“
Harvest Mother
the reaper
feeds us
as the sacred land
lends itself
to nourish us with love
Blessing the harvest
from the depth of the earth
the fruits of the season
apples, plums and peaches
arrive to sustain
our body, mind and spirit
we give thanks
from the depth
of our hearts.”
Lammas and the Harvest by Maria Duncalf-Barber
Lughnasadh is the first in the trilogy of harvest festivals. It marks
the beginning of the harvest season, and the decline of Summer into
Winter.
Lughnasadh, also called Lammas, is the Celebration of Harvest and begins
what is called “the chase of Lugh”. Lugh is the Celtic Sun God and he
rains down upon the crops, living within the golden fields.
In the mythological story of the Wheel of the Year, the Sun God
transfers his power into the grain, and is sacrificed when the grain is
harvested. So we have a dying, self-sacrificing and resurrecting god of
the harvest, who dies for his people so that they may live. So at this celebration we give thanks to the
Earth for its bounty and beauty. It is from these harvests that we eat
through the upcoming winter.
Also Lammas is a festival celebrating the first fruits of harvest, the fruits
of our labours, and seeing the desires that we had at the start of the
year unfold so rituals will be centred around this.
Colours associated with lammas are golds, yellows and orange for the God and red for the Goddess as mother.
My Lammas altar! Drew the Lovers card for what my fiance and I would be harvesting during this time.
Lammas (also called Lughnasadh) is a sabbat from the Wheel of the Year that is celebrated on August 1st to mark the beginning of the harvest season
🌿 Bake! Cooking and sharing food is a great activity for any sabbat, and cooking bread, desserts, meat, and enjoying fruits and vegetables is a great way to celebrate Lammas!
🌿 Enjoy nature! Fall is coming next, so enjoy the fresh air while you can. Invite friends and family on a nature walk or picnic or you can go yourself and embrace the beauty that nature has to offer! Visit a lake, a park, go on a trail, or whatever you want to connect with nature!
🌿 Take care your plants! This is the beginning of the harvest season. Take extra care of your plants and maybe even give them a treat: new soil, a new pot, fresh water, or fertilizer. If it’s time to harvest some fruits or veggies, do so!
🌿 Decorate your altar and/or home! Colors, plants, grains, wreaths, animal prints, and candles are some great ways to decorate your home and/or altar for Lammas!
🌿 Do some crafts! Making crafts is a great way to have fun on Lammas, especially if you’re celebrating with kids! Making corn dolls and corn wheels are a few of the many fun ways to celebrate! Plus, when spring rolls around, you can bury the corn doll or corn wheel in a new garden to help your plants grow.
🌿 Prosperity magic! Lammas is the ideal time to perform prosperity magic, so if you have any prosperity spells hidden in your grimoire or book of shadows, take those out and work some magic!
🌿 Work on your book of shadows or grimoire! A relaxing way to end the day would be to write a few pages in your book, whether you write in spells, information, or a journal entry.
🌿 Finish some projects! If you have some projects nearing an end, Lammas would be a great time to finish those or to make more progress if you can! Not every goal needs to be achieved, but dedicating your time and effort to finishing a few would be a great Lammas activity.
🌿 Make a bonfire! Invite friends and family to a bonfire! While you sit around the fire, share some of your bad or unnecessary habits and how you plan to change or get rid of those habits so you can have renewed strength. If you’re a secret witch, you can just light a candle in your room and privately journal your reflection!
Water Witches 