Sunday Surprise - Mysteries of Corn

This is an excerpt from The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft

Mysteries of Corn

Classic Halloween Cards are packed with evocative images of witchcraft. They have to be; the artists were given a very small frame in which to work their magic and so these little cards are studded with images that are the visual equivalent of short-hand, intended to evoke the haunting ambience of Halloween. These images are the iconography of Halloween. Most are familiar and predictable: witches, of course, but also black cats, bats, spiders' webs, cauldrons, and corn. Witches are depicted engaged in a variety of activities including flying on broomsticks, stirring cauldrons, scaring children, performing divination, reading grimoires, and sitting in cornfields.

Bats, broomsticks, black cats, OK' but what's the witchcraft connection with cornfields ?

The standard modern explanation for the corn connection is that in North America, Halloween corresponds with the corn harvest (pumpkin harvest, too) and so these vegetables have become coincidentally associated with the holiday. This is a superficial explanation however: the connection of corn and witchcraft has deep roots and is hardly limited to North America.

The first mystery of corn may be determining exactly what is under discussion. The word "corn" sometimes causes confusion, In the United States, the only corn is maize corn, sacred to Native Americans, the corn first encountered by Europeans in America. That colonists were previously unaware of maize is drummed into the heads of American school children, who are then confused to learn that Demeter is the ancient Greek "Corn Goddess." With no knowledge of corn, how could it have a goddess? In the rest of the world, "corn" indicates grain of any sort. Thus Corn Mother really means Grain Mother and frequently really Rye Mother,

In mainstream modern Western culture, animals and humans are commonly acknowledged as living while plant, although theoretically acknowledged as "alive," are often little more then inanimate objects. Most people do not believe that plants have consciousness and emotions, can communicate or that they suffer when picked or harvested.

There is no way to understand the mysteries of agricultural magic and the Corn Mother without accepting that plants are living beings possessing souls and spiritual protection, similar to animals and humans, even if they're not mobile, even if they're not alive in the exact same manner that humans and animals live.

The notion of the Corn Mother is predicated on the belief that plants are killed when harvested in the same manner that animals (or people) are slaughtered, even if there is no blood, even if the plants show no fear or resistance.

Earth's earliest peoples were foragers and hunter-gatherers: they lived solely from what Earth gave them. Earth was the mother who provided - when she didn't, one performed rituals of appeasement to coax more bounty from her and/or one moved nomadically until sustenance was found.

The concept of agriculture, of setting down roots in one spot, of working the land, planting, determining crops and harvesting them - taking what you planted rather than simply accepting what the Earth Mother gave you - was a radical human development, a revolution that caused shifts in spiritual and mental perceptions and even in the human body, The first permanent blood-type mutation (Type A) occurs at this time, apparently in response to this agricultural and dietary revolution.

This agricultural revolution did more than permit people to settle in one place: it stimulated a new way of understanding Earth, and new fears and rituals so deeply imbedded they still permeate our culture even if we no longer understand or completely recognize them.

Previously people avoided digging too deeply in Earth: similar to mining, rooting around in Earth's female body was uncomfortably close to rape. In the beginning, people were still asking permission, In the beginning, prior to the invention of the plough, agriculture was considered to be part of women's mysteries.

Planting and harvesting were accompanied by elaborate rituals requesting permission and of appeasement and self-protection. Priestesses communed with Earth so as to work together with her to reap a satisfactory, blessed harvest.

Among the forms of the early Neolithic Earth goddess is the sow. Pigs are associated with women's agriculture prior to the invention of the plough. It's believed that observing the rooting of pigs led to the first sowing and reaping. The pig remains the alter ego of the Corn Mother.

The Earth Mother is the metaphorical mother of people but she is the actual mother of plants. Seeds are placed within her womb to grow, They emerge alive and would theoretically remain alive for their natural lifespan if left unharvested.

In order for the Earth Mother's human children to survive, however, they must sacrifice what are effectively their own siblings, the plants, Furthermore, this must be accomplished without angering the Earth Mother so much that she withholds next year's harvest.

Grain, the crop that stimulated the agricultural revolution, is harvested in autumn, often in late October, corresponding to what is now Samhain / Halloween. Corn, sacrificed so that people can live, was traditionally cut with a scythe or sickle, harvest tools still associated with the Grim Reaper.

A complex system of agricultural magic developed, some involving the entire community others exclusively women's mysteries. Among the most prevalent components of traditional agricultural magic are:

• Offerings of menstrual blood

.

• Ritual sex in the fields,

• Ritual dancing involving leaping (flying) to encourage the plants to grow

• Ritual dancing involving broomsticks (women) and pitchforks (men)

• Shamanic battles to protect the harvest

Many of these traditions, often long divorced from their agricultural origins, remain significant components of witchcraft, its traditions, and myths.

Sacrifices were offered to the Earth Mother as reciprocal gestures: she was expected to sacrifice her botanical children. Every harvest thus is a sacrifice. As agriculture changed from an exclusively female art the nature of reciprocal sacrifices changed too - menstrual blood, once so holy and powerful that it was secret and not publicly discussed, transformed into something rarely discussed because it was perceived as shameful and dangerous. If menstrual blood is the preferred offering, however, agricultural power is squarely in the hands of women.

Moving away form menstrual offerings also changes the mature of the sacrifice menstrual blood was once understood as potential children, (Lack of menstruation during pregnancy was interpreted as menstrual blood being used to form the child's body.)

Women's potential children were given as offerings of thanks and appeasement for the harvest, Menstrual blood is the only blood that can be offered without injury or death: substitutes inevitably involved animal or human sacrifice - someone's real child was offered as gratitude and appeasement.

Earth, like a woman, was understood to have her own menstrual blood: iron ore. Ironworking placed the equivalent of menstrual power in men's hands. The creation of iron agricultural tools changed the power structure of agriculture: it became heavy labor, suited to men's physical strength. Iron knives also changed the mature of sacrifice - different types of blood sacrifice became available, yet still, because of iron, tangentially related to menstruation.

Tension between men and women, anxiety about where power lies, would also lead to fears of malevolent witchcraft. If women have the power to stimulate growth, then presumably they have the power to stunt it as well. Among the primary accusations of malevolent witchcraft throughout history is causing blight and harming the harvest.   

*****For further information on this subject and all things witchy, you should consider investing in this book - one of my "go to" books that gets "gone to" quite frequently!   

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Sunday Surprise - Sabbats Historical & Modern

This is an excerpt from The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft

At its most bare-bones definition, the pre-Gardnerian definition of a witches' sabbat indicated a mass convergence of witches. When considering the "witches' sabbat" it is almost impossible to determine what's real and what stems from the witch-hunters' fears, prejudices, and fantasies. Virtually the only surviving descriptions and information regarding European witchcraft and post-Christian pagan practices derives from witch-hunters' records. To put this in modern context, it is as if knowledge of achievements by those of Africa-derived ancestry was dependent on records written by the Aryan Nation, Ku Klux Klan or similar white supremacist organizations. It is as if thousands of years of Jewish history were written by Nazis. And yet, regarding European witchcraft that is what there is. Nothing can be taken entirely at face value. One must constantly analyze, weigh the motivation and read between the lines.

Did magicians and devotees of ancient spiritual traditions gather secretly in remote areas such as caves, forests, mountain tops or swamps? If they did, wouldn't they do so on magically charged nights like the equinoxes or solstices or those periods when the veil dividing the realms is at its most permeable?

The very name 'sabbat' is an invention of the Inquisition, Nothing indicates that witches ever used that word until it was introduced by the Inquisition. It is not a coincidence that "sabbat" sounds amazingly similar to the Jewish "sabbath." They are frequently spelled identically. with the final "h" or without. (English spelling wasn't formalized until quite late.) The spelling "sabbat" is used exclusively here, as it is in modern Wicca, to avoid confusion and demonstrate that only witchcraft is being discussed.

Attempts were made by the Church to associate witchcraft and sorcery with Jews or vice-versa; defiant. disobedient people who refused to accept Christianity were initially all lumped together. Before witches had "sabbats" the Church claimed they had "synagogues." This was not intended as a compliment or as acknowledgement of witchcraft as religion. During the Middle Ages, official Christianity considered the beliefs and rites of Jews to be the absolute height of perversion. (After Jews were banished from many religions, the spotlight would be turned on witches.) To call something a "synagogue" or "sabbat" was intended as a vile insult.

In the Middle Ages, Church authorities used the term "synagogue" to describe any gathering of heretics; it was widely used by judges and inquisitors until the late sixteenth century. Sabbat, used as a synonym, became exclusively identified with conventions of witches.

Sabbat was but the most popular of the many names for conventions of witches. Scholarly synonyms included sagarum synagoga and strigiarum conventus. Popular synonyms included

• Akelarre: a Basque term deriving from akerra or "billy goat"
• Hexentanz: German for "witches' ball"
• Striaz, striazzo and stregozzo; Italian terms for meetings of witches

According to witch-hunt trial records, the general format of witches' sabbats is as follows:

• Male and female witches gather en masse at night, usually in remote or solitary places

• Although sometimes the staging arena is a local cave or forest, in many cases, particularly for major, very well-attended sabbats, the location was distant and remote. Participants couldn't realistically get there and back in the time allotted, usually overnight. Thus witches were said to "fly" to sabbats using different methods including ointments, transformation, vehicles like broomsticks, on animals or on hag-ridden victims.

• The witch-hunters' sabbat is presided over by a male devil or demon. First-timers must renounce the Christian faith and offer homage to the devil, who appears in various forms, human or animal.

• Then there's a big party; dancing, feasting. orgies. Before leaving, the witches receive a gift (sort of like a goody-bag) of evil ointments, especially ointments enabling them to return or to commit maleficarum (evil witchcraft.)

Negative stereotypes feature prominently in descriptions of sabbats including indiscriminate, incestuous orgies, killing of babies, and ritual cannibalism, especially of babies. (Abortion wars may be at play here; images that depict women bringing baskets of dead babies to lay at the devil's feet could serve as modern anti-choice propaganda.)

Divinity is worshipped in the form of an animal; devotees copulate with the devil, often in the form of an animal. most frequently a goat, donkey, black cat or dog. They pay him homage in grotesque, obscene, sexually charged fashion.

 When did the sabbats allegedly take place?

The answer depends upon which trial transcript one depends upon. There are many variations.

Sabbats were held weekly; for the local coven or community. Fourteenth-century depositions form Toulouse emphasize that sabbats were held on Friday evenings, similar to Jewish devotionals. The Basque akelarre was usually held on Friday evenings, as allegedly were Italian witches' sabbats. Why? All kinds of possibilities exist:

• because of attempts to defame witches by associating them with Jews?
• because of attempts to defame Jews by associating them with witches?
• because Friday belongs to the Goddess of Love?
• because Christ was crucified on a Friday and so this was the ultimate disrespect?

There were also seasonal, ceremonial sabbats, three or four times a year, the equivalent of High Holy Days, when witches journeyed form far and wide. Meetings at the Brocken on Walpurgis or Midsummer's may be understood in this context.

Witches' sabbats were always nocturnal and always ended at daybreak. The rooster crows and witches disperse. Before there were notions of Dracula and blood-sucking bats, the word "vampire" was used in the Balkans to refer to witches. The legend that vampires must hide from sunlight and that their power is broken at dawn may derive from this concept.  

Where do witch-hunters say witches convene? At crossroads, cemeteries, and ruins (and what ruins were these? Frequently old pagan sites; ruins were often all that was left of previously sacred places); in the woods, in a cave, sometimes at the foot of the gallows, in the churchyard (which typically serves as graveyard, hallowed ground for the faithful), sometimes even inside the Church. Huge, major sabbats were held in far-away remote areas, typically high mountain peaks like Bald Mountain, the Blokula or The Brocken. Many of these places are genuine Pagan sites or areas that witches would value as magically charged. (And not everyone understands the cemetery to be a threatening place. Those who venerate their ancestors will find comfort there.) Nothing indicates that witches didn't meet at night.

Upon what, if anything did the witch-hunters base their distorted notions of the sabbat? Survival of the Bacchanalia? Survival of other Pagan rites? Resentment that other people were indulging in parties? Quite possibly.

How did the witches know when to attend the sabbats? According to witch-hunt era legend, witches and sorcerers have a small mark (sometimes described as "blue") somewhere on their bodies, which tingles or throbs at Satan's summons, (This image was invoked in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the death-eater's mark.)

If all the superimposed demonology is stripped away, what did witches actually do at sabbats?

They feasted. What did they eat at those sabbat feasts? According to trial transcripts, menus varied depending upon location; however, allegedly the foll0wing was served:

• in Alsace; fricassee of bats
• in England; roast beef and beer
• in Germany: sliced turnips, allegedly as a parody of the host
• in Lancashire: mutton, best if stolen
• in Savoy; roasted children
• in Spain: exhumed corpses, preferably close relatives

Regardless of what they ate, prisoners generally told their inquisitors that the food was cold and tasteless, presumably so that they wouldn't feel bad about not being invited to the party. A point is typically made that salt was omitted, as it is when offerings are made to djinn or fairies.

Attendees sang special songs, known as "Litanies of the Sabbat."  During the late Middle Ages, witches allegedly sang lists of angels, cherubim, seraphim, spirits, demons, and so forth requesting compassion, generosity, and mercy. It is fascinating to compare these songs to the contemporaneous sorcerer's practice of commanding and compelling spirits. A similar type of litany may be heard in the New Orleans musician Dr. John's recording "Litanie des Saints,"  which he describes in the CD liner notes as a mixture of Gris-Gris, Voodoo, Catholic, and African religions. These medieval witches' litanies may also be understood as the practice of simply listing names of spirits, a practice which survives among modern goddess-devotees as a way of honoring spirits and keeping them alive. Sometimes the only surviving aspect of a spirit or deity is an unforgotten name.

According to witch-hunters' fantasies, it's not enough for the witches to eat, drink, and be merry at sabbats. That's not bad enough. They must also mock and desecrate Christian rites.

One can actually observe this process during witch-trial transcripts. The witches initially discuss fairies or their equivalent. The witch-hunters aren't interested. They're theologians, sometimes men of science. Old wives' tales don't hold their attention, any more than they would a modern scientist. They have bigger theological fist to fry: they desire heresy. Under pressure and torture, the fairies eventually evolve into demons.

This is clearly seen in Isobel Gowdie's testimony. Isobel Gowdie is famed as the Scottish woman who, for whatever reason, voluntarily confessed to witchcraft. She initially describes fairies. Her inquisitors were bored and dissatisfied with this, Her Fairy Queen soon emerges as a male devil.

According to early modern Hungarian witchcraft-trial transcripts, somewhat less influenced by demonology than many other regions, the sabbat might better be described as a witches' party or ball, a gathering characterized by fun and merriment, attended by witches, their spirit doubles and/or spellbound victims. (Hungarian witch trial liberally feature accusations of kidnapping by witches. Witches transport the victims to sabbats and other locations.)

Hungarian and Italian women who were accused of journeying to sabbats described beautiful fairy-like sabbats, full of music, dance, and sensuality. Wonderful food and drink is served, better than daily reality. Their sabbats are pleasure dreams, not nightmares. Going to the sabbat was akin to a trip to fairyland, reminiscent of the fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses," where the girls slip out at night to revel so hard in magical underground grottoes that their shoes wear out. 

Sabbats of Modern Wicca

Witch-hunters' descriptions of sabbats have no relevance to modern practice. In Wiccan parlance, Sabbat is the term for eight seasonal festivals, marking the Wheel of the Year based on the ancient Celtic calendar.

The four great fire festivals include Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasa, and Samhain. Samhain marks the beginning of the dark half of the year, the descent into winter. Beltane marks the beginning of the light half. These are the two portals of the year, birth and death. (Interestingly ancient Babylonian astrology also contains portals of birth and death, corresponding respectively to the Summer Solstice and the Winter Solstice, which correspond to the witchcraft celebrations of Midsummer and Yule.) Imbolc marks the quickening, the first approach of spring, Lughnasa marks the sacrifice of the harvest, the preparation for winter.

Mabon, Yule, Ostara, and Litha are frequently described as the lesser sabbats, although some traditions consider all of equal importance.

*****For further information on this subject and all things witchy, you should consider investing in this book - one of my "go to" books that gets "gone to" quite frequently!   

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Friday Form A Circle - Lammas General Info & Ritual

* Lammas: The First Harvest * by Mike Nichols at The Witches' Sabbats

It was upon a Lammas Night

When corn rigs are bonny,

Beneath the Moon's unclouded light,

I held awhile to Annie...

Although in the heat of a Mid-western summer it might be difficult to discern, the festival of Lammas (Aug 1st) marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. The days now grow visibly shorter and by the time we've reached autumn's end (Oct 31st), we will have run the gamut of temperature from the heat of August to the cold and (sometimes) snow of November. And in the midst of it, a perfect Mid-western autumn.

The history of Lammas is as convoluted as all the rest of the old folk holidays. It is of course a cross-quarter day, one of the four High Holidays or Greater Sabbats of Witchcraft, occurring 1/4 of a year after Beltane. It's true astrological point is 15 degrees Leo, but tradition has set August 1st as the day Lammas is typically celebrated. The celebration proper would begin on sundown of the previous evening, our July 31st, since the Celts reckon their days from sundown to sundown.

However, British Witches often refer to the astrological date of Aug 6th as Old Lammas, and folklorists call it Lammas O.S. ('Old Style'). This date has long been considered a 'power point' of the Zodiac, and is symbolized by the Lion, one of the 'tetramorph' figures found on the Tarot cards, the World and the Wheel of Fortune (the other three figures being the Bull, the Eagle, and the Spirit). Astrologers know these four figures as the symbols of the four 'fixed' signs of the Zodiac, and these naturally align with the four Great Sabbats of Witchcraft. Christians have adopted the same iconography to represent the four gospel-writers.

'Lammas' was the medieval Christian name for the holiday and it means 'loaf-mass', for this was the day on which loaves of bread were baked from the first grain harvest and laid on the church altars as offerings. It was a day representative of 'first fruits' and early harvest. In Irish Gaelic, the feast was referred to as 'Lugnasadh', a feast to commemorate the funeral games of the Irish sun-god Lugh. However, there is some confusion on this point. Although at first glance, it may seem that we are celebrating the death of Lugh, the god of light does not really die (mythically) until the autumnal equinox. And indeed, if we read the Irish myths closer, we discover that it is not Lugh's death that is being celebrated, but the funeral games which Lugh hosted to commemorate the death of his foster-mother, Taillte. That is why the Lugnasadh celebrations in Ireland are often called the 'Tailltean Games'.

The time went by with careless heed

Between the late and early,

With small persuasion she agreed

To see me through the barley...

One common feature of the Games were the 'Tailltean marriages', a rather informal marriage that lasted for only 'a year and a day' or until next Lammas. At that time, the couple could decide to continue the arrangement if it pleased them, or to stand back to back and walk away from one another, thus bringing the Tailltean marriage to a formal close. Such trial marriages (obviously related to the Wiccan 'Handfasting') were quite common even into the 1500's, although it was something one 'didn't bother the parish priest about'. Indeed, such ceremonies were usually solemnized by a poet, bard, or shanachie (or, it may be guessed, by a priest or priestess of the Old Religion).

Lammastide was also the traditional time of year for craft festivals. The medieval guilds would create elaborate displays of their wares, decorating their shops and themselves in bright colors and ribbons, marching in parades, and performing strange, ceremonial plays and dances for the entranced onlookers. The atmosphere must have been quite similar to our modern-day Renaissance Festivals, such as the one celebrated in near-by Bonner Springs, Kansas, each fall. A ceremonial highlight of such festivals was the 'Catherine wheel'. Although the Roman Church moved St. Catherine's feast day all around the calendar with bewildering frequency, it's most popular date was Lammas. (They also kept trying to expel this much-loved saint from the ranks of the blessed because she was mythical rather than historical, and because her worship gave rise to the heretical sect known as the Cathari.) At any rate, a large wagon wheel was taken to the top of a near-by hill, covered with tar, set aflame, and ceremoniously rolled down the hill. Some mythologists see in this ritual the remnants of a Pagan rite symbolizing the end of summer, the flaming disk representing the sun-god in his decline. And just as the sun king has now reached the autumn of his years, his rival or dark self has just reached puberty.

Many commentators have bewailed the fact that traditional Gardnerian and Alexandrian Books of Shadows say very little about the holiday of Lammas, stating only that poles should be ridden and a circle dance performed. This seems strange, for Lammas is a holiday of rich mythic and cultural associations, providing endless resources for liturgical celebration.

Corn rigs and barley rigs,

Corn rigs are bonny!

I'll not forget that happy night

Among the rigs with Annie!

-- Verse quotations by Robert Burns, as handed down through several Books of Shadows.

(Document Copyright © 1986, 1998 by Mike Nichols. This document can be re-published only as long as no information is lost or changed, credit is given to the author, and it is provided or used without cost to others.)

* Lughnassadh (Lammas) and Its Lore *

By StormWing, From CAULDRONS AND BROOMSTICKS LAMMAS issue 1999,

Lughnassadh (pronounced "LOO-nahs-ah") or Lammas, is one of the Greater Wiccan Sabbats and is usually celebrated on August 1st or 2nd, although occasionally on July 31st. The Celtic festival held in honor of the Sun God Lugh (pronounced "Loo") is traditionally held on August 7th. Some Pagans celebrate this holiday on the first Full Moon in Leo. Other names for this Sabbat include the First Harvest Festival, the Sabbat of First Fruits, August Eve, Lammastide, Harvest Home, Ceresalia (Ancient Roman in honor of the Grain Goddess Ceres), Feast of Bread, Sabbat of First Fruits, Festival of Green Corn (Native American), Feast of Cardenas, Cornucopia (Strega), and Thingtide. Lughnassadh is named for the Irish Sun God Lugh, although the most commonly used name for this Sabbat is Lammas, an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "loaf-mass".

The Lughnassadh Sabbat is a time to celebrate the first of three harvest celebrations in Witchcraft. It marks the middle of Summer and represents the start of the harvest cycle and relies on the early crops of ripening grain. It is therefore greatly associated with bread as grain is one of the first crops to be harvested. Wiccans give thanks and honor to all Gods and Goddesses of the Harvest, as well as those who represent Death and Resurrection.

Symbols to represent the Lammas Sabbat include corn, all grains, corn dollies, sun wheels, special loaves of bread, wheat, harvesting (threshing) tools and the Full Moon. Altar decorations might include corn dollies and/or kirn babies (corn cob dolls) to symbolize the Mother Goddess of the Harvest. Other appropriate decorations include Summer flowers and grains. You might also wish to have a loaf of whole cracked wheat or multi-grain bread upon the altar.

Deities associated with Lughnassadh are all Grain and Agriculture Deities, Sun Gods, Mother Goddesses and Father Gods. Particular emphasis is placed on Lugh, Demeter, Ceres, the Corn Mother and John Barleycorn (the personification of malt liquor). Key actions associated with Lammas are receiving and harvesting, honoring the Parent Deities, honoring the Sun Gods and Goddesses, as well as celebration of the First Harvest.

You can create a Solar Wheel or a Corn Man Wheel using a wire coat hanger, cardboard, and several ears of Indian corn complete with the husks. Here is how: bend the wire hanger into a circle keeping the hook to hang it by. Cut out a small cardboard circle to glue the tips of the ears of corn onto. You may want to create your Corn Man Wheel as a pentagram using five ears, or a Solar Wheel using eight ears to represent one ear for each Sabbat. Attach the ears of Indian corn around the perimeter of the wire circle. Wrap the husks around and glue where necessary, leave some of the husks hanging loose to fray out from the edges and make it more decorative. Where the ears of corn meet in the center, glue them together. This is where the cardboard circle comes in to use.

It is customary to consume bread or something from the First Harvest during the Lughnassadh Ritual. Other actions include the gathering of first fruits and the study of Astrology. Some Pagans symbolically throw pieces of bread into a fire during the Lammas ritual.

Colors appropriate for Lughnassadh are red, orange, gold, and yellow. Also green, citrine and gray. Candles might be golden yellow, orange, green, or light brown. Stones to use during Lammas include yellow diamonds, aventurine, sardonyx, peridot and citrine. Animals associated with this time are roosters and calves. Mythical creatures include the phoenix, griffins, basilisks, centaurs and speaking skulls. Plants associated with Lammas are corn, rice, wheat, rye and ginseng. Traditional herbs of the Lammas Sabbat include acacia flowers, aloes, cornstalks, cyclamen, fenugreek, frankincense, heather, hollyhock, myrtle, oak leaves, sunflower, and wheat. Incense for the Lughnassadh Ritual might include aloes, rose, rose hips, rosemary, chamomile, passionflower, frankincense, and sandalwood.

Traditional Pagan Foods for the Lughnassadh Festival include homemade breads (wheat, oat and especially cornbread), corn, potatoes, berry pies, barley cakes, nuts, wild berries, apples, rice, roasted lamb, acorns, crab apples, summer squash, turnips, oats, all grains and all First Harvest foods. Traditional drinks are elderberry wine, ale and meadowsweet tea.

As Summer passes, Wiccans remember its warmth and bounty in the food we eat. Every meal is an act of attunement with Nature, and we are reminded that nothing in the Universe is constant.

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* Lammas/Lugnasad/Lughnassadh/Harvest *

by Sarah the SwampWitch owner/moderator of The Witches Three

1. If you can, choose to mark the celebration to coincide with the ripening of wild berries in your area. Go out berrying, preferably in the wild - but if you don't have access to the wilderness then a "pick-your-own" place is an option. If you go to a Pick-Your-Own farm try to find an organic place. You may wish to use the berries as a central part of your Lammas feast - in pie, on ice cream, in wine or whatever. It is nice to leave some of your pickings as an offering to the birds or even to the Fey if you have Fey!

2. Organize games as an after ritual activity. Foot races, wrestling, rock tossing, sack races, relay races, fake sword fights, wrestling, and tug-of-war are common modern competitions. Horse races would be most traditional, but few of us have access to horses (well I do, but mine are so old that the only racing they do is when they escape and trot through the swamps <g>). I've heard of groups that celebrated by holding hobby horse races --- and not as activities for kids but as adult races! <LOL> Don't forget that Mind competitions can be held as well ---chess, poetry, storytelling, karaoke, etc etc etc.

3. Since this is a harvest fest consider gathering donations of groceries and canned goods for your local food shelf.

4. Bake bread and shape the dough into pretty designs - like leaves and sheaves of wheat - before baking. (Or go erotic and make phallic symbol bread as fertility symbols of the season <eg>) Kids love making their own little loaves <but maybe leave the phallic symbols for the adults> .... I remember making loaves with my own mom and still remember how gray the loaves got from my dirty little hands <LOL>!

5. Honor the God and Goddess by cleaning up a local nature area..... You can clean a park, a section of highway, a stream or lakeshore, etc etc. Working for the environment is honoring the sacrifice of the Nature .

6. Have a magical picnic and break bread with friends. You can include traditional harvest food and eat the homemade bread that you baked earlier. Toast the harvest with fruit drinks or wine!

7. Do a meditation in which you visualize yourself completing a project you have already begun. I am going to do this myself and visualize that the mold that is growing in my bedroom, and that I have been working to kill, is finally dead and will not come back to haunt me later.

8. Make a corn dolly charm out of the first grain you harvest or acquire. You can make these out of the husks of sweet corn BTW, and the silk from the corn makes nice hair for the dolly.

9. Do prosperity magic.

10. Kindle a Lammas fire with sacred wood and dried herbs

* The Celtic Connection First Harvest Ritual *

Adapted by: Akasha Ap Emrys. Copyright © 1997-99 Akasha, Herne and The Celtic Connection

Tools:

• Golden Yellow Center Cloth
• 1 Gold Candle
• 1 Silver Candle
• Summery or other appropriate Incense
• Harvest Vegetables
• Golden Stones or other Sun Symbols
• Cornbread Cupcakes
• Cauldron
• Apple Cider Any other personal items of choice

Preparation: Sweep area moving in a deosil manner. Outline the perimeter of your Circle cornmeal or yellow sand. Place Gold Center cloth on the alter and garnish with Harvest Vegetables, (Corn, Squash, etc), Grains, (Oats, Rice, Wheat, Rye, etc), and Fruits ( Apples, Berries, Cherries, Plums, etc), on the alter. Set the Gold God Candle to the top right of center, and surround with Gold Stones or Sun Symbols. Place the Silver Goddess Candle to the top left of center. Place your (cauldron, if coven) chalice full of Cider in the center and surround with Cornbread Cupcakes.
Take a shower or bath or purification.
Sit quietly and meditate for a while, the ground and center. When ready, play some soothing music in correspondence with the ritual.
Cast the circle and call Quarters... Pick up your wand with your right hand, face the North with arms stretched out above head, and say:

What will be is. What was will be.
The Wheel of the Year forever turns.
Dark to light, light to dark,
each season passes with lessons learned.
We plant with love, tend with respect,
and at Harvest time our yields reflect
The bounty of our Mother Earth,
ripened by our Father Sun.
Now upon our humble hearth,
gifts we offer the Two that are One.
As each day passes, shorter than the last.
May we each be reminded of the seasons that have passed.
The marriage and the seeding of the Goddess back in May,
Her womb swollen with life anew at Summer Solstice Day
All this time the Father Sun has shone with so much pride.
Rising early, setting late,
and now that he's supplied The warmth and light to bring to bear,
the Goddess and the lands He knows that his death is drawing near,
but this secret he understands,
that with the turning of the wheel, his rebirth has been planned."

Place you wand upon the alter and with both hands gesture to the Harvest Vegetables, Grains, and Fruits you have adorned the alter with. Then say:

"Truly blessed are we that receive the bounty of the Harvest,
Blessed be our Mother Earth,
Blessed be our Father Sun,
As he teaches us of life, death, and rebirth.
I honor Thee, The Two that are One."

Pick up one of the Cornbread Cupcakes, and offer up to the God/dess, saying:

"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."

Now name all the things that you are currently grateful for. With each item that you name, break off a piece of the Cornbread Cupcake and eat it. Sip from the chalice filled with Apple Cider as well. When finished with list of blessings, take the a small handful of the Grain from you alter and hold it in you open hand at face level, saying:

"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.
She will cover them in times of storm,
protecting and nourishing Them until
they sprout next Spring, beginning life anew."

Blow gently across your hand as if imitating the wind taking the seeds air-born. Continue:

"I give thanks to the Great Mother,
Goddess of fertile land.
And to the Great Father,
Consort and Provider.
For as their bounty sustains my life,
so does their bounty sustain my brethren;
All living creatures of wood and field,
Of lake and stream, and of air.
Of these blessings I partake And share.
Blessed be this Harvest Night, The Givers and the gift."

Face the alter and assume the Goddess position, saying:

"All things have their season.
Again the wheel has turned and brought us
To the season of the First Harvest.
A time when we think about sacrifices and reborn hope,
A time when we reflect on what we have sown by what we reap,
A time when we gather our memories,
And from those lessons that we have learned,
We plan for the future.
Blessed Be our Mother,
whose womb contains and bears all life.
Blessed Be our Father,
whose seed plants all life.
Blessed Be the Two that are One,
From Them life flows and flows back again."

Now is the time for meditation and spellworkings. If no spellworkings are to be done, proceed with the Cakes and Ale ceremony, followed by releasing the Circle.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Thursday This Is Your Spell -

* De-Anna Alba's Solitary Ritual for Lughnasadh *

by De-Anna Alba,

The Mystic Union

The idea for this ritual struck me some time ago, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. Some of you may think I've really gone off the deep end with this one, and others of you will be open to the possibilities. I hope at least some of you will try it in some form or another. I think it has the potential to be a quite profound experience; and I don't think you'll view your relationship to the Earth in quite the same way after you have worked this ritual. It is also one that could bear repeating at Lughnasadh for years to come, should you find it of value.

The idea of a sacred marriage with the Land is found in a variety of agri-cultures throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. It was definitely a feature of the Celtic cultures from which we have inherited the celebration of Lughnasadh, or Lammas. Lughnasadh means "the wedding feast of Lugh." The name of the holiday was changed to Lammas by the early Christians in an attempt to incorporate this holiday into their liturgical calendar in an effort to draw the Pagans into their belief system. Lammas means "loaf-mass," and with the name change came a change in focus from the sexual/marriage aspect of Lughnasadh to the fruitful outcome of the union aspect--the grain harvest.

Prior to the inroads of Christianity into the celebration, mass marriages took place at Lughnasadh in imitation of the sacred marriage between the king/chieftain and the representative of the Land which also took place at this time. This ceremony took place in order to assure the birth of a new crop the following Spring, now that the harvest was beginning. It was also to assure the health and continuance of the clan or community, and the health of the relationship between the people and the Land. It is this last relationship--between the people and the Land--that is to be the focus of your solitary Lughnasadh. More specifically, the health of your own personal relationship with the Land, and hence the Goddess and spirits of the Land.

It's beautiful out now. The days are hot and the nights are warm. It's a perfect time to do an extended, even overnight, Lughnasadh ritual at your power spot. If you don't yet have a power spot out in Nature, this would be a good time to find one. Plan on an overnight campout if you can and pack accordingly. If a campout is not possible, then adjust what follows to your situation. It is important that you be outside for a large potion of this ritual, however. If it rains or something, postpone the ritual until the next weekend. In the case of this ritual it's not the date that's important, it's the action. (Choosing a time in close proximity to August 1st would add to the power of the ritual, however.)

Since the word "marriage" means different things to different people (and not all of them good), I've chosen instead to use the word commitment or covenant in describing this ritual. What I'm asking you to do is make a commitment to the Spirit of the Land, and that includes all creatures, seen and unseen, that dwell upon it, in it or around it. This commitment or covenant (promise) is, in essence, to become a more active environmentalist in the Wiccan sense of that term. It means a promise to protect the environment, work for its improvement in every facet of your everyday life and your Magical life in order to improve, or enhance, the sacred connection between yourself and the Spirit(s) of the Land. It's a realization at the cellular level of your being that your health and the health of the planet depend upon each other, and symbolically represent each other.

So, in addition to your camping gear, what you'll need for this ritual is an offering to make/leave at each of the four directions, symbolic of the four elements of creation, and an offering for the center (which symbolically represents the Spirit of the Land as a whole, or Goddess). You will also take from the Land an item that is symbolic of your covenant with the Land for your home altar. Keep that in the back of your mind as you proceed through the ritual, so that you will recognize the perfect thing when you see it.

Go to your spot in the afternoon and set up your campsite and ritual space so that everything is ready when the Sun begins to set. Don't forget the bug spray and whatever else you'll need to be comfortable. You're going to be doing some Otherworld journeying at each of the four directions and at the center, so you'll need to be comfortable and undistracted. You'll probably also want to take a notebook to record your overall impressions from the experience when you are done. You may also wish to make and take along a dream pillow to encourage significant dreams related to this work when you go to bed. Cast your circle as the Sun begins to set. Invoke the presence of the four elements at the directions, keeping in mind that you will be asking them to assist you in a journey to Their realm within the context of the ritual. At the center invoke the presence of whichever Goddess represents the Spirit of the Land/the Soul of Nature to you. If you do not have a clear sense of what Her name would be for you, invoke Her by using titles that are symbolic of Her energy or appearance for you.

Now consecrate your offerings to the Land by passing them through the four elements at your circle's altar. As you do each one, remember why you chose it, what it means to you, and what this whole covenant ceremony means to you and your future.Take your Eastern/Air offering and your comfort items to your eastern gate and arrange your chair (or whatever) so that it is facing your eastern circle marker. Standing at your eastern gate with your offering in your hands, make your offering to the East by calling the things, beings, powers, scenes, etc. you associate with the element of Air to your eastern gate. Visualize them in your head while you sing, dance, speak or in some way make your offering and your promise to what you perceive to be the primary representative of the Powers of Air. Once the offering is made, sit in your chair (or whatever) and continue your visualization.

The Representative will give you some indication that your gift and promise have been accepted. When It does so, ask to be given further insight into Its realm, and ask it how you can best help the Spirit(s) of Air in your day-to-day living. You'll receive an answer in some form. You'll be shown something(s), taken somewhere, instructed in some way. Remember the experience so that you can write it down later and revisit it in other meditations. When the Representative is finished It, and the accompanying scenes, will fade from your inner sight, and you will know it is time to move on. Take a few moments to assimilate this experience. (Write it down now, if you want to.) Then move everything to the southern gate and repeat the entire process. Make your offering and your promise and then sit down and "see" what happens next. Repeat the process at the West and the North. Then move on to the Center.

At the Center make your offering and your commitment to Goddess of the Land. Again, sit down to continue the visualization. Again, you will get some indication of Her acceptance of your commitment. She will demonstrate its acceptance in some way. She may question you further about the commitment. She may show you things and interact with you in a variety of ways. Yes, these interactions may have a sexual feeling or component to them. This component will both root your commitment firmly in your body and throw it out into the Otherworld on all its levels for acceptance and institution. If you are not ready or willing to experience this in a sexual way, you will instead receive it through an overwhelming feeling of love and sharing between yourself and the Earth. That love may feel like that between a parent and a child (with you experiencing both parts of that relationship at the same time), or it may feel like the love shared by a couple of life-long dear friends. However it comes to you, it will no doubt have a lasting effect in your life and the way you view the reality/environmentalism from now on. When the experience fades, spend some time assimilating all that has happened. If you'd find it helpful, record your experiences in your notebook.

Remember that there is no hurry with any of this. It may take you a long time to feel ready to end the ritual. When you are ready, begin by thanking Goddess for Her participation in and continued guidance of your life and the life of the Land. Return to the four directions and thank each in turn for your experience of/with them in the ritual. Reiterate your promise to each of the directions, and expand upon those covenants based on your evening's experience with Them if you wish. What you do next depends on your situation. If you will be returning home at this point, do a thorough grounding exercise and have something substantial to eat (no caffeine or sugar). Now, go home and get ready for bed. Tuck your dream pillow under your regular pillow, or place it near your face, and ask for dreams related to the experience you've just undergone, or dreams providing you with information on what you can do to protect, improve and enhance the environment.

If you'll be staying overnight at your power spot, just go to bed. Staying in a fairly open and awed state may increase your chances of having significant dreams. If you feel you're just too blown away to be able to sleep, brew yourself a nice sleepy time tea, drink it, and do a relaxation exercise before attempting to sleep. Don't forget to put your dream pillow under your regular pillow or near your face. Its presence will aid in your dream seeking.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this blog. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Tuesday Try A New Taste - Cornmeal Shortbread

All forms of shortbread are traditional in wintertime; these sorts of dry confections are best eaten with nice hot drinks such as wassail and cocoa. Also, recipes with cornmeal in them tend to enhance the inherent simplicity of home-baked desserts. Therefore, I submit for seasonal bakers' approval a recipe that combines shortbread with cornmeal to make this nice simple after-dinner treat to enjoy during the dark days of winter. It's a nice change from the usually heavy and sweet foods that usually weigh down the table this time of year! This can also be served on a harvest table anytime in early to mid fall.
Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• Dash of salt
• Optional powdered sugar

Directions:
Grease a 9-inch fluted tart pan or a shortbread mold. Stir together the flour and cornmeal. In another bowl, beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt on medium high until combined. Add the flour mix and beat. Put the dough into the pan and score into 12 wedges. Prick each piece with a fork three times, all the way through. (If you're using a shortbread mold, don't do this step.) Bake at 325º F for 25-30 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes.
Yield: 12 wedges

From:
Everything2.com


Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this blog. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Monday Make A - Seashell Soapdish

Materials:

Assorted seashells

All purpose white glue

Instruction:

There are a variety of seashells that work great for different projects. Some of these are olive, volutes, tulips, augers, clam and snail. Arranged with patience, many crafts can be created with these seashore finds.

Using a large shell as the base (dish), glue the smaller shells in a design onto the back of the large shell, with shell top facing front.

Use 3 similar shaped shells for pedestal feet. Glue one to center back of dish shell toward bottom and two in front as shown in photo. Be certain that all feet are glued evenly to base shell so that the dish will sit even. That's it! Enjoy

From: The Crone's Cottage

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this blog. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Sunday Surprise - * Irish Fire Festivals: Lughnassadh *

* Irish Fire Festivals: Lughnassadh *
By Kym ní Dhoireann; First published in THiNK! Vol. 2, issue 3 Summer/Lughnassadh 1997); Copyright © 1997 Kym ní Dhoireann

***Updated 09/22/08 to reflect the following changes*** 
I apologize to anyone who has come here looking for this post. I received a comment from the author, indicating she (he?) wanted the post removed, I responded in the following manner, and did so...

I apologize if you feel I "stole" your work. I do everything in my power to find the original author of anything I post and link back to them, as this will in turn generate traffic for them. At no point did I claim authorship of this work. As a matter-of-fact, the authorship information I had is listed at the BEGINNING of the post, as well as links to all of Your sources - something you didn't bother to provide.

It has been my experience, in the past, that authors write articles to be read...Again, I apologize for assuming that was your intent when you wrote it, and I will remove it, with a notice indicating why it was removed." 

The comment has not been removed, so you may view it at your leisure - if you're interested...I have also left the sources, so you can still follow-up on your own if you would like. 

Thanks,
Dawtch

Bibliography
 "Irish Folk Tradition and the Celtic Calendar."  Kevin Danaher. (I could not find this particular book, but I have linked to some of the author's other work)
The Celtic Consciousness Robert O'Driscoll
The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy  Robert Hutton
 The Folklore of the Scottish Highlands  & The Pagan Celts Anne Ross
"Material Culture, Myth and Folk Memory" The Celtic Consciousness
The Celts  T.G.E. Powell.
Sex and Marriage in Ancient Ireland Patrick C. Power
Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this blog. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Wednesday What Herb Is This - Sage

Also called Garden Sage, Red Sage, Sawge (Old English), Salvia salvatrix, Narrow-leaved White Sage, Broad-leaved White Sage Sage is a perennial herb with grayish-green leaves that are slightly hairy. It is native to Spain and the Mediterranean coast, and is a member of the Salvia family. It is a variable species, and it's flowers can be blue, pink, or white. It can be grown in containers and makes a nice container specimen. While sage has links to many cultures throughout the world, it is thought to have originated in Syria. From there it spread throughout the northern Mediterranean and then on to the rest of the world via the trade routes. With over 500 species, from colored varieties to dwarfs to non - flowering varieties, sage is grown throughout the world (almost anywhere there is good drainage and full sun). Most of the varieties are perennials, fast growers, require low moisture and are deer resistant, making them a favorite with gardeners and cooks  Sage can be used fresh, dried, or chopped and frozen in ice cube trays. It has a lemony, camphor-like, and slightly bitter taste and it is a very aromatic herb.
For thousands of years sage has been used for a variety of culinary and medicinal purposes, and over the past 2,000 years or so has been recommended by herbalists to treat just about every known condition, from snakebite to mental illness. In fact, in medieval times the French called the herb toute bonne, which means, "all is well". It has been used in connection with sprains, swelling, ulcers, and bleeding. As a tea, sage has been administered for sore throats and coughs. Herbalists have also used this herb for rheumatism, menstrual bleeding, strengthening the nervous system, improving memory, and sharpening the senses. Even today, in many European countries sage is used medicinally as a gargle for sore throat and inflammation of the mouth and gums. Clinical studies also indicate that the substance found in sage oil may also offer antibacterial, anti-fungal, and antiviral effects, explaining much of its medicinal activity. In Germany, sage herb is commonly used for upset stomach and excessive sweating, and one German study has found that drinking a sage infusion reduced blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, but only when they took the infusion on an empty stomach.  In England, sage is used for some symptoms of menopause. Sage has traditionally been used to promote menstruation, and there are some studies that indicate it may indeed help stimulate uterine contractions; pregnant women should not consume highly concentrated forms of sage, although using it as a culinary spice has not been shown to have this effect. Recent laboratory studies support the use of sage to guard against infection-it has demonstrated an ability to fight against several infection-causing bacteria. As far back as ancient Greek and Roman times, healers advocated sage for a variety of ailments. Charlemagne ordered that it be grown in his royal gardens. Arab physicians in the 10th century went so far as to claim that sage extended life to the point of immortality. Even the genus name of the plant, Salvia, comes from the Latin meaning "to cure."
For sore throats, try mixing a Sage tea with apple cider vinegar and salt for gargling. Sage is reported to have moisture-drying properties, and can be used as an antiperspirant. It can also be used as a compress on cuts and wounds. Clinical studies have also shown that it can lower blood sugar in cases of diabetes. Try making capsules out of dried leaves as a substitute for teas for internal use. As an astringent, Sage can be used as a refreshing after-shave, and there is some indication that an infusion of it can be used to subtly color silver hair. As with many of the other herbs, Sage can also be tried in a tea for digestive problems and flatulence.
In an exciting new study done in 2003, English scientists at Newcastle and Northumbria found that Sage oil extracts in capsule form produced markedly improved memory function in test subjects, and it is very possible that Sage may protect a key chemical destroyed in the brain by Alzheimer's disease. Better yet, no side effects whatsoever were reported by participants. Although studies are not complete at this time, this is very promising research and should be followed by anyone who has or is caring for someone with Alzheimer's. Like two other culinary herbs, rosemary and thyme, sage helps guard against depletion of the brain's concentration of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that is crucial to proper brain function. A combination of ginkgo biloba, sage, and rosemary may help prevent or slow the development of Alzheimer's.
Very few side effects have been reported from the consumption of sage leaves; however, those using more concentrated forms of this herb, such as tea or extracts, may experience inflammation of the lips and lining of the mouth. This inflammatory response is probably due to a toxic chemical in sage called thujone. In very large amounts, thujone has been shown to cause convulsions. Concentrated sage oil is toxic and its use should be restricted to aromatherapy. Incidentally, you will often see Sage medicines advertised as Clary Sage. This is just another form of Sage that originates in the Mediterranean but has the same medicinal properties as the other sages.
Sage's usefulness goes beyond the confines of the medicine cabinet and the kitchen. Because of its aromatic oils, it is frequently used in making soaps and perfumes. Native Americans utilize sage for spiritual purification ceremonies in the form of smudge sticks. These are branches of white sage (Salvia apiana) which have been cut into lengths about one foot long, bound together and dried. For the ceremony, they are lit and left to smolder, producing a rich, aromatic smoke.
Purification, Cleansing Sage is used in magic for wisdom, psychic awareness, long life and protection. As secondary aspects, spells for money use sage. But, by far, its most potent aspect is wisdom and learning. Sage is often bundled tightly into smudge sticks and burned as a scent. Sage was associated with immortality and longevity by the ancients. It was also credited with increasing mental capacity. Eat the fresh leaves (in moderation) for both these purposes. Today, Sage is believed to be a purifier and a healing herb. It can be made into a tea to promote healing, and can be burned to rid a room of negative energy.
Sage is bound to Jupiter and Air. It is believed that if you place some Sage (or burn it) near an object belonging to someone in need of healing, that healing will take place more quickly. It is also said that the condition of the Sage plant itself in your garden is an indication of your prosperity. Sage is useful in magic relating to immortality, longevity, wisdom, protection, prosperity. White sage leaves are widely used as a cleansing herb, to purify the mind, body and also to purify the atmosphere & to dispel negativity. It is also used to purify sacred items. Often carried in a charm bag or even a pocket to ensure personal and spiritual safety. It is said that those who eat sage become immortal in both wisdom and years. Sage is used in wish manifestations and to attract money. Smolder to promote healing and spirituality. Use in healing and money spells. Use as incense during sacred rituals -- walk the smoke to the four corners of the room to repel and rid negative energies and influences. Especially good when moving into a new home. Heals wounds, aids digestion, eases muscle and joint pain, colds and fever.
To burn the sage -- just place a small amount in a heat proof container into which you have put a charcoal disc light it, then direct the smoke around your body and the space you wish to cleanse You can also use a "smudging feather" or your hand to direct the smoke. You could even have ago at making your own smudge sticks. Which are easy to do and very rewarding to make. Never leave lit smudge unattended and care should be used when extinguishing and disposing of the ashes.
Sources:
Joelle's Sacred Grove

Alchemy Works

Sally's Place

The Magick Moon

Vitaminstuff

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Tuesday Try A New Taste - Real Irish Stew

REAL IRISH STEW
1 1/2 pounds Mutton, cut into pieces
Parsley sprigs
6 Carrots, sliced
2 pounds Potatoes
Salt and pepper
1 pound Onions
Place meat and vegetables in saucepan and cover with cold water. Add salt and pepper as required and flavor with a few parsley sprigs and add carrot slices. Slowly bring to a boil and skim off the top. Simmer over a very low heat for approximately 2 hours or until the meat is tender. Note: You can probably substitute lamb for the mutton and not need to cook as long.
***Personally, I think I'd substitute beef - not a big fan of Sheep...
Found at: Wicca 101 @ Red Deer's & Elenya's
 

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Monday Make A - Seed & Corn Necklace (for the Witchlets)

Image from Ravenwolf's Gifts

Seed and Corn Necklaces

Materials:

• Dried beans (several different kinds and colors)
• Dried corn which has already been removed from the cob
• Dried corn on the cob ("Indian" corn)
• 1 yard heavy thread or dental floss for each child
• 1 tapestry needle for each child
• finger bandages (just in case somebody gets stuck!)

---

Prepare the strings in advance by threading the needles and knotting the end. Prepare the beans and dried corn by soaking overnight in water.

---

Show the children the ear of dried corn (Not the corn you soaked!) and show them how the kernels can be removed from the cob. (Twist the cob firmly in your hands while holding it over a towel or blanket. The corn should pop off--once you get it started it isn't difficult to remove all the kernels.)
Show the children how to use the needle to poke a hole through the center of each corn kernel and bean. Alternate corn and beans or make some other pattern.
When the strand of strung seeds is about 24" long, set it aside overnight or hang it in the sun to dry (the seeds will shrink slightly). When it is dry, push together the seeds to cover any spaces which may have formed.
Tie the ends together in an overhand knot and cut off excess string. Slip the necklace over your head or wind it around your wrist as a bracelet.
Found at: Gingerbread Grandma's Cauldron


Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Friday Form A Circle - Planetary Ritual for Lammas

* Planetary Ritual for Lammas *

©1999 Sarolta DeFaltay-Bell

(You can do the ritual any time during the first week of August.) "Every planetary alignment holds an opportunity for growth and expanded awareness, and contains symbolism that can be universally shared and understood. By meditating on current planetary themes, we can tune in to the archetypal energy inherent therein, gaining a deeper understanding of our own personal myth, integrating the planetary energies experientially through personalized ritual."

As the midpoint between Midsummer and The Autumnal equinox, Lammas (Old English, meaning "Loaf Mass") celebrates the first harvest, a festival of regeneration dedicated to the inventors of agriculture. This is the season where the Sun consummates it's union with the Earth, symbolized by sheaves of wheat and loaves of fresh bread upon the altar, along with the first fruits and vegetables from the garden. Pies made of berries are baked to commemorate the death of the "Green Man", who lives in all the green plants of the Earth, who is sacrificed each year at Harvest time, so that others may prosper.

Lammas Herbal Lore:

*Blackberry : (berries or leaves) Healing, money, protection.
*Caraway: Consecration, longevity, fidelity. Bake in bread to celebrate the Harvest.
*Corn: represents fertility, place on altar as an offering to the Great Cosmic mother, Ceres / Demeter.
*Fenugreek: Used in rinse water as you clean, is said to attract money. Make a tea to ingest or use in the bath. Focus on developing the powers of the mind. *Hollyhock: Favored by faeries to bring luck to the home.
*Mistletoe: gathered on Lammas by the Druids of old. Protection, healing, conception, consecration.
*Oat: Cakes are made with the new grain and shared with friends and family. Oat is used in money spells.
*Sunflowers: Wisdom, fertility, a strong and healthy confidence. place on altar; add seeds to feast.

The Altar
Decorate with loaves of bread, grains, ears of corn, summer squash, zucchini, sunflowers, hollyhocks and oat cakes, blackberry wine. You will need three candles: gold, red and dark blue.

Ritual

Cast the circle by visualizing white light encircling you in a clockwise motion. Honor and invite the four elements into your circle: East for Air, South for Fire, West for Water, and North for Earth.

Incense ingredients

Frankincense, Cinnamon, Blackberry leaves, Apple blossoms.
Bring any or all of the above ingredients into your ritual circle and add each ingredient one at a time, while grinding by hand with a mortar and pestle and focusing on the properties of each herb as it is added. Consecrate your incense by dedicating it to the Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess, and once the incense is prepared, burn some on a charcoal as you focus in on your ritual.

Ritual Bath

Chamomile, Fenugreek, Goldenrod, Oatmeal.
Place any or all herbs in cheesecloth and tie well; run under tap. You can also make a strong tea from the herbs: bring pure water to a boil, and allow to cool a few minutes before pouring over herbs; strain into bath.

Candles

The gold candle represents the Sun in Leo. How can I be a better magnet for success? How can I better project love and generosity to others?

• Focus clearly and write your intent on a small piece of paper.
• Place note under candle.
• Light the candle.

The red candle represents the initiative energy of Mars in the dramatic sign of Leo. Where do I choose to apply my creative impulse? Repeat steps as before.
The dark blue candle represents the Moon in Virgo, and the necessary attention to detail for the success of your goal. Repeat as before.
Spend some time meditating on the themes of your ritual, and when you feel the ritual is complete, thank the Mother Goddess, and burn each paper as you focus once again on the intention of the goal, releasing the energy to the wind and elemental helpers. Thank the nature spirits, deities or elementals, and close your circle, allowing the candles to burn all the way down, or instead, burn them for a little while for the next few days, letting them burn all the way down on the third day.

(This article is an excerpt from the book: "The Magical Astrology Guide for the Year 2000" by Sarolta DeFaltay-Bell. Sarolta is an astrologer and tarot consultant, and works with clients to create personal rituals based on individual needs and astrological cycles. She also writes Daily Horoscopes and New Moon Magic for every sign at Moon Spells

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader's personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.