Screamingfawn

    I h ope you Have a Happy Lughnassadh Witches !!!

    Friday, August 1, 2008, 04:14 PM EST [General]

     

    Found this Hope you enjoy

    The Irish God Lugh is known as the "bright" or "Shining One".  He is associated with the Sun and agricultural fertility, since his foster mother died from preparing the lands of Ireland for planting.  His festival is in her honor.  He is a God of all skills and champion of the Tuatha De Danaan.

    Lughnassadh (Lughnasadh) marks the beginning of the grain harvest.  The entire preparation of grain from seed to harvest parallels the life-in-death and death-in-life aspects of the great Goddess Mother Earth.

    In Celtic mythology, a young boy accidentally drinks hazelnuts from the magical cauldron of the Welsh Goddess Cerridwen.  He shape-shifts into a hare.  She shapeshifts into a greyhound and chases him.  He shape-shifts into a grain of wheat, but then Cerridwen, in turn, shape-shifts into a black hen.  She eats the wheat and gives birth to a boy, who becomes a great bard and seer-poet.

    The triple Goddess Macha in her warrior aspect often presides over the Lughnassadh festival.

    Macha not only presides over battle in war, but also in love.  She is concerned with any kind of conflict and its resolution.  Macha shape-shifts into a crow - a common appearance on both a battlefield and in the cornfields of summer.

    The Lughnassadh Ritual

    Preparation

    At Lughnassadh, the altar is adorned with a white or gold cloth.  The ritual is a celebration of the bounty of the earth.  The ritual area is decorated with corn, fruits and vegetables, baskets of bread, and bunches of summer flowers.  Gold and yellow candles represent the Sun.  Incense should be herbs ruled by the Sun and sacred woods used for a fire.

    Ritual Tools

    Sword, cauldron with water and hazelnuts, athame, charcoal, incense, matches, peyton, wand, four candles (one each of red, black, white and gold), chalice with spring water, spear, basket of fruit, herbs and grains, cakes

    Ritual Place and Time

    At Lughnassadh the is at 15.00 degrees

    Lughnassadh Ritual

    The Priestess casts the circle with the sword and then holds the sword high.

    Priestess

    To all who are herein, not even for the sake of your beginnings, your mother and father; not even for your love would I harm thee.  But for the sake of Dana, I bring life.  I give love.  I seek sovereignty of Tara.  I enter Tara.  The green land spreads before my eyes and the mast rises from the water.  The great mother gives magic.  The sword of enchantment will bring only honor to those who protect this land.  here is the power of the Sidhe.  Here in this sword is the power of Dana, great and powerful Dana, who brings dreams to life.  I honor you.  I am enchanted by your power and the Otherworld.

    The sword is placed into the cauldron of water by the Priestess and presented to the Priest.

    Priestess

    Here is the magic of the Sidhe, who gives life to this Earth.  The apple is red with fire; the corn is golden with life; the oak is green with light.  All cherish the bright and glorious one.  O! great standing stones, which harbor the powers of life, sing to us of magic bright, as bright as the Sun.

    The sword is placed on the altar.  The Priest picks up the wand and holds it high.

    Priest

    We are the people of the land.  the children of the Tuatha De Danaan.  Cerridwen, the Morrigan, Calliech, the Dagda, all come to this holy Tara.

    The wand is placed on the altar.  The Priest picks up the peyton and faces east.

    Priest

    East ~ I call Cerridwen, bring your power and might.  Come to this Tara.  We welcome you.

    South ~ I call the Morrigan, bring your power and might.  Come to this Tara.  We welcome you.

    West ~ I call Calliech, bring your power and might.  Come to this Tara.  We welcome you.

    North ~ I call the Dagda, bring your power and might.  Come to this Tara.  We welcome you.

    The Priestess charges the candles and anoints them with Cerridwen or Lugh oil

    Priestess

    Lugh, great God of the golden spear, bringer of the harvest, you are many skilled.  bring your light to share with us, cast your golden light upon the sacred Tara.

    The priest sprinkles incense on the coals.

    Priest

    Lugh, your appearance is beauteous to behold.  Your tartan is bright silk, your golden helmet has crystals of the four realms.  You teach us amulets of protection and power.  show to us your golden spear of power.

    the Priestess, as she lifts the blade to the sky in both hands, says:

    Priestess

    I am sovereign here in the name of Cerridwen.  I offer you a throne of power in this Tara.  Welcome.

    The Priest picks up the Athame and the Priestess picks up the chalice, holding it up for all to see.

    Priestess

    The magical music of the Sidhe has heralded the coming of Lugh.  I, sovereign of this Tara, welcome Lugh to this chalice.

    The Priest lifts the chalice.

    Priest

    Lugh, strike this blade with your golden spear that you may enter this sovereign place, Tara.  I draw the golden light of Lugh into this chalice.

    The Priest places the blade in the chalice.  The Priestess drinks from the chalice, then hands it to the Priest.  The Priestess then pours the chalice into the cauldron of water and hazelnuts.  The Priest stirs the cauldron with his finger, then places his fingers to the lips three times and tastes the water, and with that the Priestess turns to him.

    Priestess

    I welcome the chase of balance, flee from this realm, but you shall never be from my reach.

    The Priest walks away from the Priestess around the circle.

    Priestess

    Cerridwen, greyhound, chase the hare, with golden light this truth will bear the balance of Goddess might eclipse of dark and fair, the never-ending race, the circle end to end.  Sun, Moon, face-to-face, shape-shift, blend and bend, the Faery faith doth trace.

    The Priest says as he walks:

    The Sidhe, sing to me of cauldrons deep and tales that end in honour.

    Priestess

    I am in place of the Goddess of transformation.  And I call all powers of good to this earth.  I thank the powers of the cauldron and the spear for the bounty we see.

    The Priestess picks up the wand and touches the basket.

    Priestess.

    I speak as Priestess to charge these herbs, fruits and grains, blessed are they, blessed are the grounds from which they grow.  We ask that all people of the Earth partake of this bounty.  Great as the power to help seed, grow and feed the Earth and its animals.

    Coven

    Blessed is Lugh, blessed is Cerridwen, Blessed are the Sidhe.

    The Priest and Priestess together bless the cakes and pass them to all in the circle.

    Priest and Priestess

    These cakes are the power and the spirit of the ancient ones.

    After the cakes are finished, oils are passed around the circle, and all anoint themselves on their foreheads, wrists and back of the neck.

    The Priestess raises the spear above her head, and everyone comes to attention.

    Priest and Priestess

    We raise the cone of power.

    All lift their hands to the sky and kneel to touch the ground.  The Priest releases the quarters.

    Priest

    North ~ Powerful Dagda, I bid thee farewell, come again

    West ~ Powerful Calliech, I bid thee farewell, come again

    South ~ Powerful Morrigan, I bid thee farewell, come again

    East ~ Powerful Cerridwen, I bid thee farewell, come again.

    The Priestess releases the circle.  The coven are invited to sip water from the cauldron, and the cakes left are given as gifts to the woods.  The water is kept in a sacred space.

    (Ritual from "Celebrate the Earth" by Laurie Cabot)

    Recipes

    Cerridwen Oil

    1 dram hazelnut oil
    1 dram fir oil
    1 dram elder oil

    Talesin Oil

    2 drams hazelnut oil
    1 pebble from the base of a standing stone
    pinch bee pollen
    1 tiny feather
    1 dram blackthorn oil

    Lugh Oil

    1 piece gold
    1 dram heliotrope oil
    1 dram sunflower oil
    1 citrine stone

    Macha Oil

    1 dram grapeseed oil
    1 small piece obsidian
    1 dram corn oil
    1 piece crow feather

    All of the above oils should be warmed on very low heat in an enamel pan.  Remove from heat when warmed and let cool.  Place in magic bottles and jars in the colours of the rainbow.

    Lughnassadh Philtre

    yarrow
    rose
    poppy seeds
    mushrooms
    barley
    basil
    raspberry leaf
    strawberry leaf
    mugwort
    heliptrope
    comfrey
    3 drops Macha Oil
    2 drops Cerridwen Oil
    3 drops Lugh Oil

    Use the oils to bind the philtre.  Blend all ingredients and keep with you in a magic bag.  Tie onto a Lughnassadh Witch's cord, and use this philtre in your rituals and spells.

    Lughnassadh incense can be found in the incense section.      

     

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    That's a lot of information in one single blog! Thank you.

    Moon Blessings.

    Moonwaters
    August 01, 2008
    06:31 PM EST

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