pouch on the altar until the candles have burnt down. Carry the pouch with you until your objective has been acheived.

Beltane Ritual

Try to do your ritual near a tree or in the woods but if you are not
able try to have a small potted tree with you in your circle.
Create a small token or charm in honor of the wedding of the Goddess
and God to hang upon the tree. You can make several if you wish.
These tokens can be flowers strung together string of beads or a
wreath of small pine cones last year or clay
dragonflys and butterflys. Whatever your talent can conjure.

Arrange the altar, light the candles and incense, cast the circle.
Invoke the Goddess and God, Stand before the altar and say with wand
upraised.

“O Mother Goddess, Queen of the night and of the Earth
O Father God, King of the day and of the forests
I celebrate Your union as nature rejoices in a riotous blaze of color
and life, Accept my gift, Mother Goddess
and Father God, in honor of your union”

Solitary Ostara Ritual

Preparations
For decorations use dyed eggs and pink and green streamers. Include a
soil-filled cauldron, sword (or athame) a small shovel (trowel), a small pot
a few of your favorite seeds and all your altar tools.

Ritual
Cast the circle.
After casting the circle, say:
“Here I am on this day, Ostara, Lady day, Rite of Eoster, The Vernal Equinox
and the first day of the planting season. I am here to understand life,
death, and rebirth, and to give reverence to those who have endured each.”
Bow your head to think about how Ostara fits into the three groups above and
how it fits into the wheel of the year. Say:
“I stand at the gate between the living and the dead on this night where
both light and dark are equal. I am here to witness the union of the Goddess
Mother Earth, the Waning Lady of the Moon, Of My God, Green Man, the Waxing
Lord of the Sun. Conception…a necessary transition on the wheel of the
year.”

Seed Blessing and Indoor Planting Ritual for Ostara

Seeds that were gathered at Mabon or that you have purchased in
packets can be blessed and started indoors at Ostara. This ritual
should be conducted in the dark, as we are asking the Mother to
bring the seed’s light from the darkness of the warming earth.

Seeds
Flower pots
Soil
A green marker
Popsicle sticks (optional)
Four candles, one for each of the four quarters
Priapic Wand (an oak wand with an acorn or pine cone tip)

Place your supplies on the altar. Cast a circle by walking
clockwise, with index finger pointing down, saying:

Creation flows from the arms of our Mother Goddess.
Creation flows from the strength and light of our God.
Creation is the mission of the human spirit.
>From my lips the oath was sworn, from my hand the circle is born.
The earth, the air, the fire, the water return, return, return.
And the gifts of the land return. Behold the circle is cast.

Ask special blessings from each Quarter as you call them.

(Lighting candle at North) Elements of the North; rich earth,
comforting soil, bless this ritual with your gifts.

(Lighting candle at East) Elements of the East; sweet breath,
carrier of gentle spring rain, bless this ritual with your gifts.

(Lighting candle at South) Elements of the South; caressing sun,
warming creation, bless this ritual with your gifts.

(Lighting candle at West) Elements of the West; pure water,
transformation energy, bless this ritual with your gifts.

Using the priapic wand, tap each seed packet three times, saying:

Now is the dark half of the year passing
Now do the days grow light, and the Earth grows warm
I summon the spirit of these seeds
Which have slept in darkness
Awaken, stir, and swell
As you are planted in the Earth
To grow and bring forth new fruit.
Blessed be!

As each seed is blessed, visualize that particular plant in full
bloom or full fruit. At this point, you may charge the seeds with
blessings you hope to “sow” in the year ahead — things like wisdom,
prosperity, understanding, or certain magickal skills.

Next, draw the Birkana rune (a B with points instead of curves), the
rune of new beginnings, on the popsicle sticks or on the flower
pots. Add soil. Plant the seeds and water.

Thank the Goddess and God. Dismiss the Quarters and close the
circle. Tend your seeds carefully in the coming weeks. If desired,
plant the seedlings outdoors when the danger of frost has past.

adapted from rituals in Silver RavenWolf’s To Light a Sacred Flame &
Pauline Campanelli’s Wheel of the Year