Wheel of the Year 101: Lammas/Lughnasadh

Lammas, or Lughnasadh, is the fifth sabbat on the Wheel of the Year starting with Imbolc. With Lammas, we celebrate the first stirrings of autumn and the harvests. Summer, with its light and warmth, will be gone soon. Even though it doesn’t quite feel like Fall yet, the coming of the dark times of the year is inevitable. I think the “back to school” sales have already started, and before we know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be upon us. We may try to hold on to summer as long as we possibly can, but there’s no way to deny what’s coming. celebrate Lammas on August 1st. Other witches celebrate on August 7th, or even later. Usually those who don't celebrate on the 1st will celebrate on the day exactly halfway between Summer Solstice (Litha) and the Fall Equinox (Mabon), which falls around August 7. It doesn’t really matter which day you choose to celebrate. Being a harvest holiday, you may even want to wait until later in August to celebrate, if that’s normally when the first Fall crops begin appearing in your local markets. Agriculturally speaking, this is the time when the harvests would begin in earnest. Harvest time, to a farmer, is one of the most critical times of the year. Your whole livelihood and survival would depend on getting the crops in. In Wiccan mythology, the God sacrifices himself at Lammas to ensure a prosperous harvest for His followers. During harvest festivals and modern Lammas rituals, corn doll effigies may be symbolically sacrificed. Why the sacrifice? The God willingly goes to his death so that his blood and body will help nourish the crops in their final stage of growing. He gives himself to the crops, so the crops will eventually give themselves to us and to the Goddess. At Yule, he will be born again, completing and renewing the cycle. The sacrifice is symbolic of the lives given up, plant and animal, so that we can continue to live. In our modern times, Lammas is probably the most difficult sabbat to celebrate. For the most part, we aren’t tied to the land any longer in the ways that farmers of the past were. We go to the supermarket for our food, not the garden, and we can get tomatoes and strawberries in January if we like. This sacrifice, at this time in the cycle, isn’t really something we can relate to in a strictly agricultural sense. However… if we relate the theme of the sabbat to the ideas of personal development I’ve put forth in my other Wheel of the Year 101 essays, it becomes easier to see the parallels. At Imbolc, we decided what our goals would be for the year and began to make plans. At Ostara, we planted the seeds of those plans. At Beltane, we performed sympathetic magic to nurture the fertility of those seeds. At Litha, we watched over our crop of dreams while we took a much-needed break to rest and play. Now, at Lammas, we take stock of what we can sacrifice to ensure a good future harvest of our dreams. How have your plans been going? Where have the stumbling blocks been? What problematic mind-sets, self-doubts, bad habits, or other issues can you get rid of now to help you achieve those plans as the year begins winding to a close? These are the issues to think about as you plan your Lammas celebrations. As I said earlier, Lammas is the first of the harvest celebrations, with Mabon and Samhain to follow. At this point on the Wheel, we celebrate those first fruits and grains. Wheat, corn, apples, vegetables, honey, mead, wines, all are good choices for your feasting and fun. Some folks make special breads to share as part of cakes and ale. I like to break out the apple cider and mead around this time of the year, myself. Last year, my coven attempted wheat weaving as a pre-ritual craft, with poor results. I think we were all just too impatient to let the stalks sit in the water long enough to soften. A Google search for “wheat weaving” will turn up a plethora of resources, including the “World Wide Weavers” site at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plain. Generally speaking, the wheat pieces are charms to ensure prosperity and good luck in next year’s harvest. I have one I purchased at a local occult store that is a home blessing charm, and a few years ago I bought a spectacular wheat pentacle at the Maryland Renaissance Festival (http://www.rennfest.com/mrf/) as a wedding gift for two covenmates. If wheat weaving isn’t your thing, you could always try making corn dollies by gluing felt and other craft doo-dads on ears of corn. Sure, it may look a little silly and child-like, but it’s all about the symbolism. I doubt the Gods will be offended if your offering doesn’t look like the professional craft pieces on that wheat weaving website. It is always the thought that counts. Be on the lookout for harvest fairs and renaissance festivals in your area during the Lammas/Mabon season. This is a perfect time to get out and sample all the great produce and wines those places will have to offer. I highly recommend trying the Medieval Mead and other products Linganore Wineries (http://www.linganore-wine.com/) has to offer. I always stop by their booth at the Maryland RenFest to sample the mead… several times! The prices are reasonable, and the stuff is oh-so-good. (And boy, I wish I was their paid spokeswitch!) A few obligatory links for more info on Lammas, before I leave you all to your apple pies, wheat weavings, and mead: An offering of mythology on the holiday from various cultures, at Mything Links: http://www.mythinglinks.org/Lammas.html An article focusing primarily on celtic traditions from Mike Nichols: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/72. and a similar one by Kathleen Dupree: http://www.leyline.org/cra/articles/lugh. The Witchvox Lammas index: http://www.witchvox.com/holidays/xlughna. And finally, a site with some traditional Lammas recipes: http://www.celticspirit.org/lughnasadh.h. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow the days grow short!