Wow! It's almost August 1st! That is the day that the ancient Celts marked the First Harvest of the fields. This day is a sabbat called Lammas, celebrated by Pagans around the world. Of course, the first harvest has been celebrated by the earliest civilizations who planted grains, dating back to the Sumerians.
There are some traditional crafts and offerings that you can make for this sabbat.
~Baking bread is probably the original offering made, as it is one of the oldest skills of civilization. Ancient breads were unleavened, with the addition of yeast to the process coming much later in history, probably in Egypt. The process of harvesting and grinding the grains is representative of the Death of the God, or if corn, the Corn King. It is wise to include some freshly sprouted wheat in the bread recipe. This would be the resurrection of the God. If you bake bread, carve a pentacle in the top before baking with your athame.
~Making a corn dolly is another craft that represents the growth of the grains and the life that they offer thru the hard Winter ahead. The dolly represents the Mother Goddess, or in the Celtic traditions, Bride or Bridget. You just take the corn stalks leaves and weave them into the representation of a woman's shape. Mine see to all look like the traditional woman wearing a dress shape. Well, sometimes they just look like a blob of cornstalks tied together! I then put this on my house altar.
~Weaving onion (and garlic) braids are also good crafts for this sabbat. Onions are multipurpose, in that they store well for Winter food, and they can be charged to help as a charm of protection for your home. If used for this purpose, they can be hung anywhere, although if you do this ,I wouldn't eat them. Onions absorb negativity, including that from illness. The diagram below is from Wheel of the Year, by Pauline Campanelli.
These are just a couple of things you can do to help celebrate Lammas! Of course, all the harvesting you do can be done with a feeling of gratitude and the thanks to the Gods & Goddesses that you follow. I used to have a very large vegetable and herb garden. I know that when I was done with my canning, freezing, and drying, I felt safer in the knowledge that I had food in the pantry to get me thru the Winter. for the sabbat, I used to bake bread with some seeds from the garden plants such as dill, included in it. This helped make the offering more personal, since I didn't grind the flour myself.
Blessed Lammas!
