Lesson - Lammas 2000
By Selene Sagewoman

Merry Meet Everyone
Well if we go according to tradition, then this lesson is coming to you late
because, Lammas (first harvest) is nowadays celebrated on August Eve...either
July 31 or Aug. 1st.  However, it's actually a cross-quarter Sabbat and
occurs officially when the Sun is 15 degrees Leo which would be Monday Aug
7th, 2000.

Lammas, otherwise know as Lughnassadh, or Cornucopia in Italian, or feast of
bread marks the first harvest, when the fruits of the Earth are cut and
stored for the dark winter months, and when the God also mysteriously weakens
as the days grow shorter now that Midsummer has passed.  The second harvest
will occur on Mabon, which is Sept 21/22 at the Autumn Equinox.

Some of the decor you would use on your altar could be sheaves of wheat,
barley or oats, fruit and breads.  You could make a loaf of bread in the
shape of the sun or a man to represent the God.  (See:  "Wicca: A Guide for
the Solitary Practitioner")  It is also a common practice to make corn
dollies representing the goddess.
Grain, being important to many religions of the world, is also important to
us.  It has always been a staple of life and honored as such.  In our rituals
when we have cakes and ale, the symbol of grain is always present in one form
or another whether it be a loaf, cookies or cake.

In Celtic mythology there is a story of a young boy who accidentally drinks
hazelnuts from the Magickal cauldron of the Welsch Goddess Cerridwen.  He
shapeshifts into a hare.  She shapeshifts into a greyhound and chases him. 
He then shapeshifts into a grain of wheat, but Cerridwen then shapeshifts
into a black hen.  You know what comes next...she eats the grain of wheat and
gives birth to a baby boy, who becomes a great bard and seer poet, Taliesin. 
Cerridwen is the goddess of death, regeneration, grain and poetic inspiration.

A Lammas Rite:

On the night of Lammas cast the circle and invoke the Lord and Lady.  It is
through them that the harvest time has come full circle once again.

Once you have done that do the following:

1. Give thanks for the first signs of harvest, not only of the fields such as
the grain, but in your life.  Are there new things that have come to fruition
in your life as a result of your relationship with the God and Goddess?
2. Now raise some power by dancing deosil (clockwise) around an unlit candle
in the cauldron at the center of your circle.  (You may want to have some
ritualistic fast moving music on hand for this.  Make sure you have something
else playing to lead into it giving you enough time for the preceeding steps
since you won't want to step outside your circle once it's cast.  You could
cut a doorway in the east, step out, and turn it on, but then that would
interfere with the mood of what's going on.  It's best to have it timed and
ready.  Of course if you have a stereo system with a remote control, that's
ideal.  If no music is available you can chant the following without it:

For Sun we mourn
As he shall wane.
The crops remain.

Through kern and corn,
The harvest born,
Shall life return.

Our Mother Earth
Now brings to birth
The life poured forth
In life and warmth.

You could also chant a wild poem of your own creation which is very
appropriate with Cerridwen being the Goddess of poetic inspiration.

3. Use your wand to direct power into the candle.  Then as you light it say:

Now may the light shine forth and may the harvest ripen.
For we live by the land and only by her health and fruitfulness
Can we be rich in health and fruitfulness.
Sun, shine in strength and brilliance.
Sun, pour out blessings upon the land.
I light this candle to the Sun.

Now have on hand a small bowl of vegetable oil or pure virgin olive oil.  It
should be good quality oil.  Sunflower oil is good as well.  It will
represent an offering…plain pottery or wood is preferred.  Consecrate the oil
as it will be set aside for magick and quickly pass the bowl through the
candle flame.  Now sitting cross legged before the cauldron, gaze into the
oil.  All oil has symbolic connections with fire, flames therefore the Sun. 
And the Sun gives strength and brightness to the Goddess-as-Mother-Earth. 
Say aloud:

Now the Sun pour out his strength upon Mother Earth,
That the crops may ripen and the harvest may be great,
I too offer my strength to the Goddess, to Mother Earth.

(now list what you bring such as)

I bring__________(my intention to protect the earth from further harm,
where and when I can.)

Make any pledge that you can make sincerely and breathe it into the oil. 
There is much behind the breath of a witch.  It has tremendous power when
charged properly.  Concentrate and make things happen.  See a gold stream
coming with your breath onto the oil…it carries the charge for your offering.


Take the oil deosil around the circle to the altar.  Touch it to your
pentacle thus giving it to the earth.  (You may have a stone on your altar to
substitute if you desire this as a symbol of the earth.)  Leave the bowl on
the altar and return to sit beside the cauldron until you are ready for the
next part of the rite.  Take your time with all of this and put real meaning
into it.  Think about your promise and visualize yourself carrying it out and
most importantly, see the fruitful consequences.  (After the rite is ended,
pour the oil out onto the earth in your garden or under a tree is fine if you
haven't a garden.

Now is time to recognize the first fruits of the harvest  This could mean
different things for different people, but traditionally it would be grain
from the fields or fruit from the tree.  If you don't grow grain, and can't
find any growing in the wild, a small bowl of barley or rye or even brown
rice will do.  Or you could use some fruit from the store.  Try to use
organically grown.  In this case, we will use fruit.

Take the bowl of grain or fruit around the circle deosil, sit beside the
cauldron and close your eyes and visualize the harvest.  Think about any long
term harvest that you want to occur in your life.  Lammas is a good time for
this.  Name outloud the harvest that you hope for.  Think about it; visualize
it.  Be specific in your visualization.  Is it success in a career? 
Marriage?  Children?  A new home?  Is it to become more spiritual?  To excel
in your practice of the craft?  Divination techniques?  To become a more
giving person?  What ever it is, see it happening.  Name it out loud and put
the fruit in the cauldron by the candle.

Dealing With Fear About Not Obtaining Your Harvest:

Now at this point, you will hold your athame in one hand and pick up the
candle out of its holder in the cauldron.  Inscribe on the candle words or a
symbolic picture of the obstacle that you may be fearful will interfere with
you obtaining your personal harvest.  Don't worry about what it looks like. 
The important thing here is your intention.  That is where the real power
lies.  Now say:

As the candle burns and the word (or picture) is gone, so may my _______
(fear, guilt, etc) be gone.  May it be transformed as wax becomes a flame, an
illumination.

Wipe the point of your athame to remove any wax.  Now celebrate the harvest,
which is to come.  Play music, dance, read poetry, and sing, make something,
or draw a picture.  What ever you do, let it be enjoyable, and whatever you
do while in circle, will enhance the creativity in your life.

Now celebrate with wine and bread, the bread the Bread of Life, which comes
from the Sun's sacrifice…the sun's life energy reborn as bread.  Pass the
loaf through the candle flame and carry it around the circle deosil holding
it high as you come to each quarter in offering.  Return to  your altar and
hold the loaf high saying:

Now the Sun fades and the corn will be cut down, the God dies.  He is life
itself and his spirit passes into the corn and into all the crops, and every
kind of harvest.  Changed, he is reborn, for life cannot ever finally die.

Cut a slice of bread with your athame and before eating it say:

I priestess/priest and Witch, eat of the Bread of Life on behalf of all
people, that all may be fed.  This is the bread of immortality.  Though
everything must die, I know that by this nourishment we share rebirth.  From
moment to moment, year to year, and life to life, we die and are reborn,
transformed.  We are not separate, nor ever finally alone.  For this the
bread of life is the bread of communion.

Save the rest of the bread to share with family and friends.
Consecrate the wine and drink it.
When  your are ready, thank the god and goddess for their blessing on your
ritual and thank the guardian spirits for their participation and bid them
Hail and Farewell.
Open the circle and emerge with joy and refreshed power.

Adaptaion:  "Hedge Witch" by Rae Beth

Hail and Farewell!
Selene Sagewoman
August 6, 2000