Lammas (Lughnassadh) Ritual June 2008

Lughnassadh Ritual

Special Notes: The turning point in Mother Earth's year; a harvest festival in the Northern lands. The waning God and the waxing Goddess. Spellwork for good fortune and abundance is especially appropriate.

Altar Supplies: Incense, burner, chalice of water, salt, pentacle, dagger or sword, 4 element candles, chalice of wine, plate of bread, cauldron with an orange or yellow candle in it.

Decoration: Fall flowers, ivy and leaves for decoration.

Deities: All Grain and Agriculture Deities, Sun Gods, Mother Goddesses and Father Gods. Particular emphasis is placed on Lugh, Demeter, Ceres, the Corn Mother and John Barleycorn (the personification of malt liquor).

Foods: Mashed potatoes, bacon, lamb, roast chicken, seasonal fruits.

Pre-ritual activity

Hay dolls

To make such a doll, you take a hank of straw, bend it in half and tie a loop of string around the bent end. That creates the head. You then tie off some straw on one side for one arm and some on the other side for the other arm. Leaving some straw for the torso, tie a belt around the waist. Next, tie off one leg and then the other, and you're done with your basic straw person.

When the doll bodies are done, decorate them, incorporating various flammable materials that should burn with a sweet scent. Keep an eye out and when doll-making is nearly complete ask the guests to put the energies into the dolls that they would like to shed off, bring to sacrifice and have reborn (example: injured heart, insecurities, depression, anxieties, etc.). Also have them put into the dolls aspects of those energies they are proud of, but would like to have strengthened. Have them hold onto the dolls until the sacrifice time arrives.

Introduction

Lughnassadh marks the middle of summer and is marked the beginning of the harvest season, the ripening of first fruits, and was traditionally a time of community gatherings, market festivals, horse races and reunions with distant family and friends. Among the Irish it was a favored time for handfastings. In Celtic mythology, the Lughnassadh festival is said to have been begun by the god Lugh, as a funeral feast and games commemorating his foster-mother, Tailtiu (Taltu), who died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture.

It is a holiday that is associated with bread, as grain is one of the first crops to be harvested. It is time to give thanks to the spirits and deities for the beginning of the harvest season, and to bring them offerings and prayers to not harm the still ripening crops. Gentle rain on this day is seen as a sign of his presence and his bestowing of blessings.

This is a time when the God begins to weaken as the Sun rises farther in the South, each day grows shorter and the nights grow longer. The Goddess watches in sorrow as she realizes that the God is dying, and yet lives on inside her as her child. It is in the Celtic tradition that the Goddess, in her guise as the Queen of Abundance, is honored as the new mother who has given birth to the bounty; and the God is honored as the God of Prosperity.

As we perform this ritual today, I would like everyone to focus on the commercial and local farmers, big and small, that their harvests will be abundant this year, and that their will be no destruction of crops from storms.

Entering the Circle

Welcome to this sacred place. We shall establish the Sacred Center of the Worlds here, where our Ancestors, the Nature Spirits and the Gods can join us while we make offerings to them. And then we will ask for their Blessings in return. To begin this process, we shall all be cleansed before entering the circle.

With the powers of air and earth, I cleanse you this day…blessed be.

Cast the Circle

Pass the wand to Jerry. Taking your magical wand in your power hand and starting in the east, visualize a powerful, protective silver-blue flame shooting form the tip of the ritual blade. Aim it at the floor. Move clockwise from the east, drawing the magical boundary. Remember to overlap the ends in the east when you finish. While you are drawing the circle, say:

"I draw this magick circle let no evil or ill will cross its mark."

Move back to the altar, facing east. Raise your dagger or wand in greeting and say:
This is a time that is not a time,

in a place that is not a place,

on a day that is not a day.

We stand at the threshold between the worlds,

Before the veil of the Mysteries.

May the Ancient Ones help and protect

us on our magickal journey.

Set the water bowl on the pentacle disk. Hold your dagger over it and say:

Great Mother, bless this Water to your service.

Hold your dagger over the salt, say:

Great Mother, bless this Earth to your service.

Sprinkle a little salt into the water, and then hold the chalice up high. Say:

Great Mother, I give you honor!

Pass the bowl to Jerry. Beginning in the east and moving clockwise, sprinkle the water-salt mixture lightly around the edges of the circle while saying:

May we wash away all Earthly cares."

Replace the chalice on the altar.

Hold your dagger over the lighted incense burner, saying:

"Great Father, bless this Fire to your service

Hold your dagger over the incense, saying:

"Great Father, bless this Air to your service

Put a little incense on in the burner. Touch the burner briefly to the pentacle, then raise the burner high, saying:

"Great Father, I give you honor!"

Pass the incense burner to Jerry. Carry the burner around the circle clockwise, beginning in the east saying:

May our Spirits rise within us.

Return it to the altar.

Go to the eastern quarter of the circle. Light the yellow candle and say:

Hail guardians of the East, element of air. I call you forth to witness this rite and protect this sacred space. So Mote It Be.

In the southern quarter, light the red candle and say:

Hail guardians of the south, element of fire, I call you forth to witness this rite and protect this sacred space. So mote it be.

Move to the west; light the blue candle and say:

Hail guardians of the west, element of water, I call you forth to witness this rite and protect this sacred space. So mote it be.

End by going to the north; light the green candle and say:

Hail guardians of the north, element of earth, I call you forth to witness this rite and protect this sacred space. So mote it be.

Move back to the central altar, and stand facing east. Raise your arms in greeting, say:

"This circle is bound,

with power all around.

Between the worlds, we stand

With protection at hand."

Face the East and say:

"The feel of summer has changed subtly now, from the long tireless days of midsummer, to the flowing warmth of August. The days are getting slightly shorter, with long blue twilight evenings. In an agricultural community, haymaking has just ended, and the first corm harvest is beginning.

Lammas or Lughnasad is the feast of Lugh (Lu) the Sun Faced. Lugh is the Irish Green Man who will be killed in the harvest to become King of the Underworld, in keeping with the agricultural wheel."

Light the red candle to your right, saying:

"Sun God, Corn King, eternal sacrifice, Turner of the Wheel of the year, be with us tonight as we learn from your death the promise of a rebirth yet to come, we call thee. Hail and welcome.

Light the white candle to your left, saying:

"Mother, Giver of life, the Wheel Itself, be with us tonight as you mourn your partner, your playmate, your son and your equal, teaching us that with fruition comes a price, we call thee. Hail and welcome.

Light the cauldron, say:

O Ancient Ones, We are here to honor you and to preserve the old ways. We have come tonight to celebrate the harvest and to consecrate its first fruits. We join together to renew our connection to you and to the sacred land. Bless this ritual and bring purpose to our work. On this day, we invite you.

Dolls for sacrifice (representation of self-sacrifice)

Now it's time to gather the energies and sacrifice the dolls. Through this ritual we identify ourselves with the dying and rising of Lugh. As I asked earlier, we have put the energies into the dolls that we would like to shed off, bring to sacrifice and have reborn, fresh and new. However we also put those positive energies into the doll that we would like to have returned to us stronger and better. As we move forth to sacrifice to the God, imagine him taking these energies into himself, cleaning the bad and strengthening the good and sending them back to us through the heat of the sun (or fire if dark).

To gather the energy together, you will chant with me the lines I am going to read to you, then sing to you. After the first run, each person one by one will walk up to the fire and sacrifice their doll to the God. We will repeat the chant together until everyone has sacrificed their doll. After everyone is done, continue to chant until I hold my hands up.:

Horned one, lover's son, leaper in the corn

Deep in the Mother, die and be reborn

Take a moment now to feel the clean, strong energies fill your body and make you whole.

Now we are going to take a guided meditation next. The purpose of this meditation is to harvest or awaken your full self. As you are breathing, imagine your bodies are being purified through the air, expelling all evil and taking in pure, positive energies.

Harvesting your full self

Get in a comfortable position. Feel your breath moving in and out of you as you relax. Feel the parts of your body that are touching the floor blend together with the floor, softening the surface beneath you, noticing less and less where you end and the floor begins as you breathe.

Feel yourself tight and full, like a seed. Feel yourself resting on the ground. Slowly slip into the warm moist earth, covering yourself completely in the feeling. Slip a bit further down to where the earth becomes cooler and moister.

You are becoming less tight as the earth's moisture softens your seed shell. You sense an urge to unwind, releasing the tightness and allowing your potential to push forth. Feel your legs bend at the knee as your feet push further downward. Your feet grow and spread into the earth. Your arms unwind and your fingers and head sprout through the earth's surface.

Your arms are now reaching for the sky, flattening and widening to drink in all that is good, filling you with your desire. Your potential expands with your growth as your feet pulse deeper into the earth, pulling the energy you need to fulfill your desire.

Filled now and ready to burst you gently lift yourself to your full height, standing now feet above ground, arms raised above your head. Feel the energy of your full self moving around you. The energy begins to spiral, slowly at first, at your feet. Twisting as it rises, wrapping you, lifting your desire. It moves faster as it spirals up your body, circling your head, up your arms, gathering momentum to your hands. You feel your potential at its fullest, pulsing for release. Spread your fingertips wide and release your potential to the universe. Feel it rush from you, expanding and rippling away from you, becoming manifest in the world. You feel empty and full at the same time. Your abstract desire now a tangible part of you.

Gently lower your arms to your side. Feel the earth's surface hard beneath your feet. The edges of your physical self become more rigid, your body's boundaries return.

You're becoming more aware of the sounds around you, the sense of the floor under you, the people around you. Slowly open your eyes and return to us. Still feeling the height of the exercise as a group bend to your corn dolls and lay your hands on it pouring forth your energy into it and you state your desire.

We have purified ourselves by breathing in the life force of the universe and expelling all evil from ourselves.

Put the bread plate on the pentacle. Lift the plate of bread high, and then set it back on the altar. Say:
Every seed of every grain is a record of ancient times, and a promise to all of what shall be. This bread represents life eternal through the cauldron of the Triple Goddess.

Pass the bread around and say:

May you be imparted with the wisdom of the ancients.

Put the chalice of wine on the pentacle. Hold high the wine chalice, and then set it back on the altar. Say:
As the grape undergoes change to become wine,

So by the sacred cauldron of life shall we undergo change.

And as this wine can give man enchantment of the divine

Or sink him into the lower realms, so we do realize

That all humans rise or fall according to their strength and will.

Pass the bread around and say:

May your life be full of enchantment and strength.

Drink some of the wine. Say:

As in the bread and wine, so it is with us.

Within all forms is locked a record of the past

And a promise of the future.

We ask that you lay your blessings upon us,

Ancient Ones, that this season of wanting not be so heavy.

So mote it be!

Closing Ritual

On this day we have sacrificed the good and bad within ourselves to the God in memory of the sacrifice he makes for us every year as he fights off the winter and have felt his gracious return of our sacrifice in the form of clean, positive, strengthened energies. We have allowed ourselves to take on the journey of a seed, becoming one ourselves in order to grow into our full potential with the help of the Goddess. Finally we have taken bread and wine in honor of the God and Goddess for the work they have done to bring forth the grains and fruits of the year so far and through this we pray that they keep the rest of the crops safe through the year for harvesting. Now that we have taken enough of their time, let's let them depart…

"Sun God, Corn King, eternal sacrifice, Turner of the Wheel of the year, Thank you for your presence here today. Hail and farewell."

Put out the red candle

"Mother, Giver of life, the Wheel Itself, Thank you for your presence here today. Hail and farewell."

Put out the white candle

O Ancient Ones, We thank you for your presence here today. Hail and farewell."

Put out the Light in the cauldron

Go to the north;

Thank you, guardians of the north, element of earth for your presence and aid. Hail and farewell.

Put out the green candle and depart the Element.

Move to the west

Thank you, guardians of the west, element of water for your presence and aid. Hail and farewell.

Put out the blue candle and depart the element.

Move to the southern quarter,

Thank you, guardians of the south, element of fire for your presence and aid. Hail and farewell.

Put out the red candle and depart the element.

Go to the eastern quarter.

Thank you, guardians of the East, element of air for your presence and aid. Hail and farewell.

Put out the yellow candle and depart the element.

Move back to the central altar, and stand facing east. Take your neighbors hand to your left and say:

Thank you for coming out to celebrate with us today. As we go forth in our lives, we will keep the memory of what has happened here today. Go forth in safety and love, and remember that the circle is open, but never broken.