City Magick: Urban Rituals, Spells and Shamanism - Christopher Penczak 2001

Lammas
As the World Turns

Lammas, called Lughnassadh in the Irish traditions, is the first harvest. It is usually celebrated on August 1, when the first grain is harvested from the fields and given as an offering to the gods. The rest of the grain will be stored for the winter months.

Since urban dwellers have difficulty relating to harvests and the fact that preparations for winter were once a matter of life and death, they should focus on the divine aspect of the harvest. Many traditions see the harvest as the sacrifice of the god in the guise of grain. The Sun’s power is waning after Midsummer. Lugh, a Celtic god of light and grain, is often portrayed as the sacrificed god.

Daylight rituals are difficult for the modern person working nine to five. Lammas is not quite the same at night if you are trying to celebrate the light before the winter darkens your door. One year, I did this quick ritual to celebrate the harvest in my own way. During my lunch break, I sat barefoot under a tree on a pathway leading to the subway. No elaborate ritual tools were needed, and it was one of the best celebrations I’ve ever had.

Materials Needed: Fresh orange

Sit somewhere quiet where you can see the Sun. Noontime is perfect, but, if it is too hot, sunset is another beautiful time. Do it whenever your schedule allows.

Get comfortable and do Exercise 1 to enter a more receptive state (see page 18). Do Exercises 3 and 4 to connect to the earth and sky and to feet protected completely (see pages 25 and 27).

If you want to cast a circle silently to yourself, visualizing yourself in the center of a ring of light and calling in the quarters, you may do so. I didn’t, but it may help you. You don’t have to speak it out loud. This celebration is quiet, internal, and personal.

Hold the orange up, so that it covers the Sun. The light shines out behind it. In this ritual, you will be drawing down the Sun into the orange, much as witches draw down the Moon into a chalice. You are drawing down the power of the solar god. Feel the orange fill with light and energy.

Invoke a solar god. It can be Lugh, or any solar/sacrificed deity with which you choose to work. If unsure, ask to invoke the energy of the solar god. Ask him to be a part of your ritual and inhabit the light of the orange. Thank the god for all the light of the past seasons. Thank the god for the light in your life and your own harvest, your own blessings in your life.

While in the meditative state, eat the orange, consuming the life force and energy of the solar god. It becomes a part of you. You fill with energy as the god and your own energies mingle. Be very aware of the whole experience and any images or wisdom you receive.

Feel the remaining solar energy within you drain out from the bottom chakra, the root, and into the earth for healing. Close the ritual or circle and thank all beings you have invoked.