Lammas Lore---The making of corn dollies is a traditional pastime for Lammas. Also try to visit fields, orchards, lakes, and wells. The foods of Lammas include bread, blackberries and all berries. A cake is sometimes baked, and cider is used in place of wine.
A Ritual
Place upon the altar wheat, barley or oats, fruit and breads. Corn dollies, symbolic of the Goddess, can be present as well.
Arrange the altar, light the candles and incense, and invoke the Goddess and God.
Stand before the altar, holding the sheaves of grain, and say:
Now is the time of the First Harvest,
when the bounties of nature give of themselves
so that we may survive.
God of the ripening fields, Lord of the Grain,
grant me the understanding of sacrifice as You
prepare to deliver yourself under the sickle of the
Goddess and journey to the lands of eternal summer.
Oh Goddes of the Dark Moon,
teach me the secrets of Your birth
as the Sun loses its strength and the nights grow cold.
Rub the heads of the weak with your fingers so that the grains fall onto the altar. Lift a piece of fruit and bite it, savoring its flavor, and say:
I partake of the first harvest, mixing its energies
with mine that I may continue my quest
for the starry wisdom of perfection.
Oh Lady of the Moon and Lord of the Sun,
gracious Ones before whom the stars halt their courses,
I offer my thanks for the continuing fertility of the Earth.
May the nodding grain loose its seeds to be buried in
the Mother's breast, ensuring rebirth in the warmth
of the coming spring.
Consume the rest of the fruit.
Works of magic may follow. Celebrate the Simple Feast. Release the circle.