Preparation & Set Up:
This Ritual can be performed either during the day, perhaps late afternoon, or during the early evening hours just after Sunset. Sweep area, starting in the North and moving deosil, with your magickal broom to cleanse the Circle area and "sweep away" any lingering negative energies. You may want to outline the perimeter of your Circle with corn meal, the grain most sacred to this Sabbat.
Set up the Quarter candles (North-Green, East-Yellow, South-Red, West-Blue) and/or other items symbolizing the elements at the Four Quarters (use a compass if not permanently marked out). Set up your altar as desired, and face it to the North, covering it with the golden yellow altar cloth.
For this Ceremony, you may want to have upon the altar items from the harvest, particularly corn and other grains. In honor to the Sun Gods, you may also want to place golden stones and Sun Wheels upon the altar. You will also need a loaf of bread - preferably cornbread, and some sort of juice or wine. You will also need a plate or bowl to remove the harvest offering.
In addition to your usual tools and props, upon the altar should be:
- Golden Yellow, Orange, or Red Altar Cloth
- Sun (God) and Moon (Goddess) Candle Holders, with Gold and Silver Candles, respectively. (Or whatever colors you prefer to represent the deities)
- Incense, Summer Blend or Horned God Incense
- Ears of Corn, Squash and other Harvest Items
- Golden Stones (such as citrine, amber, tiger's eye, carnelian, topaz... )
- Sun Wheels or Sun Symbols of some sort
- Small Loaf of Bread (preferably Cornbread - for the Ritual)
- Anything else personally deemed appropriate or necessary
When all is set up, take a shower or bath for purification and don your ritual robe or other ritual attire. Be sure to wear your magickal jewelry. Sit quietly and meditate for a little while - to ground and center before beginning the Ritual. When you feel ready to begin, play some soothing, peaceful music for the ritual.
The Ritual
After the Circle is cast, begin the Lughnassadh Sabbat Ceremony... Pick up your Wand and hold it in your power (right) hand, face the North and with your arms outstretched (kneel or stand) and when you feel ready, begin your ceremony with these words:
"The Wheel of the Year turns on and on, bringing us all to and from each Season, and from and to another. What will be is. What was will be. All time is here and now in this Sacred Space.
I now pause to watch the Wheel turn and cast this Circle on this blessed eve to celebrate the Season of Lughnassadh - the First Harvest - when the bounties of Nature give of themselves so that we may survive. I come here now to praise the bountiful Goddess and the benevolent God. I wish to give thanks for the bounty of the fertile Earth, and to feel myself as a part of the relentlessly turning wheel of life, death and rebirth.
O Great God of the Ripening Fields, who has been known as Lugh, Tammuz, Adonis, Attis and Dionysus - Grant me the understanding of sacrifice as you prepare to deliver yourself to the lands of Eternal Summer.
O Great Goddess of the Corn and Grain, who has been known as Brigit, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Astarte and Demeter - Teach me the secrets of rebirth as the Sun wanes in its strength and the nights grow cold."
Place your Wand back in its place on the altar. Spread your hands out over the harvested foods on the altar and say these words:
"Blessed be the bounty of the harvest, fruit of the womb of the Goddess. Blessed be Mother Earth. Today I honor the deities in their aspects as the Grain God and the Corn Mother."
Pick up the loaf of bread (hopefully cornbread) and say these words:
"Blessed be the harvest, manifestation of the sacred marriage of the deities. Blessed be the fruitful Corn Mother. Blessed be the God of the Harvest. I partake of the First Harvest, mixing its energies with mine, that I may continue on my quest for the Starry Wisdom of the Mysteries. Many blessings I have been given. I count them now by this bread of the grain of Mother Earth."
Now name all the things you are currently thankful for, one by one. This part of the ritual should be spontaneous - DO NOT use a script for this, go with your heart. With each thing that you name, break off a piece of the bread (or cornbread) and eat it. Sip from the goblet of fruit juice as well. When you are finished doing this, say these words:
"Thank you Great Mother and Great Father. O Lady of the Moon and Lord of the Sun, gracious Ones around whom all of life spins its thread. I offer my thanks for the continuing fertility of the Earth. May the blowing grain lose its seeds to be buried in Mother Earth, ensuring rebirth in the warmth of the coming Spring. I ask that you humbly accept my offering of this bread and juice. I offer it to Mother Earth, and to her consort, the God. And I ask that it may also be used to feed the faeries of the fields and the animals of the woodlands."
With these last words, place some of the bread and pour some juice into the libation bowl. Cup your hands around the offering (libation bowl) and say:
"I consecrate this offering back to the Blessed Mother Nature from whom it came, to her consort, the Great Horned God of Nature, Her animals and Her fairy beings. Blessed Be. Offerings given in love return three times over. Blessed Be this gathering, the giver and the gift."
After a brief pause to catch your breath, continue with these words:
"All things have their Season. Tonight the Wheel has brought us to the Season of Harvest, a time of beauty and time of toil. A time to reflect on the Summer and a time to prepare for the Winter ahead.
To everything there is a Season; a time for every purpose under the heavens; a time to be born; a time to die; a time to plant; a time to harvest; A time to destroy; a time to heal and rebuild; A time to cry; a time to laugh; a time to grieve; a time to dance; a time for scattering stones; a time for gathering stones; a time to embrace; a time to stay back; a time to find; a time to lose; a time for keeping; a time for throwing away; a time to tear; a time to repair; a time to keep silent; a time to speak up; a time to love; a time to hate; a time for war; a time for peace.
Blessed Be the Great Mother whose womb contains and births all life. Blessed Be the Grain God whose seed plants all life. Blessed Be the grain of the Earth, and Blessed Be this Season of Lughnassadh!"
Now is the time for meditation and any spellworkings you may need or desire to end your Sabbat celebration. Good Lammas spellworkings include: career, connectedness, health, and financial gain.
If no spellwork is to be done at this time, then proceed with the Cakes and Ale Ceremony, followed by Releasing the Magick Circle.
Researched & Compiled by StormWing, ©1996 – 2023