As autumn begins, the Irish Sun God, Lugh (after which Lughnassadh is named) enters his old age. He symbolically loses some of his strength as the Sun rises farther in the South each day and the nights grow longer. This sabbat coincides with the first reapings of the harvest. It is the time when the plants of spring wither and drop their fruits or seeds for our use as well as to ensure future crops. The grain Goddesses, Demeter and Ceres, are also honored.
Lammas is the anticipation of the end of the year, and of the year to come. With all of the fears, hopes, and dreams of what is to come, we see all sorts of possibilities. We work towards our goals, and the harvest is a culmination of our efforts during the past year. During the holiday we allow ourselves to voice our fears and ask that they be taken away from us. Once free of our fears we are able to look objectively at the harvest and see the rewards of our efforts. The harvest not only feeds us both literally and figuratively, through the satisfaction of seeing our work come to fruit, but it also provides us with the seeds for the coming year. These seeds, seeds of thoughts, ideas, and plans, are given to us to contemplate upon during the dark winter, so that come spring, we are ready to plant those seeds deep within ourselves and the Mother Earth, to prosper and grow and be harvested in the fall. This continuous cycle is just a part of the spiraling dance of nature. (Sef Uther MacEoghainn, 1997)
ACTIVITIES:
String Indian corn on black thread to make a necklace
Make a Corn Dolly to use used as a fertility amulet or altar piece
Bake bread in the form of a Sun wheel
Walk through fields and orchards
Reflect on the beauty and wonder of ponds, creeks, rivers and lakes
Save seeds from fruits consumed during ritual; use for planting next spring
Throw pieces of bread into the ritual fire
Share food with loved ones or a homeless shelter
HERBS:
Heather, Aloe, Rose, Rose Hips, Rosemary, Chamomile, Passionflower, Sandalwood, Acacia flowers, Cyclamen, Peony, Fenugreek, Frankincense, Hollyhock, Myrtle, and Oak leaves
FOODS:
Corn, Apples, Sunflower seeds, Nuts, Grains, Breads (especially Cornbread), Grapes, Pears, Summer Squash, Turnips, Blackberries (and other berries), Cider, Pies, Jellies, Rice, Elderberry, and Meadowsweet Tea
COLORS:
Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Light Brown & Gold
STONES:
Carnelian, Aventurine, Peridot, Citrine & Yellow Diamonds
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BRIGID'S BLACKBERRY PIE
(Makes one nine-inch pie)
4 cups fresh blackberries (thawed frozen is okay)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
Unbaked pie crust
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a deep pie dish with the pie crust, or purchase a commercially-made one. Set aside. Mix all other ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. If it appears too "wet", mix in a little more flour (about 2 tablespoons). Turn the fruit into the pie shell and dot with butter or margarine. You can bake the pie as is, or cover it with another pie crust. If you do this, pinch down the ends to hold it to the other crust. Then score the top several times with a sharp knife. Bake for 1 hour, or until the top crust is a golden brown. Note: A sugar-free version can be made by substituting appropriate amounts of artificial sweetener. (Recipe is from Edain McCoy's book "The Sabbats: A New Approach to Living the Old Ways"; Llewellyn, 1994.)
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