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Lammas honors first harvest, when the seeds we have sown provide the fruits of the season. We must reflect back on our lives this past year, and appreciate the progress of our growth. Projects and personal goals we have set into motion in the spring now reap their bounty, and it is so important for us to examine these changes and see how we are affected. Some people, with the change of the calendar year, make personal goals, whether it is spending less money, kicking a bad habit, or spending more time with people we care about. Lammas is the day when we can look at what we have accomplished so far, and see if we have been true to ourselves.

You can use the day to give thanks for what you have, or to look deeper into yourself and how the season affects you. What ever you choose to celebrate this day, keep in mind that sabbats are for honoring the God and Goddess.

The first harvest. Lammas celebrates the grain that is now harvested and promises sustenance during the coming winter. It is also a reminder of the dying God, as darkness keeps taking over the light of day, the beginning of Autumn. Traditionally, the seeds from the fruits consumed during the feast are saved, and any sprout is planted in honor of the God and Goddess.

Related Deities: Harvest and Grain Deities, New Mother Goddesses, Celtic god Lugh, Sun Gods, Aine, Ceres, Frey, Ishtar, Persephone, Taillte, Tailltiu, Tea and Tuaret, Bes, Bran, Dagon, Llew, and Odin, The Mother, Dana-Lughs wife and queen, Tailltiu-Welsh-Scottish, Demeter-Greek, Ceres-Roman grain goddess..honored at Ceresalia, the Barley Mother, Seelu-Cherokee, Corn Mother, Isis, Luna-Roman Moon Goddess, other agricultural Goddesses, the waxing Goddess

Related Herbs and Flowers: Grains, Grapes, Sloes, Pears, Heather, Blackberry, all Berries, Oat, Fenugreek, Frankincense, Heather, Hollyhock, Mistletoe, Oak, Sunflower, cornstalks, frankincense, Calendula, Myrtle, Oak Leaves, Rose, Sandalwood and wheat may be burned; acacia flowers, corn ears, myrtle, oak leaves, and wheat may be decorations.

Related Stones: Carnelian, Aventurine, citrine, peridot, sardonyx and yellow diamonds.

Related Incense and Oils: Dried Rose Petals, Aloe, Sandalwood, Barley, Basil, Wood aloes, rose hips, rosemary, chamomile, eucalyptus, safflower, corn, passionflower, frankincense, sandalwood

Related Symbols: All Grains, Breads, Threshing Tools, Berries-especially Blackberries

Related Colors: Gray, Yellow, Gold, Green. Colors usually associated with this time of year are earthy oranges, browns, yellows, and golds. The colors are used to symbolize the harvest and the sense of renewal that comes with it. Often, worshippers use these colors in every aspect of their celebration.

Related Themes: A lot of the themes focus not only on the harvest but on underlying ideas such as renewal, giving thanks, making sacrifices. Mourning is also a theme that is highlighted, since Lughs games were an origin of the holiday.

Related Activities and Rituals: At this time of year, worshippers celebrate in various ways, whether in solitude or as part of a family or group. Harvesting one's own crops, participating in games, reciting chants in honor of the season, baking breads and berry pies for feasts or for sacrifice in rituals, and arts and crafts like making corn dollies and harvest knots are all ways in which Lammas is honored.

Related Tools-Symbols-Decorations: Corn, cornucopias, red, yellow flowers, sheaves of grain such as 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  
 
Meaning: Lughs wedding to Mother Earth, Birth of Lugh; Death of Lugh, Celtic Grain Festival Rituals-Magicks: Fire magick, Money spells, health spells,bonfires, prosperity, and generosity, continued success, good fortune, abundance spells.

Related 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 and 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