We hope you and your family are at a wonderful place in your lives during this Lughnasadh. It has always been a special time for us, as we celebrate the harvest season and look forward to the beginning of the new year (which for me has always occurred at Samhain, not January 1st). In honor of the day, I thought perhaps I would share something that I stumbled across online. It’s a Lughnasadh Ritual by Sandra Kynes, which I found posted to the Llewellyn Encyclopedia. I won’t post the entire ritual here, but will simply post the set-up. You can read the rest of the ritual at Llewellyn.
Setup
Items needed for this ritual include: Six pieces of fruit, vegetables or a combination placed in a basket near the altar; Chalice; A wand or athame can be used to cast the circle; Honey mead or other honeyed drink such as chamomile tea; Cornbread on a plate; A small cup filled with grapes.
Background
In our modern world it is easy to forget how important a successful harvest was to our ancestors. They had cause for celebration: A good harvest meant survival in the dark, cold months ahead. A poor or bad harvest signaled the beginning of difficult times. Even though we can nip out to the supermarket whenever we need something, this is a good time to give thought to where our food originates and reverence for the cycles that produce it. Better still, tending a garden keeps us in touch with the Goddess and her bounty. Even if your garden consists only of tomatoes or herbs grown in pots on a balcony, these taste all the sweeter for having been nurtured by your own hands.
Tonight’s circle is created to give thanks for what the Lord and Lady provide. The late summer harvest is a time of transformation; a time to take stock of how the year has unfolded thus far, what you h ave done, and what you are ready to reap. The fruits of the seeds planted in the spring (physical and spiritual) are ready to be gathered in.
