Lammas
First harvest
Lammas is celebrated on the 1st-2nd of August, Lunar Lammas on the Full Moon before, Wednesday the 29th of July. Lammas is the first of three harvest celebrations, followed by Autumn equinox and the final gathering at Samhain.
The cross quarter days of the year, Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas and Samhain all represent the high point of their respective seasons. Lammas is the hottest of the hottest and is followed by the lassitude great heat brings.
After Lammas come the dog days of August, which in Europe are traditionally the hottest days. They are associated with the period following the helical rising of the star Sirius (also known as the Dog Star) in Greek, (κυνάδες ἡμέραι, dog days).
Hesiod,
when the artichoke flowers, [i.e., June] and the chirping grasshopper sits in a tree and pours down his shrill song continually from under his wings in the season of wearisome heat, then goats are plumpest and wine sweetest; women are most wanton, but men are feeblest, because Sirius parches head and knees and the skin is dry through heat. 1
The 1564 Hope of Health counseled that purging should be avoided during the "Dogge daies" of summer because "the Sun is in Leo" and "then is nature burnt up & made weak". The 1729 British Husbandman's Practice claimed that "The Heat of the Sun is so violent that Men's bodies at Midnight sweat as at Midday: and if they be hurt, they be more sick than at any other time, yea very near Dead". It therefore advised men to "abstain all this time from women" and to "take heed of feeding violently". In the 1813 Clavis Calendria, the dog days are a time wherein "the Sea boiled, the Wine turned sour, Dogs grew mad… all other creatures became languid; causing to man, among other diseases, burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies.”2
Although Fire is the most energetic of elements, excess fire exhausts, enervates and burns. Fire brings anger, intolerance, violence and hysterics, the summer riots are a predictable consequence when it gets too hot for some. Unlike water, fire lacks compassion and can be cruel. Also, as Hesiod warns us, Fire also increases our sex drive. Mars, one of the Choleric planets, the other is the Sun, rules passion as well as warfare and of course, sometimes they are one and the same.
Lammas ritual [see A Woman’s Book of Shadows ]
Decorate the altar with red and orange berries and flowers and candles. Invoke the harvest goddess and take a moment to consider your first harvest. Lammas is a particularly good time to do this as we rest and recuperate ready for the Autumn Equinox which ushers in the hardworking Melancholic season. This pause allows for deep rest and is a time to go inwards. As we look back it is helpful to ask ourselves some questions.
Have I become kinder?
More patient?
Braver?
More compassionate?
More discriminating?
Slower?
More grateful?
More content?
More loving?
Sit and speak or journal or path work and re-connect to your visions and dreams.
Mugwort is a plant of Venus. The Latin name, Artemisia vulgaris refers to Artemis the Goddess of the Wild Things, who roams the mountains with her company of women archers and her beloved hunting dogs. Artemis is wild, undomesticated, unmarried. Goddess of the Moon in her Maiden form. She is subject to no man but helps the hunter and women who face their greatest trial of strength, childbirth. Mugwort has this untamed quality, she grows wild in the countryside. Mugwort is hung in houses to protect from harm and lightning strikes. She is a herb of witches.
Mugwort opens our clairvoyant powers and gives us voice to express them. It connects us to our inner strength and shows how to use it wisely.
Dreamwork:
Drink a strong brew of Mugwort or put in your ritual bathwater. Sit and recall a dream or vision you have had. Close your eyes and see the images and clearly as you can. Pick one character or object from your dream and focus on it. Give them a voice, allow them to speak without interruption when they have finished talking, you may ask questions or move on to another part in your dream. This does not have to be done all at once, important dreams may take a while to unravel and be understood. Be sure to write down what you found out as we often forget these important messages.
Astral Traveling:
When we sleep, we travel on the astral plane, if you have ever woken up with a jolt, that is you slipping back into your body. With practice we can come and go with ease. The most common fear about astral travelling is that we will ‘get lost’ or not be able to find our way back to our bodies. I have never heard of this happening, although astral travelling is not recommended when you are high or if you have schizophrenia or bi-polar conditions. If you are afraid have a friend with you, you could take turns to be with each other. Have them sit beside you near enough that you can touch them if you feel afraid, this will bring you straight back to your body. We use astral travelling to go back into the past, if you have issues there you need to understand or to contact a higher energy for advice.
Here is a meditation.
Setting your dreams free:
Make Mugwort incense by mixing dried Mugwort, sandalwood, myrrh, yarrow and juniper berries with honey to bind (or other gum). Air dry out of direct sunlight and leave from Full Moon to Full Moon.
Burn on charcoal disks. When the Moon is full and sit in circle or alone and consider the things you wish to do and visualise them until they become clear in your mind. On black paper with a silver pen write down your next creative move. Tie with red thread and dedicating your work to Artemis, burn in a candle flame imagining the seeds of your vision flying out on the wind, landing and taking root and growing out in the world.
Mugwort can be dried and made into smudge sticks if you prefer. Use the smaller branches, allow them to wilt for a day or two and then tie them with string or cordage (made from nettle or hemp plants) and dry them out before burning. Light the end and blow it out and use the smoke to cleanse you space, your home, car, magical objects like Tarot cards and crystals, and other precious things like musical instruments and even your laptop!
Lunations
Full Moon: July 29th. 14h37. 6.30 Aquarius
New Moon: 12th August. 17h38. 20.02 Leo
Hesiod Works and Days 582-585.[trans Evelyn-White (1914) Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_days.