Lammas/Lughnasadh
Ritual by Sue Perryman
From the book The Art of Ritual
Written
to be led by two High Priestesses noted as HPS1 and HPS2 but could be any
member of the circle.
Needed: Note pad and enough pens or pencils for
everyone present.
A cauldron on the altar, a loaf of homemade bread
and a chalice or glass of juice, wine or water.
A besom, dried rose petals, smudging stick or
incense and salt.
Ground and centre.
HPS 1 sweeps the circle, then casts the circle
walking round it three times sprinkling dried rose petals and chanting:
I cast this circle, to keep us safe from harm,
three times the circles cast about, three times is the charm.
HPS2 walks to the eastern quarter and turns to
face it and says:
I call on the guardian of the East, element of air,
you whose gentle breeze scatters the seeds that will grow into food to nourish
us.
Join us if you will and watch over our Lammas
rites.
We wish you Hail and Welcome.
HPS1 walks to the southern quarter and turns to
face it and says:
I call on the guardian of the south, element of fire,
you who are the sun that shines down and ripens our crops.
Join us if you will and watch over our Lammas
rites.
We wish you Hail and Welcome.
HPS2 walks to the western quarter, turns to face
it and says
Guardian of the west, element of water, you who
nourish our crops so that they in turn grow and nourish us.
Join us if you will and watch over our Lammas
rites.
We wish you Hail and Welcome.
HPS1 walks to the northern quarter, turns to face
it and says:
Guardian of the north, element of earth, you who
are the very foundation that supports and grows our crops. Join us if you will
and watch over our Lammas rites.
We wish you Hail and Welcome.
HPS1 walks to altar, raises arms to the sky and says:
Lugh, Lord of the sun and of the harvest. Mother Earth,
who's body brings forth fertility and life.
Join us if you will and watch over us during our
Lammas rites.
We wish you Hail and Welcome.
HPS1 walks around the circle smudging everyone
with incense or a smudge stick and HPSs follows sprinkling salt. (This could
also be performed by two people from the circle chosen before hand)
Someone is asked to hand out the pens and sheets
of paper to everyone in the circle.
HPS2: The
wheel has turned once more and we are here to celebrate the festival of Lammas
also known as Lughnasadh the feast of the Celtic sun god Lugh who was seen as
the god of light, whose spirit was the life of the growing corn. It is the time
of the first harvest the harvest of grains, it was especially important to our
ancestors as everyone was expected to help with the work of bringing in the
harvest before the autumn rains came and the harvest would make the difference
between starvation and nourishment throughout the winter.
HPS1: Lammas is strongly linked to sacrifice, the
sacrifice of Lugh who gives his life for the harvest and will be reborn again
with next year’s new crops. It is also a time for personal sacrifice so I
decided it would be a good idea for each one of us to sacrifice some of our time
to helping someone or something in our communities. It could be by donating some
food to your local food bank or even just spending a few minutes of your time to
chat to an elderly neighbour maybe even
offer to do some shopping for them, there are lots of things that we could all
do to help someone and I am sure you can all think of something however
small that might make a difference to
someone in need. We will take a few minutes while you all have a think and
write down on your paper what you propose to do. When you have done this fold
your piece of paper up and come forward to place it in the cauldron. You have
until Samhain to do this when the paper will be burnt. (Give everyone some time
to do this maybe the HPS's could drum or start cutting up the loaf).
When everyone has finished the HPS's walk around
the circle giving small pieces of bread and a drink of water/juice to each
person saying ‘Blessed Be’.
HPS2: Lugh, lord of the sun and Mother Earth our
foundation, thank you for watching over us during our rites and for giving us
this wonderful harvest.
Stay if you will, go if you must, we wish you
Hail and Farewell.
HPS1 walks to the north and says:
Guardian of the north, element of earth, thank
you for watching over us during our rites.
Stay if you will, go if you must, we wish you
Hail and Farewell.
HPS2 walks to the west and says:
Guardian of the west, element of water, thank you
for watching over us during our rites.
Stay if you will, go if you must, we wish you
Hail and Farewell.
HPS1 walks to the South and says:
Guardian of the south, element of fire, thank you
for watching over us during our rites.
Stay if you will, go if you must, we wish you
Hail and Farewell.
HPS2 walks over to the East and says:
Guardian of the east, element of air, thank you
for watching over us during our rites.
Stay if you will, go if you must, we wish you
Hail and Farewell.
HPS1 walks widdershins round the circle, and then
they both say:
The circle is open, but never broken.
Cake time…
Unity/Sue Perryman
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