I ran across this lovely photo on Chiot’s Run’s flickr page. I think that Autumn harvests and cats simply belong together, besides Halloween is tomorrow and I cannot resist the prowling black cat! Make sure to check out her wonderful blog (where you will find more black cat and apple harvest goodness.)

We are getting our first frost warnings this week so I have had a chance to start using my GardenQuilt row cover which should protect down to 24F and has 60% light transmission (so I pull it off during the day once it warms up.) I bought a 10′x20′ piece of GardenQuilt and used most of it to cover my winter vegetable garden (my carrots have finally started to grow by the way!) The extra piece will not be large enough to cover the next raised bed I built but I can eventually sew a couple pieces together to make another large piece. For now it is draped over my tomatoes trellis to offer them some kind of frost protection while they finish ripening.

I harvested my first autumn Early Scarlet Globe Radishes this morning, I think they have gotten hotter with the cooler weather. I am definitely ready for this cool down too, anything over 80F has been leaving me drained but I am not sure if I am ready for frost yet. I am hoping my last pumpkin ripens before the killing frost as I don’t have enough row cover to protect it. It is about half way orange. You can see it at the very end of the vine to the left of the tomato trellis.

Does anyone know if there is any way for me to encourage it to hurry up and ripen? I do not intend on storing it for long, it will be turned into a pie in short order. Should it ripen at least.

We always know when summer is coming to an end in our area. The warm weather goes to battle with the increasing cold fronts and one day can be 90°F and the next barely pass 60°F. Last night dropped to 42°F and some of the outlaying areas even had freezing fog. On Friday I ordered row cover fabric to cover my Winter bed and protect my tomatoes from the cooler evenings. The variety I purchased is called GardenQuilt and should protect down to 24°F, a killing frost that hopefully is still a couple months away. Yesterday I also took some time to prune my tomatoes to encourage their heavy sets of fruit to start ripening. One can only eat so many green tomato dishes.

Even though the gardener in me is sad to see the first frost nearing (though I am looking forward to the Winter garden of root vegetables and hardy greens) I very much love Autumn. Bright orange pumpkins, the apple festival in Greenbluff, the fair, falling leaves, puddles to show Damian how to jump in and, of course, rainbows. We had a beautiful double rainbow bless our skies between rain showers on Saturday afternoon. The rainbows made that nights windy carnage a little less painful. The high winds of the next front blowing in did a little number on one of my Titan sunflowers.

Another Autumn perk is being able to make hot food in my kitchen without roasting in my home. This Sunday we had some of our friends over for dinner. With that day’s high of 63°F I went all out and made two baguettes, pound cake and my potato soup (which always seems to be a hit.) Andrea and Peter brought over some beautiful yellow and red corn from their garden and tiny little watermelons. I think Damian has a new fruit love.

Isn’t the corn beautiful?

This coming weekend we are having our what is becoming an annual invade-the-closed-campground trip to Skookum Lake. There are few things more beautiful then watching the mist rising off the lake at dawn while sipping mimosas (made with sparkling cider for me this year) with your closest friends. Or at least with your closest friends who don’t mind hiking it to a closed campground so that you have it all to yourself and the potential for slightly chilly nights (and maybe another, dare I say it? Chupacabra sighting.)

Sun or rain, wind or calm, life is truly beautiful when shared with those you love.

This weekend I harvested the rest of my purple haze carrots (which were fantastic and gone very quickly) and yesterday I picked my first handful of empress beans (an stringless heirloom snap bean.)

I actually could have started picking my beans last week but I am saving the seeds from that plant in the hopes of having even earlier beans next year. Did you know that beans have perfect flowers? They self-pollinate so you can grow many varieties in your garden without worrying too much about them cross-pollinating. That said nothing is infallible and they do suggest you seperate varieties of white bean by the length of your garden.

I know I have said this many times but living in sync with seasons is very important to me on a spiritual level. That is the main reason I garden. A garden is very visible representation of the passage of time. Beyond that, who can seriously resist fresh garden produce? It just tastes so much better. I think that is why my spiritual self and mundane self are so inseparable.

I ran across a new ezine this morning called Living in Season and I love it so far because it really seems to mesh all those aspects together. I am always so happy to come across people with the same aspirations and dedication as I in those areas. Anyhow it looks really promising and I just wanted to share in case you too have the same dreams (or if you are already living the dream for that matter.)

This morning I realized that I had not yet thinned my carrots when Damian yoinked out a a few and I noticed the drastic size differences. Not surprisingly when two carrots grow crammed next to each other one looses the battle of the biggest and the other never really reaches it’s full potential either. I don’t like thinning my plants, as is most obvious when you see my leaf lettuce patch. Plant abortions kill! Nom nom.

You don’t have to throw out those tiny carrots though, they are still deliciously edible. I washed them off and Michael and I snacked on them for breakfast. Also if they are cooked beyond a light stirfry they will revert to orange. In the thinning process I pulled out a couple larger ones, which I took a picture of. Not your typical carrots, but that is the joy of a home garden. I am growing purple haze carrots, which turn purple as they mature, though the core will remain orange. They are still a couple weeks from being fully developed but they are still going to be excellent in our lunch stirfry.

I want to do a successive sowing of carrots this year, after these are harvested. I am going to give making seed tape a try, that way thinning will not be necessary. If that works well I might do that for all my small seeds next year, a nice little winter project. I’ll let you know how that goes.

The Festival of Samhain was an ancient Celtic festival, falling on October 31st. A day which also marks Catholic All-Souls-Day and the secular Halloween, both strongly colored by the Celtic festival. Unlike most of the other sabbats, Samhain is not dictated by astrological events and therefor always falls on October 31st. Beltane is it’s counterpart laying directly opposite to Samhain in the Wheel of the year.

Samhain marks the end of the planted harvest and the beginning of the meat harvest. In days long past this time was vital, with the first snows nearing it was time to cull the herds and preserve their meat for Winter; without which the communities survival would be in question. Our ancestors knew this and so lived in harmony and with intuitive knowledge of the weather and changing seasons.

The Celtic year was split into two parts, and Samhain marks the start of the dark half, or Winter, which will transition into summer at Beltane. Now is the time for Old Wild Mother Earth to slip into a deep slumber, there she will gather strength till the Spring planting. This rest period is important, if not vital, not only for Her but also as a lesson to us. We must all take a break from time to time, as to regain our energy. With our renewed energy, the fruits of our labor will be even better.

Historically Samhain was an important festival celebrated for three days in the royal court in Tara (in modern day Ireland.) All hearth fires were extinguished and a ritual fire was started on the Hill of Tara, signaling people to gathered on hilltops all across Ireland and light community bonfires. Sometimes two bonfires were lit and people and livestock passed between then in a purification and protection rite. At the end of the Samhain celebrations a burning ember was taken home by each family to relight their own hearth fires. This was a common flame binding together the entire community.

Beyond being associated with the harvest, Samhain was a sacred time to the Celts. In their lore, on Samhain eve the veil between the worlds grows especially thin. This was a particularly powerful time for the spirits of the dead could interact with the living. Because of this many forms of divination were often done on this night and of course a variety of rituals were done to appease or welcome one’s ancestors. Burial cairns were often opened in villages and torches were used to light the path out so the dead could safely navigate their way into the world of the living. Candles are set in the windows to guide spirits safely to the house. The dumb supper was another common tradition, this is when an extra place is set at the table in honor of one’s ancestors and more recent deceased loved ones. Sometimes apples were buried in the Earth to nourish those who have died but chosen not to rise.

The origin of the Jack-O-Lantern comes from these days long past as well (though back then it was a turnip) it was a light to guide the beloved dead, the scary face was later added to frighten off any spirits will bad intentions. Masks and costumes were also used to hide identities from these malevolent spirits. Of course in the modern day these are harmless traditions times incorporated into Halloween, having mostly lost their meaning to non-Pagans.

In my own path, I celebrate both Halloween and Samhain. Halloween being about fun and family and Samhain having a more somber, but equally family oriented feel. Tonight the veil between the worlds lifts, and the spirits will walk amongst us once again. Be they family, friends or foes, they come into our realm to share whatever weighs on their souls. In my West window a candle burns brightly, guiding my beloved ancestors as they travel. Perhaps they will come in and take a seat at our table, as I have set a place for them, so that they may join us as we share stories, both tall and small, about them.

Honoring the ancestors is an important facet in my personal beliefs and something I do all year around. Samhain however always feels especially significant for paying those respects and sharing their stories, perhaps because I know that there are so many others out their sending their respects to the own beloved dead on this night.

On this eve give thanks to the lessons that the past year has revealed to me and honor its teachings in its death. On the dawn the wheel will turn once again and the new year will rise. May the good come to pass and the bad be cast aside. So mote it be.

Samhain: in our home

(This is from a page in my BoS where I list family activities, crafts, home and altar decorations and other miscellaneous ideas.)

Activities:

• Ancestors Ritual
• Divination
• Make Dreamboards
• Nature Hike
• Picking Pumpkins
• Trick or Treat

Crafts:

• Carving Pumpkins
• Bread Making
• Mask/Costume Making
• Pine Cone Bird Feeders
• Samhain Candles

Decorations:

• Acorns, Maple Keys, Pinecones
• Autumn Leaves
• Burial Cairns
• Gourds, Pumpkins, Squash
• Scythe, Bolline
• Seasonal flowers and foods

Samhain: feast

We are having a potluck this year and our vegetarian friends will be coming, hence the meatless meal. I alway try to focus on making my meals as local as possible, as to best honor Old Wild Mama Earth.

We stand now on the eve of the New Year,
I give thanks to the lessons this year has revealed to me and honor its teachings.
On the dawn the wheel will turn once again and the new year will rise.
The Spirits of the Ancestors are here, shinning, and we send our love to them.
Dark are the days ahead but bright are the fires in our souls.
In this coming year may the good come to pass and the bad be cast aside.
May our home be guarded against the cold and our pantries sustain us.
So mote it be.

BREAD: Sweet Potato Biscuits
(I’m using yams this year because I want the biscuits to be orange.)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup sweet potato, mashed
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

Cook and mash sweet potatoes. Chill.

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Cut in cold butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Stir in sweet potatoes, milk and maple syrup. Pat into 9″ square and cut into 16 squares.

Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cook on wire rack.

–

MAIN DISH: Smashed Potato Soup

• 3 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons roasted garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4-1/2 cups chicken broth (vegetable broth today)
• 1/2 cup sour cream (you can use whipping cream or half and half too)
• 4 oz shredded pepperjack (or cheddar)
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions

In a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker, combine potatoes, sweet pepper, garlic, and black pepper. Pour broth in. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.

Mash potatoes slightly with a potato masher. Stir in sour cream, cheese, and the 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions.

Serves 8.

–

DESSERT: Aunt Ruth’s Pumpkin Pie
I found this recipe on my Aunt Ruth ’s cooking blog from last year. If you don’t know how to make pumpkin filling from scratch, go here.

I hope you all have a most blessed and joyful Samhain (or Halloween!) Autumn is drawing to a close, so enjoy these last days before the wheel turns to the white softness of Winter.

My hands are stained red, the cutting board and knife drip crimson, chunks of scarlet bubble away in the crockpot, anything that didn’t fit in there is in the freezer, for future use…

Bwahahahahahahaha!

*Cough* Um, this isn’t the start of a B-flick! I just finished processing a bushel of pluots! I also have most of the latest ripe (and a few green just to experiment) tomatoes from Shannon’s garden in my dehydrator. Can you believe I filled 8 square feet of space and still have a few pounds to go?

I still have a bushel of apples to either freeze or dry, as well as more summer squash. Thank goodness I love zucchini (I made relish with the last batch.) I also roasted a chicken and made an apple pie from scratch today. My pie crust was a little chewy (hey I am a bread maker, it feels weird not to work my dough) but got the Michael seal of approval, which is good enough for me. I have some sage and oregano to jar and label before bed still.

Oh Eternal Spirits of the Harvest, how I love this Autumn bounty! But if I see one more pluot… Oh wait, I still have 20 on the table. *Horror-movie-esque scream*

We went to Beck’s Harvest House in Greenbluff yesterday, this is our third year going out there to pick apples and it is always really fun. Our friends Andrea, Peter, Shannon and Rachelle came along (the photos in this post were taken by Andrea.)

Damian stayed in the wrap most of the time, snoozing, but he was awake for a bit and all happiness (except when he wet himself in his carseat… I would be cranky about that too.) We didn’t bring his potty and he was very unwilling to go in his diaper. We are going to have to start bringing it when we take longer outings. Damian loved the red apples, he loves anything red. I am sorting them today for peeling and he keeps grabbing at the reddest ones.

I love that creepy scarecrow picture. I also love the hat of that kid in the pumpkin patch. Orange for the win! Normally we drive up to Mt Spokane after the festival but the road is closed right now. It washed with the spring flooding and they are rebuilding it. That’s okay though, I was pretty tuckered out between carrying Damian and picking apples.

We picked a huge box of Valstars, Jonafrees and… something else (I don’t remember the name but it accounts for about 90% of my apples… They are crunchy and tart, my favorite type for pies and eating.) I also picked up a case of pluots, they are a plum/apricot cross. (They look a lot like something I called dinosaur eggs as a kid.) I am going to dry or freeze most of what we bought and also make some butter (some of which will be turned into fruit leather.) Oh we also got fresh pressed cider (one gallon of which I froze for mulled cider at Samhain) and two bottles of local wine (one cranberry infused one for Winter Solstice.)

Now to go make some apple pie! (Lots more photos from the festival here! I took some video too but I don’t have it on the computer yet.)

The cool down of Autumn have finally arrived and so has the peak of the harvest season. Fat pumpkins lay in fields, apple branches bend low with heavy yield and the Earth’s bounty overflows the garden and farm. This harvest begs to be enjoyed, but also preserved. Winter’s icy days draw near.

Technically speaking an equinox is a day when the Sun will spend an equal amount of time above and below the horizon. This happens twice a year, in Autumn and Spring. Autumn Equinox is the tipping point into the dark half of the year. Today we are also entering into the sunsign of Libra, her scales are a perfect echo of the light/dark balance of this equinox. Historically speaking, nearly every culture has some form of harvest festival, many celebrated still today.

Megalithic people of ancient Britain and Ireland obviously placed some kind of importance on both the solstices and equinoxes. Otherwise they would not have build stone structures like Stonehenge and Loughcrew Cairn to determine their dates. Their methods of celebrating these days has been long lost to history though.

The ancient Celts constructed a wickerman around this time of the year as well. It was ritually burned to represent the plant spirits returning to the earth to rest until Spring. An incarnation of this ancient idea has been reborn in recent years in the Burning Man Project, a yearly festival celebrated in the Autumn in Nevada. A giant wickerman is constructed and burned at the height of the week long festival.

The Mayans constructed a sacred pyramid called Chichen Itza, which acted in a similar way to the stone structures of the Megalithic people of Britain and Ireland. On the day of the Autumn Equinox a “serpent of light” descends the pyramid until it joins this a huge stone rattlesnake head at its base. (This serpent is actually seven isosceles triangles that are formed from the sunlight hitting the pyramid stairs.)

The Chumash, a Native American tribe from Southern California, celebrate the Autumn Equinox in a ceremony that takes place after the harvest is picked, processed and stored. After this day the spiritual thoughts of the tribe become focused on unity in the face of Winter.

Teutonic tribes called the period from the Autumn Equinox until approximately October 15th “Winter Finding.” October 15th was Winter Night and their new years. Besoms were constructed to symbolize the man/woman duality. A Harvest Lord was made from straw and burned, his ashes scattered over the fields. A Harvest Queen was woven from the last sheaf of wheat of the harvest. It was dressed in Spring colors and hung from a pole (it also was sometimes called the Kern Baby.)

In Neopaganism, many different rituals are preformed on this day, often echoing ancient traditions. Most of these rites are based on the balance found in nature as well as within ourselves. Some refer the Autumn Equinox as the Witches Thanksgiving as it is a celebration of the harvest and a time to give thanks for the bounty that the Earth has provided.. Wiccans, the most common variety of Neopagans, celebrate the Autumn Equinox as Mabon. The day honors the Sacrificial King who dies and passes into the harvest to be reborn through the Goddess come Springtime.

In my practice, I personify the Earth as Mother and Sun as Father. Now is the time for Father Sun to pass into darkness so that Mother Earth might rest as she nurtures the spirit of Spring within her. Without Winter’s rest many plants could not come forth in the Spring. Autumn Equinox is a time to come together as a community and give thanks for the harvest as well as find peace within ourselves to face the coming darker days. It is a time of year when the goals that summer’s fun kept me from, return to the forefront of my mind. Balances is a powerful force which I invite into my life so that all my workings might come from a place of wholeness and love. Balance is needed in all things from the spiritual to the mundane as it keeps us from the pointlessness excess and the dullness of laziness.

Autumn Equinox: in our home

(This is from a page in my BoS where I list family activities, crafts, home and altar decorations and other miscellaneous ideas.)

Activities:

• Acorn Gathering for Winter Solstice ornaments
• Harvest Festival in Greenbluff
• Thanksgiving Ritual

Crafts:

• Apple Dolls
• Autumn Leaves Stained Glass
• Besom Making
• Bread Making
• Pine Cone Bird Feeders
• Harvesting and Preserving: canning, dehydrating, freezing
• Equinox Candles

Decorations:

• Acorns, Maple Keys, Pinecones
• Autumn Leaves
• Burial Cairns
• Cornucopias
• Dried Herbs
• Indian Corn Bundles
• Scythe, Bolline
• Seasonal flowers and foods

Autumn Equinox: feast

This is a a time when the Earth’s bounty is at her peak, why not make the table groan with your favorite seasonal dishes? Since we go to the apple festival each year fresh apple cider and local wines fill out goblets and we raise them for a blessing a toast.

Eternal Spirits we welcome you into our home on this day of balance.
You who are the wind, water, fire and earth at the soul of our world.

The Autumn Equinox is here and we give thee thanks for the harvest,
and its bounty that nourishes us, sustains us and inspires us.

We give thee thanks for the times we spend together in love and peace,
and all those who have fought so that we may enjoy this freedom.

We give thee thanks for this good green Earth and the kinship of our friends and family,
and for all we have overlooked or taken for granted in our life.

We give thanks for the blessings you whisper into our lives each and every day.
Eternal Spirits we welcome you to our table. Blessed be.

(You can go around the table now and have everyone share what they are thankful for.)

–

BREAD: Roasted Potato and Onion Bread
This must be started the night before your feast. It is well worth the effort though!

–

MAIN DISH: Layered Vegetarian Crockpot
Layer in crockpot:

• 6 potatoes, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup peas

Any vegetable mixture really works. I didn’t have a zucchini today so I used green beans. If you have a garden, even better! Wander around and see what’s fresh.

Pour over top:

• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• Salt & Pepper

Cook 8 to 12 hours.

• Spread 1 cup shredded cheese over top and serve once melted.

–

DESSERT: Apple Pie
I think everyone has their preferred family recipe for this one, mine seems to change from year to year as I seek to find one that is truly special. Since we did not go apple picking this weekend (Michael was sick) we will be going next Sunday. So the apple pie is on the backburner so to speak, until then. If anyone has a tried and true apple pie recipe that they don’t mind me sharing through my blog if we like it, I would be more then willing to try it! (The crust cannot contain shortening, I am allergic to cottonseed oil.)

I hope you all have a most blessed and joyful Autumn Equinox, Mabon, Harvest Home, or whatever you celebrate. And if you celebrate none, I still hope you get outside rain or shine (rain for us this year!) and enjoy the beauty of Autumn.

(Clipart courtesy FCIT.)

I just realized we are only a couple weeks away from our yearly trip out to the Harvest Festival at Beck’s Harvest House in Greenbluff to pick apples and celebrate Autumn Equinox. It is a big, though very informal thing for me, most of our friends go and we have always had such a blast. Where has the past year gone? It was around this time last year I became pregnant with Damian, now if that isn’t a harvest gift I don’t know what is!

Damian loves being outside so I am sure he will enjoy the Harvest Festival too. It is a love I definitely want to nurture in him and hopefully over time it will instill reverence for Old Wild Mama Earth.

If you want to come apple picking with us, let me know, the more the merrier! If you are worried about not having the storage space, I have a dehydrator and a canner, we can set up a date a few days after to preserve some of the bounty.

(I’ll get around to posting about this past weekend’s camping trip tomorrow probably, it is all typed, but I need to finishing editing some video first.)

Today was the first morning it truly felt like Autumn. The air had that beautiful cold crisp quality and when I went outside to get the paper I noticed the edges of the leaves of the maple were just starting to turn. The morning sky has that surreal blue hue that only seem to happen this time of year.

We usually have one more warm spell before we get our first freeze but it will not be this week. Last night’s low was 40°F (about 4°C.) I am glad my sleeping bag is rated down to 30°F for this weekend’s camping trip. With highs expected in the mid-seventies it is going to be perfect. Our group size has also increased, Sal and Rusty are coming with us! I have everything ready except the cinnamon rolls and cornbread, which I will be making today. I may make the cornbread while we are camping as I cook it in cast iron. I have never tried that before though.

In a few weeks the Apple Festival will be here, time for our little framily will head out to Harvest House in Greenbluff to celebrate the Autumn Equinox. We do it every year and it is always fun. Thinking about the harvest, we reminded our California friend the other day that it is time for her to cut back her tomatoes so that what she has will ripen. I have three huge zucchini from her garden waiting on the counter, the fresh green beans, peppers and corn are long gone.

Autumn is certainly on our doorsteps, while I love the sunny vitality of summer, the cool down always is a welcome guest.

Though Lughnasadh was a few days ago, I just finished writing my Book of Shadows page about this sabbat. I thought I would share. Let me know what you think and if you see any glaring typos. Dyslexia and proofreading do not always mesh well…

Lughnasadh: the grain harvest

The blistering first days of August are here, the parched earth does not give us much indication of cooling, but crisp Autumn mornings will soon be on our doorstep. Summer vegetables are at their peak and fill the garden and marketplace, corn and grain are being reaped and pumpkins and apples are beginning to ripen on the farms. In spite of the heat this is also a the time to begin laying down the Winter stores.

Lughnasadh is the first of three harvest sabbats in the Wheel of the Year. It is either celebrated around August 1st or the nearest full moon to it. Lughnasadh has a very convoluted history, Which is something I am certain Lugh would find immensely amusing.

Lughnasadh literally means “assembly of Lugh”. It is an Iris festival that traditionally took place at the start of the grain harvest, around August 1st. In Celtic legend, Lugh decreed that a commemorative feast be held on this day in the honor of his foster mother, the Fir Bolg queen, Tailtiu. She died clearing a forest for her people to plant grain. The legend states that she was buried beneath the hill of Tailte, which is where the first feast of Lughnasadh was held. As time passed, traditions surrounding Lughnasadh began to solidify into events and ceremonial activities designed to celebrate Tailtiu’s sacrifice as well as the bounty of the harvest.

In early Ireland, it was considered bad luck to harvest your grain any time before Lughnasadh, since that meant that the previous year’s harvest had run out early, which was a serious failing in agricultural communities. Grain has been a vital crop since the dawn of civilization as it is one of the foods that can easily be stored through the harshness of Winter. This has caused grain to become strongly associated with the cycle of death and rebirth in many ancient cultures. It is important to note that the grain referred to in old texts was most likely wheat, not corn. Corn is a crop of the Americas and did not exist in Ireland at the time Lughnasadh was founded.

Lugh is tied to the bountiful harvest as well, though not in the role of Sun God, as many Neopagans believe. This is a error that appeared in the Victorian era and is still perpetuated by many authors today, who confuse him with John Barleycorn. Lugh was actually a god of many talents, patron to craftsman and bards, who was honored for his cleverness and quick wit. He was fond of games of physical prowess as well as skill, particularly horse racing. Lugh had an affinity with storms as well, and it was considered a good omen for it to be stormy on Lughnasadh. It is Lugh who broke Summer’s hold over the land, heralding the start of the harvest. Lugh is further tied to the harvest through some of his triumph in battles with the land-spirits, in which the harvest was released for the use of Mankind.

Modern day Lughnasadh has a healthy dose of the Christianized “Lammas” mixed into it. This makes the celebration even more strongly oriented around the grain harvest. Lammas is celebrated on the first Sunday of August and is a day when everyone brought loaves of bread to church to be blessed. These loaves were baked from the first grain of the season.

In Wicca, the main figure of Lughnasadh is the Sacrificial King, sometimes called John Barleycorn. He embodies the wheat fields and is reaped/sacrificed so that we can survive the Winter. He is a powerful representation of the life and death cycle as he is reborn again come Spring when the fields are sewn again.

In our modern world, it is easy to forget the importance of the harvest. If we needed a loaf of bread, we can buy a prepackaged one from the store. If it runs out, we can easily go get another one. When our ancestors lived, the grain harvest was crucial. Whether the harvest succeeded or failed was the difference between life and death for many families. By celebrating Lughnasadh as a harvest festival, we honor our ancestors’ hard work. Lughnasadh is a time to reflect on the things we could or could not live without as well as the abundance in our lives.

To me, community is at the heart of all the sabbats and my whole belief system revolves around stewardship of the Earth. Though we live in a world where so many foods are at our finger tips, the sabbats wonderful time to share and appreciate the local harvest. What better way to celebrate the turning of the wheel then to celebrate what Mother Earth gives us freely from our area? Lughnasadh is an ideal time to gather with friends and work together to preserve the bounty that was nurtured throughout the Summer. It also makes for quick work so we can get back out into the Summer sun! I think Lugh would appreciate the crafting of fine preserves as well as the rush to get back outside to celebrate with some games!

Lughnasadh: in our home

(This is from a page in my BoS where I list family activities, crafts, home and altar decorations and other miscellaneous ideas.)

Activities:

• Bardic Contest: Lugh is the patron of bards, have a storytelling contest
• Board Games: chess, checkers, nine man morris
• House Blessing Ritual (done every sabbat)
• Trip to Greenbluff or Farmers Market: to appreciate Mother Earth’s bounty
• Races: hobby horse, sack, or three-legged races are amusing alternatives to the more traditional but impractical horse races.
• Riddle Contests: to honor Lugh’s cleverness
• Other Games: badminton, boche ball, horseshoes, frisbee

Crafts:

• Bread Making
• Corn Crafts: cornhusk chains, corn dollies
• Felt Suns
• Harvesting and Preserving Food: canning, dehydrating, freezing
• Lughnasadh Candles
• Seed Necklaces: made with dried beans and indian corn

Decorations:

• The crafts listed above
• Burial Cairns
• Scythe, bolline
• Seasonal flowers and foods
• Suns

Lughnasadh: feast

Feast Blessing:
(modified from one is Scott Cunningham’s “Wicca, a guide for the solitary practitioner”)

Now is the Time of the First Harvest,
When the bounties of Nature give of themselves so that we may survive.
Eternal Spirits of the ripening fields,
Grant us the understanding of sacrifice as you fall beneath the sickle.
We pass now into the wanning year, its darkness brings deepening wisdom.

We gather here to welcome the First Harvest,
Mixing its energies with our own so that we may continue our journey.
Eternal Spirits, we offer our thanks for your guidance,
And renew our pledge to continue our stewardship of the Earth.

May the nodding grain loose its seed and bury in the Mother’s breast,
Ensuring rebirth in the warmth of next Spring.

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Lughnasadh: wheat field guided meditation

(I wrote in 2007 for a Lughnasadh group ritual.)

Everyone get in a comfortable meditation pose and gently close your eyes.

Begin breathing slow and relaxed breaths from your belly up. Feel yourself becoming wonderfully relaxed. All tension and stress is falling away, like drifting autumn leaves.

Feel your feet relax, then your legs, thighs, buttocks. All your lower body, perfectly relaxed. Relax your abdomen, your chest, let you heart release its worries for this time. Relax, warm and relaxed. Now flex and relax your hands, then your arms and shoulders. Tension flowing out of you, all relaxed. All tension leaving your neck, your face, your thoughts, warm and relaxed. All physical and mental tension is draining away. Feel at ease with your surroundings, calm and at peace.

Take a moment now to enjoy this wonderful feeling of completely relaxed, surrounded by peace.

Imagine you are in a lush golden wheat field, the first harvest is ripe, ready to be reaped. It is late afternoon and the Lughnasadh sun baths you with warm gentle rays. You are at peace here, the wheat, the sun, the earth, they all welcome you to this place.

The Sun sends His solar energy down to the grain, bringing life. Feel the healing solar energy flow into you. As this warm and invigorating energy fills you feel it touch your face and neck; arms, chest and heart; flowing through your stomach, legs and feet and out into the earth.

The Earth sends Her own energy through you, peaceful and loving. This energy penetrates your every cell and rises through you, out your crown chakra – at the top of your head. Your whole body is a golden waterfall, you are a conduit, being cleanses as running water cleanses. You are at peace.

Bathe in this light for a few moments… Know that in experiencing this golden light pouring into you, you allow the loving, healing forces of the universe into you, to help you be whole, physically, mentally and emotionally. Feel the beauty, the peacefulness, and the health that is in you, and know that at all times you can be at one with yourself, the sun, the earth and all the universe.

Now slowly, gently, as you begin to return to the here and now, you realize you really are feeling rested, renewed, re-energized, ready to meet the challenges presented by any day… In a few moments I am going to count from one to five.

Upon the number three, your eyes will open, and on the count of five, you will once again be wide awake, feeling fine and in perfect health.

One, two, three, your eyes are now opening. Four, five, you are now wide awake, feeling wonderful and in perfect health.

This is my Autumn Equinox “altar”. Since almost everything is packed for next weeks move, this represents pretty much everything that is still left out.

Pumpkins, squash, apples, white wine, huckleberry tea, canning jars, a dehydrator, a pressure canner, a food strainer and an apple peeler corner slicer. It also shows you want I will be doing for the rest of the day, canning and drying apples.

And it shows what I did yesterday, apple picking!

We are making a tradition (currently in it’s second year) of going out as near to the equinox as possible to Beck’s Harvest House with friends and picking apples as well as enjoying the Fall Festival they have out there.

(Some pictures from in the orchard, click the thumbnails for larger pictures of course.)

Apple picking is so fun with a big group of people. Last year I only picked dozen apples, but this year I got two bushels of Red McIntosh and Gold Delicious (for apple sauce) and a few Jonagold (for pie.) Our friends Lily, Mikcos, Nathan, Sal, Rusty, Peter, Stacy and her wife (I can’t remember her name) all came with us and we filled our little cart with apples. The man at the orchard said that we had picked the most apples of anyone that day, hehe. As we picked we shared a big jug of fresh apple cider and good times. I have to say of all the ways to celebrate a sabbat, this is my favorite, with friends and having a great time. Puns did fly! So did a few apples…

I love the Harvest House orchard because they let you taste every apple you are thinking of buying right off the tree. I like Red McIntosh best, as far as just eating an apple off the tree, they are tart and crunchy with a little hint of sweetness. I am using half McIntosh and half Gold Delicious in my apple sauce today.

We also went on a hayride, so I got the opportunity to get good pictures of everyone (except Mikcos, who managed to dodge the camera somehow) and Stacy’s wife, who had to stay behind because they brought their dog, Grace, who wasn’t allowed on the ride.

Some time during the day we ended up in the gift shop and did some wine tasting. I bought a bottle of sweet white wine infused with herbs, as well as a box of huckleberry tea. They also sell a lot of little crafts, preserves, pastas, local honey, baked goods and, of course, fruit. Plums and pears are also in season.

When we all parted ways at the end of the day, I think everyone was in great spirits. I know had a great time. Peter had carpooled with us so he came with us as we dropped by my mother-in-law’s home to borrow her apple peeler corer slicer and food stainer (now I can have a bit of an easier job processing my apples today.) When Michael and I return Kim’s apple peeler gadget and strainer, we might have to stop by Harvest House again and pick up some local honey and more apple fresh cider.

This is my favorite time of the year, nature is tucking in and turning down the lights for the winter to come but she is showing us one last huzzah for the year decked out with all her finery and abundance. I have more photos here and one especially for Autumn Zephyr, who commented on grey skies and smoldering clouds the other day.

Blessed Autumn Equinox!

~~~

Oh and of course no adventure can pass without at least a little mishap. Maybe it was the country roads, or the pothole-ridden streets of Spokane but we managed to knock the muffler off the car. When we stopped to investigate the mysterious dragging sound I found it hanging by one rubber loop, so I pulled it off and we tossed it in the trunk. We will get it put back on when Michael gets off work this afternoon.

(I got the day off so time for blogging about Lughnasadh.)

Hoof and horn, hoof and horn
All that dies shall be reborn.
Corn and grain, Corn and grain
All that falls shall rise again…

What is Lughnasadh all about? As I work my way through tracing the past of all the
Neopagan sabbats as they arise, I find myself confronted by one that seems to upset some people, at least when it is called Lammas. So let us start there.

Lammas is actually the Finnish word for “sheep” but I don’t think this is what irks some Pagans. Lammas is “loaf-mass day” and a Catholic festival day, which falls on the 1st of August. On Lammas it is customary for church goers to bring a loaf of bread made from the new wheat crop. On August 1st or 6th, also within Lughnasadh, new fruits were blessed by the Eastern and Western Chlurches, no doubt derived from the ancient festivities. So let call it by the non-Christian term Lughnasadh (loon-ah-saw) for the remainder of this essay.

Lughnasadh is an ancient festival and while its name comes from Gaelic, it was celebrated widely. In Ireland, Lughnasadh might have been celebrated on the full moon nearest to the midpoint between the summer solstice and autumnal equinox (it would be August 9th this year – 2006.) It was one of the four principle festivals on the Irish calendar (which are Imbolc, Bealtaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain.) Lughnasadh marked the start of Autumn even though in some places it may not feel much like it – it is the time when the first harvests are reaped. In a nutshell it is a time to celebrate the abundance of Mother Earth and also a time to pay homage to the passing of the sun as he goes into the harvest to ensure its abundance.

Of course I am not much for nutshells, lets go into depth. I must say of all the sabbats I have researched, Lughnasadh has been the hardest to find information on and it is hard to untangle modern Pagan beliefs from ancient ones.

Lughnasadh is named in honor of Lugh of the Long Hand, whose solar fire ripens the harvest. He is the Celtic god of art and science. In Celtic lore, Lugh declared that a commemorative feast be held each year at the beginning of the harvest season in honor of his foster mother – Tailtiu, Lady of the Fir Bolg. She died clearing an area of forest for her people to cultivate. Legend says that she was buried beneath a great mound named for her, the Hill of Tailte, and that is where the first feast of Lughnasadh was held in Ireland. Overtime Lughnasadh came not only to be a harvest festival but one that honored the sacrifices people make to protect and sustain their families and communities.

Because Lughnasadh is sometimes celebrated on the full moon it has also been a celebration of the Lady of the Moon. In Rome, the full moon nearest to August 13th was the Ides, a day dedicated to Diana and her priestesses. They would dance in sacred groves by torchlight. August is also the month of the Grain Moon.

Lughnasadh is said to have been brought to the USA by European settlers brought their traditions with them – like that of the county fairs. County fairs were (and still are) a time for farmers to show off their summer labors and are traditionally held in August and September. The county fairs could of course be tied to Mabon as well. County fairs echo of the ancestors who held games and competitions (as we do at fairs) during Lughnasadh. It is also time and still is one that reminds us of the importance of community. Of course I may be reading into history to much here but the great thing about tradition is how it lasts through any political, religious or otherwise tumultuous times.

In Brittany, Lughnasadh is the time of the benediction to the seas. It is a time when Ahes, the Mermaid Goddess of the drowned city of Ys, gives her people bounty from the ocean.

In neopaganism, Lughnasadh is the time of the Sacrificial King. The year god has passed on to allow the people to survive the winter. He has gone into the harvest so that he and the goddess can make it abundant. The Oak King is pasing into his dark phase but will return come Yule. The Holly king, who triumphed at Litha, reigns.

To me Lughnasadh means a lot of things but most of all it is about community. Lughnasadh teaches us to remember the importance of some living in the now, as our ancestors did. It is the part of the year when our fore bearers did some of the most backbreaking labor and still took time for festivals and celebration. It reminds me of the importance of sharing our gifts with others and also to share burdens so they lay not heavily upon one persons shoulders. Community is vital to me.

The name of Lugh is derived from the old Celtic word “lugio”, meaning “an oath”. It is a time for me to remember the promises I have made to myself and evaluate where I am – and try not to get angry with myself if I have not been successful yet. (In the past, to give another nugget of history county fairs were held for the purpose of matchmaking, which could lead to marriage. In a sense that is another kind of oath.)

As for what we will do with our community of friends on the 12th (which is when we will be celebrating this sabbat) well, that will be a subject for another essay!