Blessed Lammas

Blessed Lammas everyone!

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.

Lammas Activities

Honor the Grain Goddess is to make a corn doll. This is a fun
project to do with kids. . She’s your visual representation of the
harvest. As you work on her, think about what you harvested this
year. Give your corn dolly a name, perhaps one of the names of the
Grain Goddess or one that symbolizes your personal harvest. Dress
her in a skirt, apron and bonnet and give her a special place in
your house. She is all yours till the spring when you will plant her
with the new corn, returning to the Earth that which She has given
to you. Make a corn dolly to save for next Imbolc.

It is a season to throw away useless thoughts and habits and to
form new ideas which bring renewed strength. Reflect on these topics
alone in the privacy of your journal or share them with others
around a fire.

Herb Scented Flatbread

Makes 3

This flatbread doesn’t contain yeast, so it’s quick and simple to
make.

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspooon finely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt , for sprinkling
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, baking
powder, salt, sage, chives, and parsley; process for 5 seconds to
combine. Add vegetable shortening and process until well combined,
about 15 seconds. Add milk and 2 tablespoons water, and process
until the dough comes together, about 7 seconds.
2. Transfer dough to a lightly-flowered surface and knead for about
1 minute, forming it into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let
stand for 30 minutes.
3. Heat the over to 200° with a baking sheet set on the rack. Heat a
medium cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot.
Meanwhile, cut the dough into 3 equal pieces and form each piece
into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll one of the pieces of
dough out into a very thin circle (it should be less than 1/16 inch
thick and about 6 1/2 inches in diameter). Using a fork, prick the
dough 7 or 8 times. Lightly brush one side of the dough with olive
oil and sprinkle it lightly with salt.
4. Transfer round of dough, with the oiled side down, to the hot
skillet and reduce heat to medium; cook until surface is covered
with golden to dark-brown speckles, about 1 to 2 minutes on each
side. If the flatbread begins to burn, lower the heat and continue
to cook.
5. Remove bread from skillet and transfer to the baking sheet in the
oven. Repeat the rolling and cooking process with the remaining 2
pieces of dough.
6. Cut the bread into wedges with a pizza wheel or sharp knife, and
serve warm.

A Harvest Spell

Set an orange candle on either side of the caldron. On a piece of
paper (small) write the things you have harvested over the past year,
light the paper from one of the candles and let it burn in the
cauldron. After it is done put some corn (or squash) seeds in the
cauldron. “Stir” the seeds with your wand visualizing white light
coming from the tip of the wand, filling the cauldron and entering the
seeds. When you feel the seeds have absorbed their fill stop, put the
seeds into another container to be kept on the altar until next year’s
planting.

author unknown

What is Lughnasadh

The Festival of Sacrifice

Lughnasadh (pronounced Loo’-na-sah) is the Celtic festival dedicated  to the God Lugh, the Long Handed, who is associated with light and fire.  The festival is also considered to be the first harvest, the harvest of the grain, and is linked to the God (or Spirit) of the Corn.

Summer is at it height, but already the days are growing shorter and we know that autumn is on its way.

This is the season to think about our hopes and fears.  We hope that we will be able to pick and eat all the things we worked so hard to grow – but a lot could still happen, storms, drought.

To harvest we must cut down the plants we have tended so carefully.  We mourn and grieve  for the spirit of the grain.  We honor them because they give us life.

Lughnasadh – Lammas

(August 1st – Northern Hemisphere)
Lammas is traditionally a harvest festival. It is a time to honour
the Grain Goddesses, Demeter and Ceres.

Festivities and rituals are traditionally centred around the
assurance of bountiful harvest seasons and the celebration of the
harvest cycle. Lamas marks the decline of Summer into Winter, and the
harvesting of crops so that they can be preserved for the cooler
season ahead.

At this time, the last sheafs of wheat are reaped from the paddock,
and often used to construct a corn dolly, which can be placed on your
altar. This practice is symbolic of giving thanks to the Goddess and
her Consort for the bountiful supplies that have been gathered. On
Lammas, many will bake fresh loaves of bread to use in their rituals
and place on their altars. Remember always drop some bread on the
ground to give back to mother.

Lammas Ritual Potpourri

20 drops clove bud oil
25 drops sandalwood oil
1 cup oak moss
2 cups dried pink rosebuds
2 cups dried red peony petals
1 cup dried amaranth flowers
1 cup dried heather flowers

Mix the clove bud and sandalwood oils with the oak moss and then add
the remaining ingredients. Stir the potpourri well and store in a
tightly covered ceramic or glass container.

Recipe by Gerina Dunwich

Lammas Correspondences

Symbolism: Fruitfulness, reaping, prosperity, reverence,
purification, transformation, change, The Bread of Life, The Chalice
of Plenty , The Ever-flowing Cup , the Groaning Board (Table of
Plenty)

Tarot Cards: Justice , The Wheel of Fortune

Altar Decorations: corn dolls, dried indian corn ears, sunflowers,
wheat stalks

Herbs: acacia flowers, aloes, cornstalks, frankincense, heather,
hollyhock, myrtle, oak leaves, sunflower, wheat
Incense: rose, sandalwood

Lammas Bread Protection Spell

A book of Anglo-Saxon charms advised the crumbling of the Lammas
loaf into four pieces and the burying of them in the four corners of
the barn to make it safe for all the grain that would be stored
there. You can use this old spellcraft in a protection spell for
your home.

Bake a Lammas loaf, and when it is cool break it into four
piecesdon’t cut it with a knifeand take one to each corner of your
property with the words:

I call on the spirits
Of north, and south, east and west
Protect this place
Now, at the time of the Blessing.

Leave the bread for the birds to eat or bury the pieces.

From Lammas: Celebrating The Fruits Of The First Harvest
by Anna Franklin and Paul Mason