OK so Lughnasadh is fast approaching and Faith and I have been discussing getting together this time to do a ritual or two for this special Sabbat and we were wondering what do any of you who practice Wicca do on this date to celebrate and if your ideas are any good can we nick 'em/ borrow 'em?

Thanks for helping two hopless cases to further enlightenment.

Darke.

hmm i wish i did do something, but i dont really tend to. i havnt found the time at the moment to really get relaxed and try something for a long while.

maybe this time i will

is it ok if i nick ideas too lol

terrix

Well for me there will have to be a fire, outside if it's not raining, inside if it is. Though this is not a fire festival I really like the ceremony of lighting one and usually use it and the candles as my only source of light all night.
I have a fireplace in my bedroom so no questions are ever asked.

It's the first harvest sabbat so I would pick fruits and vegetables from my garden and have a harvest feast. Since we have loads of apples on our trees each year there has to be some kind of apple cake or apple and oat cookie on the altar. I will make it as part of the whole ritual day, I love making a day of the sabbats instead of just spending half an hour doing some quick casting and lighting a few candles. I'll eat half of the cake or cookie and leave half as an offering once the ritual part is done.
I usually have this as one of the sabbats where I thank the goddess for all the gifts she has given me, for the love of my family and the company of good friends. This is also where I ask for good fortune for the rest of the year ahead. So I would make my offerings as part of that. I make a small well and dress it with flowers and leaves from the garden. I will leave my cakes and drink (usually apple juice) on this when I am done.
I often weave a crude (very crude) corn or grass dollie, which I sacrifice on the fire. While I am weaving I put all of the things I would like to get rid of into it. I pour all of my negative feelings and anything I wish I didn't have into this poor little thing, and then as a symbol of my desire to be rid of them I throw him onto the fire and watch him and my unwanted negativity go up in flames.

Nick anything you want that you think you might enjoy, and if I think of anything else I do I'll post again.

I hope everyone has as much fun as I do.

I love well dressing. We even did one at our local church one year. It looked absolutely beautiful and the vicar was very happy with it. Then he retired and with the change of Vicars, came the end of pagan well dressing.
Shame really.

Darke are you just after ideas of what to do, or specific rituals and stuff that you could do for this Sabbat?
I'd be happy to give info on either for you to nick, as long as I know what you want.

Thanks for that Cobweb. Your Lughnasa sounds wonderful.
Either of those would be wonderful Moon, but I would love some rituals if you don't mind typing them out.
Thanks.

Darke.

Well there are very few recorded rituals for Lughnasadh, perhaps because it was a busy time of the year, and also because it seems to have been a very free and easy 'come as you are' type of festival. The kind where one thing will just naturally lead into another which then flows into another and so on..
But I have a few ideas, along the lines of the things that Cobweb mentioned, they are things I do myself and I hope they will be useful to you.
If you like to bake then a great thing to do is to make some bread dough and fashion it into the shape of a person. (This is a great one for kids to get them involved too.) If bread is not your thing then biscuit mix will make into person shapes too, and it's much easier to make.
Once baked it/they can be placed on the Pentacle in the middle of the altar as a representation of Goddess or God and can be used at the end of the ritual as the offering, where you and your gathering would eat half and half would be left for the Goddess/God along with some Apple Juice/Grape Juice/Wine or Cider depending on whether you drink alcohol or not.
If you do this, while you are mixing and kneading the dough you should think about 'why' you are doing this, and what this Sabbat means to you.

If you have fruit as part of your ritual, (either an apple or a Plum would be good) then seeds from this fruit should be planted as part of the ritual of life and growth and harvest, bringing about new life in the never ending circle.

Wells were dressed in the olden days to give thanks for the fresh water they provided for the population, their livestock and their crops. Some were even believed to have special healing powers on this day. A well shape can easily be made from some bits of wood and a couple of planks. Set into a large plant pot or patch of earth this can then be dressed by decorating it with flowers and leaves, berries and stalks of grain and grasses. Once again do this with the intention of honouring the Goddess/God and firmly fix in your mind the meaning of this sabbat to you.

This was also the prime time for handfastings and 'year and a day' weddings. A couple could promise to each other at this time as part of a ritual, and vow to stay together for a year and a day. Once the time period is up the couple then decide to either make the union permanent or split from each other and find another partner. Perhaps to handfast with them for a year and a day, and begin again.
That was more a point of information than a suggestion. LOL

At this time of year fires were lit on the tops of hills and there was dancing, singing and chanting as the evening progressed. Of course it would be more difficult to do that today, but it is still the perfect time to climb your nearest hill or get to your nearest high point, and look down on where you live. I think it is good to appreciate exactly where we are placed in the world, at least once a year, and you'll be amazed how many things it puts into perspective, to realise just how small we are!

Foods for this time are things like Apples, either eaten fresh or made into cakes biscuits/cookies or pies. Corn on the Cob is another really great one. Fresh baked bread. Plums and Blackberries eaten like the Apples. Anything you have grown yourself that is ready for harvesting at this time really. This is so that we remember the long time over the summer months waiting for the food supplies to grow and ripen. It is a long time to wait between the fresh new growth of Spring, and the Harvest of Autumn.
A good spell to do at this time of year is to take a length of green thread, about 6 strands thick and 30cm in length. Sit on the ground in front of your fire or altar and begin tying knots in the thread, while you are tying the knots think about the earth, the harvest, and your connection to all that the Goddess brings you. This is the chant I use for this spell and I begin it with my first knot.
" We are the flow, we are the ebb.
We are the weavers, we are the web.
Weave and spin, weave and spin.
Now the healing work begins.
Heal and mend, heal and mend,
our Blessings to the earth we send.
We weave our magic strong and true,
the Web connects us all,
them, me and you."
If you are not alone then pass the thread from one to the other until there is no more room left.
When the ritual is over bury the thread in the earth somewhere to allow the release of the energy you have raised into the earth it is meant to help heal.

I hope these are of some use to you both and I wish you the very happiest Lammas Time.

Moon.

These are fabulous Moon thanks.

I don't know how we're going to fit it all in, but we'll try.

We'll be up for ever trying to find the best way to put it all together so it flows.
It's going to be great.

Lammas Blessings to you Moon and everyone.