Goddesses:
Mother Earth, Mother Nature, Venus, Aphrodite, Yemaya, Astarte, Freya, Hathor, Ishtar, all Goddesses of love, passion, beauty and the Sea, and Pregnant, lusty Goddesses, Green Forest Mother; Great One of the Stars, Goddess of the Wells
Gods:
Father Sun/Sky, Oak King, Holly King, Arthur, Gods at peak power and strength.
Essence:
humility, fire, partnership, nourishment, relationships, fertilization, nurturing
Dynamics/Meaning:
crowning of the Sun God, death of the Oak King, assumption of the Holly King, end the ordeal of the Green Man
Purpose:
rededication to the Lord and Lady, beginning of the harvest, honoring the Sun God, honoring the pregnant Godddess
Rituals/Magicks:
nature spirit/fey communion, planet healing, divination, love & protection magicks. The battle between Oak King, God of the waxing year & Holly King, God of the waning year (can be a ritual play), or act out scenes from the Bard’s(an incarnation of Merlin) "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", rededication of faith, rites of inspiration
Customs:
bonfires, processions, all night vigil, singing, feasting, celebrating with others, cutting divining rods, dowsing rods & wands, herb gathering, handfastings, weddings, Druidic gathering of mistletoe in oak groves, needfires, leaping between two fires, mistletoe(without berries, use as a protection amulet), women walking naked through gardens to ensure continued fertility, enjoying the seasonal fruits & vegetables, honor the Mother's fullness, richness and abundance, put garlands of St. John’s Wort placed over doors/ windows & a sprig in the car for protection
Foods:
honey, fresh vegetables, lemons, oranges, summer fruits, summer squash, pumpernickel bread, ale, carrot drinks, mead
Herbs:
anise, mugwort, chamomile, rose, wild rose, oak blossoms, lily, cinquefoil, lavender, fennel, elder, mistletoe, hemp, thyme, larkspur, nettle, wisteria, vervain( verbena), St. John’s wort, heartsease, rue, fern, wormwood, pine,heather, yarrow, oak & holly trees
Element/Gender:
fire
Threshold:
evening/dawn
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Lughnasadh
(Loo-nas-ah) Major sabbath (High Holiday) - Fire Festival August 1, 2
AKA:
Lunasa (meaning August), Lughnasaad, Lughnasa(Celtic),First Harvest, August Eve, Feast of Cardenas, Feast of Bread, Tailltean Games(Irish), Teltain Cornucopia(Strega), Ceresalia(Ancient Roman) Harvest Home, Thingtide(Teutonic), Lammas(Christian). Laa Luanys, Elembious, Festival of Green Corn (Native American)
Animals/Mythical beings:
griffins, basilisks, roosters, calves, centaurs, phoenix
Gemstones:
aventurine, citrine, peridot, sardonyx, yellow diamondsand citrine
Incense/Oil:
wood aloes, rose, rose hips, rosemary, chamomile, eucalyptus, safflower, corn, passionflower, frankincense, sandalwood
Colors/Candles:
red, orange, golden yellow, green, light brown, gold, bronze, gray
Tools/Symbols/Decorations:
corn, cornucopias, red, yellow flowers, sheaves of grain (wheat, barley, oats), first fruits/vegetables of garden labor, corn dollies, baskets of bread, spear, cauldron, sickle, scythe, threshing tools, sacred loaf of bread, harvested herbs, bonfires, bilberries, God figures made of bread or cookie dough, phallic symbols
Goddesses:
the Mother, Dana ( Lugh’s wife & queen ), Tailltiu(Welsh-Scottish), Demeter(Greek), Ceres( Roman grain goddess..honored at Ceresalia), the Barley Mother, Seelu(Cherokee), Corn Mother, Isis (Her birthday is celebrated about this time), Luna (Roman Moon Goddess), other agricultural Goddesses, the waxing Goddess
Gods:
Lugh(Celtic, one of the Tuatha De Danaan), John Barleycorn, Arianrhod’s golden haired son Lleu ( Welsh God of the Sun & Corn where corn includes all grains, not just maize), Dagon (Phoenician Grain God), Tammuz/ Dummuzi (Sumerian), Dionysus, plus all sacrificial Gods who willingly shed blood/give their life that their people/lands may prosper, all vegetation Gods & Tanus (Gaulish Thunder God), Taranis, (Romano-Celtic Thunder God), Tina, (Etruscan-Thunder God), the waning God
Essence:
fruitfulness, reaping, prosperity, reverence, purification, transformation, change, The Bread of Life, The Chalice of Plenty , The Ever-flowing Cup , the Groaning Board (Table of Plenty)
Dynamics/Meaning:
Lugh's wedding to Mother Earth, Birth of Lugh; Death of Lugh, Celtic Grain Festival
Purpose:
honoring the parent Deities, first harvest festival, first fruits grains & drink to the Goddess in appreciation of Her bounty, offering loaves of sacred bread in the form of the God (this is where the Gingerbread Man originated!)
Rituals/Magicks:
astrology, prosperity, generosity, continued success, good fortune, abundance,magickal picnic, meditate & visualize yourself completing a project you’ve started
Customs:
games, the traditional riding of poles/staves, country fairs, breaking bread with friends, making corn dollys, harvesting herbs for charms/rituals, Lughnasadh fire with sacred wood & dried herbs, feasting, competitions, lammas towers (fire-building team competitions), spear tossing, gathering flowers for crowns, fencing/swordplay, games of skill, martial sports, chariot races, hand-fastings, trial marriages, dancing ‘round a corn mother (doll)
Foods:
loaves of homemade wheat, oat, & corn bread, barley cakes, corn, potatoes, summer squash, nuts, acorns, wild berries (any type), apples, rice, pears, berry pies, elderberry wine, crab apples, mead, crab, blackberries, meadowsweet tea, grapes, cider, beer
Herbs:
grain, acacia, heather, ginseng, sloe, cornstalks, cyclamen, fenugreek, aloes, frankincense, sunflower, hollyhock, oak leaf, wheat,myrtle
Element/Gender:
fire/female
Threshold:
noon
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Mabon
MAY-bon, MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon or MAH-bawn, - Lesser sabbath - Fall/Autumn Equinox, September 21-23
AKA:
Michaelmas (September 25th, Christian), Second Harvest Festival, Witches’ Thanksgiving, Harvest Home(Anglo-Celtic), Feast of Avalon, Wine Harvest, Festival of Dionysus, Cornucopia, Equinozio di Autunno (Strega), Chung Ch’iu (China), Night of the Hunter, Alban Elfed "The Light of the Water"(Caledonii/ Druidic-celebrates Lord of the Mysteries), Winter Finding (Teutonic, from Equinox ‘til Winter Night or Nordic New Year, Oct 15th.)
Animals/Mythical beings:
dogs, wolves, stag, blackbird, owl, eagle, birds of prey, salmon & goat, Gnomes, Sphinx, Minotaur, Cyclops, Andamans and Gulons
Gemstones:
yellow agate, carnelian, yellow topaz, sapphire, lapis lazuli & amethyst
Incense/Oil:
pine, sweetgrass, apple blossom, benzoin, myrrh, frankincense, jasmine, sage wood aloes, black pepper, patchouly, cinnamon, clove, oak moss
Colors/Candles:
brown, green, orange, red, deep gold, scarlet, yellow, russet, maroon, all autumn colors, purple, blue violet & indigo
Tools/Symbols/Decorations:
indian corn, red fruits, autumn flowers, red poppies, hazelnuts, garlands, grains especially wheat stalks, and colorful, fallen leaves, acorns, pine & cypress cones, oak sprigs, pomegranate, statue/or figure to represent the Mother Goddess, mabon wreath, vine, grapes, gourd, cornucopia/horns of plenty, burial cairns, apples, marigolds, harvested crops, burial cairns, rattles, the Mysteries, sun wheel, all harvest symbols
Goddesses:
Modron(Welsj), Bona Dea, Land Mother, Aging & Harvest Dieties: the Triple Goddess-Mother aspect, Persephone, Demeter/Ceres, Morgan(Welsh- Cornish), Snake Woman(aboriginal), Epona(Celtic-Gaulish), Pamona(roman), the Muses(greek)
Gods:
Mabon ap Modron(Welsh), Sky Father, Wine Gods, Aging Gods, John Barleycorn , the Wicker-Man,the Corn Man, Thoth(Egyptian), Hermes, Hotei(Japanese), Thor, Dionysus(Roman), Bacchus(Greek) & all wine Deities
Essence:
beauty, joy; fullness of life, harvest of the year's desires, strength; laughter; power; prosperity, equality, balance, appreciation, harvest, protection, wealth, security, self-confidence, reincarnation
Dynamics/Meaning:
death of the God, assumption of the Crone, balance of light and dark; increase of darkness, grape harvest, completion of the harvest
Purpose:
second harvest festival, new wine pressing/making preparation for winter and Samhain, rest after labor, Pagan day of Thanksgiving, honoring the spirit world,celebration of wine
Rituals/Magicks:
Celtic Festival of the Vine, prosperity rituals, introspection, rituals which enact the elderly aspects of both Goddess & God, past life recall
Customs:
offerings to land, preparing for cold weather, bringing in harvest, cutting willow wands( Druidic), eating seasonal fruit, leaving apples upon burial cairns & graves as a token of honor, walk wild places & forests, gather seed pods & dried plants, fermenting grapes to make wine,picking ripe produce, stalk bundling; fishing,. on the closest full moon (Harvest Moon) harvesting corps by moonlight.
Foods:
cornbread, wheat products, bread, grains, berries, nuts, grapes, acorns, seeds, dried fruits, corn, beans, squash, roots (ie onions, carrots, potatoes, etc), hops, sasssafras, apples, pomegranates, carrots, onions, potatoes, roast goose or mutton, wine, ale, & cider
Herbs:
myrrh, thistle, tobacco, oak leaf, hazel, mums, hops, acorns, marigold, rose, sage, milkweed, solomon's seal, aster, fern, honeysuckle, benzoin, myrrh, passionflower, pine & cedar, ivy, hazel, hops, cedar
Element/Gender:
water
Threshold:
evening