birth and rebirth of the God
the festival of Lugh the Sun God
the first harvest
personal sacrifice to repay what we have given
Thanksgiving
Foods:
loaf (central)
Rabbit (Traditional Meat)
meat pies and pasties anything which could be taken from the fields to harvest
fruits in season, such as apples, blackberries, blackcurrants, cherries, gooseberries, pears, plums, raspberries, strawberries. Slice them into salads, cook them in pies and pastries
Gingerbread men (ginger bread biscuits in the shape of men )
seeds and nuts
grains
Drinks:
A good strong red wine
ciders
HERBS:
Aloes
Cyclamen
Sunflower
cornstalks, heather, frankincense, wheat may be burned
acacia flowers, corn ears, hollyhock, myrtle, oak leaves, and wheat may be decorations
Flowers:
Magickal Woods:
COLORS:
golds, yellows and oranges for the God
red for the robes of the bountiful Mother which the Goddess wears.
Note: This blend can be burned, but is is best done outdoors. It can also be offered in a vessel without burning it. In addition, by substituting some other kind of safe and edible berry for the rowan, the ingredients can be used to create a sacred cake.
Aloes
Rose
Rose Hips
Rosemary
Chamomile
Passionflower
Frankincense
Sandalwood
It honors the Grain Harvests and the Gods and Goddesses of Death and Resurrection
GODDESSES:
Tammuz...........Sumerian
Adonis..............Assyrian,Babylonian
Demeter............GreekPersephone.......Greek
Ceres................Roman grain goddess..honored at Ceresalia
Freyja...............Norse
Bride................Celtic
Tailltiu.............Welsh-Scottish
Seelu................Cherokee
Isis.................Her birthday is celebrated about this time
Luna.................Roman Moon Goddess
Dana.................Lugh's wife & queen
The Mother
the Barley Mother
Corn Mother
other agricultural Goddesses
the waxing Goddess
GODS:
Lugh.................Celtic, one of the Tuatha De Danaan
Johnny Barleycorn.....
Lleu..................Welsh God of the Sun & Corn where corn includes all grains (Arianrhod's golden haired son)
Dagon.................Phoenician Grain God
Tammuz/Dummuzi........Sumerian
Dionysus..............
Taranis...............Romano-Celtic Thunder God
Tina..................Etruscan-Thunder God
Tanus.................Gaulish Thunder God
all sacrificial Gods who willingly shed blood/give their life that their people/lands may prosper
All vegetation Gods
the waning God
The grinding of the grain represents the harvest and death (or transition), adding sprouted wheat and yeast represents resurrection, and the consumption of the food represents the cycles of nature and new life.
Things to Do/Activities:
Consider the positives in life; Count the blessings
Take a number of pieces of paper
on one side make a note on something you have achieved in the past year, or even since your last Sabbat.
On the reverse side make a note of something you intend to do in 'payment' for this.
This should be something you can achieve but which will cost you either time or effort in the same way.
To give an example, if you have had success in an examination, put that on the first side. On the reverse you may like to dedicate some time to helping teach someone else a skill they do not have or to reading to a young child.
The 'achievement' and 'payment' do not have to be directly linked.
You might choose to cook a special meal for someone who deserves it, for example, as payment for your pet's recovery from an illness.
Once you start on an exercise like this it can be easy to think of a huge number of positives which have happened in your life.
If this is the case, try to restrict yourself to the ones where you feel that you have received the help of the Goddess and aim to mark three key events in this way.
During Ritual
Call upon the elements, the Goddess and the God in the usual way.
Take your first piece of paper and read carefully the 'achievement' whilst remembering the way you felt at the time.
Give thanks to the Lord and Lady for giving this to you/
Then turn it over and read your 'payment'.
Dedicate this task to the Lord and Lady, saying that you will be doing it in their honor and as payment.
Repeat with all pieces of paper.
Once you have finished, thank the elements, the Goddess and the God
You can either pin your promises up in a place where you can see them, only removing them when you have carried out your tasks, or you can put your papers away in a safe place.
Either way, do not forget to carry out your promises, as these have been made and dedicated as a Witch and just as you do not wish the Goddess and God to stop helping you, so you do not want to fail to carry out your offering to them.
Historical Activities:
rabbits were driven from the fields by the harvesters and no free source of food would have been wasted
gathering to harvest crops and to celebrate afterwards
