The Wheel of The Year (4) Sabbats
Midsummer’s Day is the point of the year when the day is the longest of the year and the wheel begins to turn and the days will begin to shorten the exact time is between the 19th and 25th June. The Summer Solstice or Litha is celebrated on the 20/21 June rather than being a variable date in line with the astronomy so it may or may not coincide with Midsummer’s Day.
At this time the Goddess is pregnant and the God is at the height of his virility. In this form they represent the bounty of the Earth as the harvest draw near and the energy of the Sun. However, this marks the turning of the year and the return to the dark as each day becomes shorter and each night longer. Traditionally people stayed up throughout the night on the eve of the Solstice to watch the sun rise in the morning. Bonfires reflecting the power of the sun were lit and often herbs were added. This time of year is when many of the herbs and other plants used for magic and healing are ready to be harvested and so this is also a gathering time.
CORRESPONDENCES
Herbs – Mugwort, vervain, chamomile, rose, honeysuckle, lily, oak, lavender, ivy, yarrow, fern, elder, wild thyme, daisy, carnation.
Altar dressing – Summer flowers, herbs and fruits. Use the colours for the Litha.
Crystals – Amber, Tiger’s eye, emerald, carnelian.
Colours – Yellow, green, blue, gold, red, orange.
Deities – Freya, Lugh, Greenman, Oak King, Bast, Brigit, Hathor
Topics for ritual – Celebration of the Masculine. Working on any areas in your life that need energy infusions. Healing, growth and empowerment.
Lammas/Lugnasadh
Lammas occurs on the 1/2 August and is high summer and the time of the first grain harvest. The word Lammas is derived from the Old English phrase hlaf-maesse, which translates to loaf mass. The importance of bread to life is demonstrated through this celebration of the wheat harvest. The Goddess is the Grain Queen at this time carrying the see of the God which is represented by the seed of the grain. The Oak King is now losing his strength and power and preparing to die with the cutting of the first grain. The energy of the God going into the grain that provides us with the bread of life. The energy of the god going into the grain and also into the grape has been carried into Christianity as the blood and body of Christ.
CORRESPONDENCES
Herbs – All grains, meadowsweet, sunflowers, marigolds, mint
Altar dressing – Wheat and other grains, corn dollies, Sunflower, Marigolds
Crystals – aventurine, citrine, peridot, sardonyx, golden topaz, obsidian, moss agate, rhodochrosite, clear quartz, slate, lodestone, Carnelian
Colours – Green, gold, yellow, orange.
Deities – Dana, Demeter, Ceres, Isis, Luna, Lugh, Dionysus.
Topics for ritual – abundance, financial gain, career, health.
Mabon (Autumn equinox)
Mabon is the Autumn equinox and the point where there is an equal length of day and night and is 21/22 September. It is a point of balance but also the point which leads on towards the growing darkness. The energy of the sun has gone into the growing plants and this is now the second or fruit harvest and the time of Harvest Festival to celebrate the gathered harvest. In past times this was the food that would have to last through until the new plantings as in the new year. The Goddess is now aging and moving towards the Crone stage of her life and the God is preparing for death and rebirth. It is a time to relax after the work of the summer and the harvest and entering the fallow time of winter. As with the harvest it is also a time to reflect on your own achievements throughout the year that you have also brought to fruition.
CORRESPONDENCES
Herbs – Acorn, benzoin, ferns, grains, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, myrrh, passionflower, rose, sage, Solomon’s seal, thistle.
Altar dressing – gourds, melons, apples, all things you can harvest, sloes, rose hips, hawthorn.
Crystals – Sapphire, yellow agates, lapis lazuli
Colours – Red, brown, maroon, orange, gold
Deities – Morgana, Persephone, the Muses, Mabon, Thoth, Thor, Hermes, and The Green Man.
Topics for ritual – Giving thanks for your blessings, celebrate home and hearth
The Wheel of The Year (4) Sabbats
Midsummer’s Day is the point of the year when the day is the longest of the year and the wheel begins to turn and the days will begin to shorten the exact time is between the 19th and 25th June. The Summer Solstice or Litha is celebrated on the 20/21 June rather than being a variable date in line with the astronomy so it may or may not coincide with Midsummer’s Day.
At this time the Goddess is pregnant and the God is at the height of his virility. In this form they represent the bounty of the Earth as the harvest draw near and the energy of the Sun. However, this marks the turning of the year and the return to the dark as each day becomes shorter and each night longer. Traditionally people stayed up throughout the night on the eve of the Solstice to watch the sun rise in the morning. Bonfires reflecting the power of the sun were lit and often herbs were added. This time of year is when many of the herbs and other plants used for magic and healing are ready to be harvested and so this is also a gathering time.
CORRESPONDENCES
Herbs – Mugwort, vervain, chamomile, rose, honeysuckle, lily, oak, lavender, ivy, yarrow, fern, elder, wild thyme, daisy, carnation.
Altar dressing – Summer flowers, herbs and fruits. Use the colours for the Litha.
Crystals – Amber, Tiger’s eye, emerald, carnelian.
Colours – Yellow, green, blue, gold, red, orange.
Deities – Freya, Lugh, Greenman, Oak King, Bast, Brigit, Hathor
Topics for ritual – Celebration of the Masculine. Working on any areas in your life that need energy infusions. Healing, growth and empowerment.
Lammas/Lugnasadh
Lammas occurs on the 1/2 August and is high summer and the time of the first grain harvest. The word Lammas is derived from the Old English phrase hlaf-maesse, which translates to loaf mass. The importance of bread to life is demonstrated through this celebration of the wheat harvest. The Goddess is the Grain Queen at this time carrying the see of the God which is represented by the seed of the grain. The Oak King is now losing his strength and power and preparing to die with the cutting of the first grain. The energy of the God going into the grain that provides us with the bread of life. The energy of the god going into the grain and also into the grape has been carried into Christianity as the blood and body of Christ.
CORRESPONDENCES
Herbs – All grains, meadowsweet, sunflowers, marigolds, mint
Altar dressing – Wheat and other grains, corn dollies, Sunflower, Marigolds
Crystals – aventurine, citrine, peridot, sardonyx, golden topaz, obsidian, moss agate, rhodochrosite, clear quartz, slate, lodestone, Carnelian
Colours – Green, gold, yellow, orange.
Deities – Dana, Demeter, Ceres, Isis, Luna, Lugh, Dionysus.
Topics for ritual – abundance, financial gain, career, health.
Mabon (Autumn equinox)
Mabon is the Autumn equinox and the point where there is an equal length of day and night and is 21/22 September. It is a point of balance but also the point which leads on towards the growing darkness. The energy of the sun has gone into the growing plants and this is now the second or fruit harvest and the time of Harvest Festival to celebrate the gathered harvest. In past times this was the food that would have to last through until the new plantings as in the new year. The Goddess is now aging and moving towards the Crone stage of her life and the God is preparing for death and rebirth. It is a time to relax after the work of the summer and the harvest and entering the fallow time of winter. As with the harvest it is also a time to reflect on your own achievements throughout the year that you have also brought to fruition.
CORRESPONDENCES
Herbs – Acorn, benzoin, ferns, grains, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, myrrh, passionflower, rose, sage, Solomon’s seal, thistle.
Altar dressing – gourds, melons, apples, all things you can harvest, sloes, rose hips, hawthorn.
Crystals – Sapphire, yellow agates, lapis lazuli
Colours – Red, brown, maroon, orange, gold
Deities – Morgana, Persephone, the Muses, Mabon, Thoth, Thor, Hermes, and The Green Man.
Topics for ritual – Giving thanks for your blessings, celebrate home and hearth