“Blessed be the Harvest,
Blessed be the Corn Mother,
Blessed be the Grain God,
For together they nourish both body and soul.
Many blessings I have been given,
I count them now by this bread.
Guardian of the East, I pray for your indulgence.
Hear me now as I request your aid in the cycle of life.
As your winds blow through fields of ripened grain,
Carry loosened seeds upon your back
That they may fall amidst the soil
That is our Mother Earth.”

– Lammas Ritual

8 Facts To Know About Lughnasadh, Pagan Harvest Festival

The holiday honors Lugh, the Celtic god of light

In August many pagans and polytheists celebrate the summer festival of Lughnasadh. Here are eight things to know about the holiday:

1. Lughnasadh, also called Lammas, falls on August 1, roughly halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox.

2. The name of the holiday derives from Old Gaelic and is a combination of Lugh, a Celtic god, and násad, or assembly.

3. The holiday honors Lugh, the Celtic god of light, but it also celebrates his mythical foster mother Tailtiu, who is said to have cleared the lands of Ireland to make way for the planting of crops.

4. Modern pagans celebrate Lughnasadh as a harvest festival, when the first crops of the year would traditionally have been reaped.

5. Lughnasadh’s alternate name, Lammas, derives from the Old English term for “loaf mass.” It originated from early English celebrations of harvest time, during which loaves of bread were consecrated.

6. One of the earliest references to the holiday is a 15th century version of a medieval Irish legend, Tochmarc Emire. The saga suggests that the holiday celebrated the god, Lugh’s, wedding feast. Other legends, though, attribute the origins of the holiday to a mythical funeral rite Lugh held in honor of his mother, Tailtiu.

7. Many pagans and polytheists celebrate the holiday with feasting, songs, and games. Some honor the harvest roots of the holiday by baking breads and cakes.

8. Lughnasadh is one of eight pagan holidays, along with the fall equinox, Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, the spring equinox, Beltane, and Litha.

Source

Antonia Blumberg, Reporter
Published on HuffPost

Lammas Charm for Gathering in Abundance

You will need:

A broom or beson

Ribbon (traditional Lammas colors, green(for abundance) or gold(for prosperity and gathering)

A Sprig of Mint

As far as the broom or beson goes, any broom/besom will do as it is always the intent of your actions that are important. If you don’t have a broom then collect a bundle of twigs and tie time at the top with your ribbon to make a hand shaped broom. The broom/besom is a potent symbo of hearth and home, found in some form in almost every home. It is a traditional magickal tool useful for everyday charms as it has the imprint of its owner firmly on it.

Next take your sprig of mint (ideally from your own garden, or dried mind – put in a pouch. The mint represents abundance and plenty and is easily accessible to obtain.

Take your broom and tie your ribbon around the top. Tie in your sprig of mint or securely fasten your pouch. Take your broom outside, place both hands on the stave and focus on your intention – gathering in the harvest for winter. Turn slowly three times in a clockwise direction then start to sweep towards your door saying:

“By one, two, three and four, sweep Lammas gifts to my door. May abundance be a constant friend by my hearth till Winter’s end.”

If you don’t have an outside space, you can sweep from your front door inwards to either you kitchen or hearth.

Repeat this three times, take your besom back into your house and put it in its usual place. You can leave the ribbon on for as long as you want to. If you have made your own broom you can place it where you consider the heart of your home to be. You can return the mint to the earth and be sure to say thank you for the use and gift of it.

Make a Corn Husk Herb Sachet

Corn Husk Sachet
During the late summer, particularly around the Lammas season, corn is in abundance. It’s everywhere, and if you’ve ever picked fresh corn straight from the fields, you know how delicious it tastes! When you pick your own corn – or even if you buy it from your local farmer’s market – you typically have to figure out what to do with all those leftover husks. You can use them to make a corn dolly or a husk chain if you like. Another great way to use them is by making corn husk herb sachets.

You’ll need:

Several corn husks
Dried herbs of your choice
A hot glue gun
Not sure which herbs to use? Check out our list of Herbal Correspondences.

WEAVE THE HUSKS
Corn Husk Sachet

Trim the ends off the husks, and cut them into strips – I find that about 1/2” – 3/4” in width is the most manageable size. Weave several strips together as shown in the photo (I used five going in each direction, for a total of ten). Once you’ve created a square, use your hot glue gun to anchor the stray edges into place, so you have a nice even edge.

ADD YOUR HERBS
Corn Husk Sachet
Fill your pouch with dried herbs of your choice. Image by Patti Wigington 2012
Fold the square in half and glue the short sides together, creating a small pocket. Fill the pouch with herbs of your choice, and then hot glue the long open edge closed.

To give your sachet some magical mojo, select herbs based upon purpose and intent:

Healing: Apple blossom, lavender, fennel, chamomile, sandalwood, wintergreen, peppermint
Money/prosperity: Bay leaf, basil, chamomile, Buckeye, myrtle, apple, sunflower, pennyroyal
Love: Allspice, apple blossom, catnip, lavender, clove, yarrow, marjoram, basil.
Strength: Oak, acorns, bay leaf, thistle, yarrow.

Once your glue has dried you can place these sachets around your house or in your drawers. The corn husks will dry naturally, and you’ll be left with scented woven packets. If you like, decorate them with a pretty ribbon, some berries, or other seasonal items.

Author

Patti Wigington, Author
Published on ThoughtCo

The Final Sheaf

In many societies, the cutting of the final sheaf of grain was indeed cause for celebration. People celebrated by making corn dolls, which represented the spirit of the grain. Sometimes these dolls were full-sized, made of the last stalks of corn to be harvested, and decorated with ribbons, streamers and even articles of clothing. Ivy was a symbol of rebirth, and so it wasn’t uncommon to dress the corn doll with a headdress of ivy.

In some rural areas, the corn doll was kept in a place of honor at a farmhouse in the village, until it was time to make one the following year. At that time, the old one was ceremonially burned.

Elizabeth W. Barber writes of harvest customs in Russia and eastern Europe in The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance. Barber says, “The reapers carefully cut and bind the first sheaf and give it as an offering of “first fruits” to God or the gods… then the teams cut, bind, and store the remaining grain, until they approach the end of the last field. But this again requires care, for now the reapers feel they have driven the “spirit of the grain” into a corner, and if they anger her, there will be no harvest next year. What to do? All over Europe, from Russia and the Balkans to Ireland, the last sheaf has traditionally been made into some sort of corn dolly.”

The creation of corn dolls was just one of many customs surrounding the final sheaf of the grain harvest. In Ireland, the final sheaf was gathered with great ceremony, celebrating the living things that might be living within it. If you think about it, that makes sense — a cornfield is a perfect nesting place for small animals, such as rabbits, mice, birds, or frogs.

As the reapers harvested the crop, the animals within fled, until there was only one sheaf left. Since the animal was more often than not a small, very frightened hare, the phrase “putting the hare out of the corn” came to mean the end of the reaping.

In some parts of the British Isles, young maidens were invited to cut down the final sheaf. The one who was able to do so in a single stroke of the scythe was guaranteed to be married within the year — probably because she had just proved herself as an able and strong farmwife. In other areas, it was believed that the person to cut the final sheaf would have good luck for a year, but in some communities, it was a sign of ill fortune to come.

Courtney Weber says in her book Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess, “At Lughnasadh, [Brighid] produces the harvest… when sowing time comes again, the grain from the final sheaf was mixed with the new seed, to nurture the earth again, encouraging the next harvest, and ensuring a cycle of life and rebirth.”

An odd tradition in some areas was the use of the final sheaf to find the corpse of a drowning victim. The sheaf was placed in the water with a lit candle upon it, near where the person was believed to have fallen in.

The sheaf drifted, and it was believed that it would come to rest where the body was submerged. It was thought that only the final sheaf had the magical ability to find these lost souls.

Regardless of how it was used, the cutting of the final sheaf meant that the grain harvest was over. Now bread baking could begin, and food stored away for the coming winter months.

Author

Patti Wigington, Author
Published on ThoughtCo

The Magic of Corn

Of all the grains eaten in the world, corn–or maize–probably is surrounded by more legends and folklore than any other. Corn has been planted, tended, harvested and consumed for millennia, and so it’s no wonder that there are myths about the magical properties of this grain. Let’s take a look at some of the customs and traditions surrounding corn.

Corn Folklore
Parts of Appalachia are rich in superstitions surrounding corn. Some farmers believe that if you miss a row while you’re planting corn, someone in your family will die before harvest season. Likewise, if you see kernels of corn lying in the road, it means company is on the way – but if you brush the kernels away or bury them, your visitor will be a stranger. If the husks on your corn extend far beyond the ear itself, it’s a sign you’re in for a long hard winter. Burning the cobs, husks, or kernels will bring about drought in the coming season.

In late August, we celebrate the beginning of the Corn Moon. This moon phase is also known as the Barley Moon, and carries on the associations of grain and rebirth that we saw back at Lammastide. August was originally known as Sextilis by the ancient Romans, but was later renamed for Augustus (Octavian) Caesar.

During the westward expansion of the nineteenth century, settlers in some Midwestern areas believed that if a girl found a blood-red corn cob among the yellow ones, she was sure to marry before the year was out. Forward thinking young men occasionally planted a few random kernels of red corn strains among their crops. In Kentucky, it’s said that blue kernels found on an otherwise red corn cob will bring the person who finds them very good luck indeed. Longfellow alluded to this custom, writing, “In the golden weather the maize was husked, and the maidens blushed at each blood-red ear, for that betokened a lover; but at the crooked laughed, and called it a thief in the corn-field.”

In parts of Ireland, it’s believed that burying a sheaf of corn while uttering a curse will cause your enemies to die–they will rot from the inside as the corn decays in the soil.

Some Native American tribes planted beans, squash and corn in an arrangement known as Three Sisters. In addition to being a self-sustaining ecosystem, in which each plant helps the others, the planting of this trio is associated with the concept of happy families, abundance, and community.

Corn also features prominently in Native American folklore. The Cherokee, Iroquois, and Apache all have tales about how corn came to be part of man’s diet – and these stories usually involve an old woman presenting corn as a gift to someone young.

Using Corn in 7 Magical Ways
To use corn in magical workings, think of the symbolism of this hearty grain. Here are some ways you can use corn in ritual:

Use corn in rituals involving growth and transformation. After all, a single kernel brings you a tall stalk full of (you guessed it!) more kernels! You can also associate it with self-sustainability and fertility, both of people and of the land.
Ceres was the Roman goddess of grain, specifically corn, and of the harvest season. According to Roman legend, she was the one who taught mankind how to farm. She is associated with agricultural fertility and a bountiful harvest. Make her an offering, and she may well protect your crops from natural disasters such as flooding or blight.
Create herbal sachets out of the husks, to use around the house, bringing in magic associated with various herbs.
Make offerings to gods or goddesses of fertility. Depending on your tradition, different deities like different things, but in general, you can’t go wrong with offerings that are food, drink, or handmade items.
Sprinkle corn around your ritual area to delineate sacred space. This is a great way to create an eco-friendly circle that you don’t have to clean up later – don’t worry, the birds and other local wildlife will take care of it!
Make a corn doll to honor the deity of your tradition.
Create a corn husk chain, with each link representing a magical goal. As you get closer to the goal, remove a link, and either burn it, bury it, or return it into your garden.

Author

Patti Wigington, Author
Published on ThoughtCo

The Legend of John Barleycorn

In English folklore, John Barleycorn is a character who represents the crop of barley harvested each autumn. Equally as important, he symbolizes the wonderful drinks which can be made from barley — beer and whiskey — and their effects. In the traditional folksong, John Barleycorn, the character of John Barleycorn endures all kinds of indignities, most of which correspond to the cyclic nature of planting, growing, harvesting, and then death.

Although written versions of the song date back to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, there is evidence that it was sung for years before that. There are a number of different versions, but the most well-known one is the Robert Burns version, in which John Barleycorn is portrayed as an almost Christ-like figure, suffering greatly before finally dying so that others may live.

Believe it or not, there’s even a John Barleycorn Society at Dartmouth, which says, “A version of the song is included in the Bannatyne Manuscript of 1568, and English broadside versions from the 17th century are common. Robert Burns published his own version in 1782, and modern versions abound.​”

The lyrics to the Robert Burns version of the song are as follows:

There was three kings into the east,
three kings both great and high,
and they hae sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn must die.

They took a plough and plough’d him down,
put clods upon his head,
and they hae sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn was dead.

But the cheerful Spring came kindly on’
and show’rs began to fall.
John Barleycorn got up again,
and sore surprised them all.

The sultry suns of Summer came,
and he grew thick and strong;
his head well arm’d wi’ pointed spears,
that no one should him wrong.

The sober Autumn enter’d mild,
when he grew wan and pale;
his bendin’ joints and drooping head
show’d he began to fail.

His colour sicken’d more and more,
and he faded into age;
and then his enemies began
to show their deadly rage.

They took a weapon, long and sharp,
and cut him by the knee;
they ty’d him fast upon a cart,
like a rogue for forgerie.

They laid him down upon his back,
and cudgell’d him full sore.
they hung him up before the storm,
and turn’d him o’er and o’er.

They filled up a darksome pit
with water to the brim,
they heav’d in John Barleycorn.
There, let him sink or swim!

They laid him upon the floor,
to work him farther woe;
and still, as signs of life appear’d,
they toss’d him to and fro.

They wasted o’er a scorching flame
the marrow of his bones;
but a miller us’d him worst of all,
for he crush’d him between two stones.

And they hae taen his very hero blood
and drank it round and round;
and still the more and more they drank,
their joy did more abound.

John Barleycorn was a hero bold,
of noble enterprise;
for if you do but taste his blood,
’twill make your courage rise.

‘Twill make a man forget his woe;
’twill heighten all his joy;
’twill make the widow’s heart to sing,
tho the tear were in her eye.

Then let us toast John Barleycorn,
each man a glass in hand;
and may his great posterity
ne’er fail in old Scotland!

In The Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer cites John Barleycorn as proof that there was once a Pagan cult in England that worshipped a god of vegetation, who was sacrificed in order to bring fertility to the fields. This ties into the related story of the Wicker Man, who is burned in effigy. Ultimately, the character of John Barleycorn is a metaphor for the spirit of grain, grown healthy and hale during the summer, chopped down and slaughtered in his prime, and then processed into beer and whiskey so he can live once more.

In early Anglo Saxon Paganism, there was a similar figure called Beowa, or Bēow, and like John Barleycorn, he is associated with the threshing of the grain, and agriculture in general. The word beowa is the Old English word for – you guessed it! – barley. Some scholars have suggested that Beowa is the inspiration for the titular character in the epic poem Beowulf, and other theorize that Beowa is directly linked to John Barleycorn.

In Looking for the Lost Gods of England, Kathleen Herbert suggests that they are in fact the same figure known by different names hundreds of years apart.

Author

Patti Wigington, Author
Published on ThoughtCo

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When Maiden Becomes Mother

Lammas Traditions from Nebraska to Wales
by Brighid

Once again, we approach the fall rituals of harvest and riches of the Earth Goddess, thankful for Her bounty She bestows on us. Lammas, August 1 (its celebration typically held the night before, July 31), is the time of the first grain harvest, with objects made of grains (wheat, barley, corn and so on – for example, a bundle of corn stalks) being considered very magickal, for they represent the generosity of the Mother.

Lammas is directly contrasted in the wheel of the year to Imbolc. The two holidays represent opposite aspects of the Goddess. At Imbolc She is the Corn Maiden, fresh and new after her winter rest, and at Lammas She is the Corn Mother, the crone with all development and fruitfulness coming to an end. Lammas also involves the Sun King becoming the Dark Lord, giving of his energy to the crops to ensure life. It is the time of the death of summer and the start of fall, with the days growing shorter and the foliage ending its growth and fruit-bearing cycles. It is the time to share the fruits of the earth, of your own accomplishments with others.

Almost every culture has a celebration in thankfulness for the reaping of the crops in this time of year.

The Celts knew this holiday as Lughnasadn (pronounced loo-na-sa), celebrating the harvest of the grains, marking the last days of the sun god, Lugh. However, races and games that were held in Lugh’s name were more the funeral games for Lugh’s mother, the goddess Tailtiu, in her time of being crone. The Celts believed that the grain held the spirit of the harvest; as each sheaf was cut, the next would absorb the spirit energy of the cut sheaf. Thus, when reapers came to the last sheaf, it contained the whole spirit of the field. A corn doll was made of it in the image and honor of the Mother. In some groups, the person gathering the last grain, often in some special feat of sickle-wielding, was honored by receiving the magick of the grain. Lammas was also a time for Tailltean marriages, informal marriages that lasted a year and a day, similar to handfastings.

In the Bronze Age, there was a Lughnasadn tradition that a High King or God King was chosen then to serve a year and a day, after which his reign ended and so did his life in honor of the Goddess. He was a symbol of the grain, which has to die before its seeds are sown. As by request of Lugh himself, this ritual was put to an end and a great feast was instituted in its place.

The English (Saxons) called this holiday Lammas, “loaf mass,” the mass after the loaves are made from the new grain. At Lammas, couples would run hand-in-hand over bonfires to purify their relationships, a tradition perhaps connected to the Celtic Tailltean marriages.

The Welsh also had a Lammas holiday, and using the muscles gained from the summer work, they held games to test their strength. These games are still held today, alternating between North and South Wales.

The Italian streghe (witches) associated this holiday with the symbol of the cornucopia overflowing with fruit and the harvest grains.

When I was a young girl, we in Nebraska had our own ritual when the big combines would roll into our small farming town. My girlfriends and I would spread out on lawn chairs in my front yard – my house was closest to the road – and watch the hired Texan and Oklahoman farmhands steer those massive machines into our area. Watching the men work, their young muscles bronze and sweaty, over the corn harvest, we would place bets – betting our tip money (very vital since it also was our party money) on which boy we could charm with our wiles and snatch a few intimate moments with. Ah, the harvest we had!

Whatever your celebration ritual may be, let us all remember this is a time for appreciating all that She has given us and for sharing that bounty with others. Enjoy your Lammas!