On August 1st, we celebrate the ancient holiday of Lughnasadh, the first of three harvest festivals for our kin of long ago. At Lughnasadh the Earth Mother celebrates and mourns for her grain and vegetable children as they are harvested. The Great Mother knows that some children are sacrificed to feed other children, and that is the way of giving and receiving nourishment on earth.
This ritual can be done in a group or in a solitary state of thanksgiving for the bounty of the nourishment that the Divine Mother provides.
Materials: Freshly baked bread and wine or another beverage made from the fruit of the season.
Leader: “Welcome to a wonderful ritual of thanksgiving for the generosity of the Earth Mother in making food available for us, her children. I have here a loaf of fresh bread that we will share. I will break the bread and send around the halves. Break off a piece of bread for yourself and hold it in your hands. (Everyone does this.) Before eating our bread, let’s really appreciate it for the miracle that it is. Shortly before this time, just days, really, this bread was growing, live grain, blowing in the fields. It was rooted in the Mother and was blessed by water and sunlight. The Earth Mother is the Goddess of the Harvest, allowing us to take her grain children so that her two leggeds might thrive. Reflect for a moment, that real food is living and that life sacrifices itself so that we might live. Life for life; that is the way it is on earth. So, we eat of the Goddess’s children and are grateful that we may live another day, to, in turn, give of our life force to others. Pause for a moment and think about how the life force of the grain will move through you and back into the world again in great service. Let us share some of the ways we will use our life force from this bread in positive ways.”
Everyone shares how they will give back again, using the energy from their bread.
“Now, smell this wonderful bread and reflect that each of our senses is engaged when we really enjoy food. We see it, touch it, smell it, taste it, and actually hear ourselves chewing it. The life of the food pleases our bodies in all these ways before we even are nourished by its food value.
“So we give thanks for these gifts. May this bread nourish us and may we give beck into the world the energy that it creates in our bodies. Eat now ponder all the ways we are grateful in this moment.” (Everyone enjoys the bread.)
Materials: Freshly baked bread and wine or another beverage made from the fruit of the season.
Leader: “Welcome to a wonderful ritual of thanksgiving for the generosity of the Earth Mother in making food available for us, her children. I have here a loaf of fresh bread that we will share. I will break the bread and send around the halves. Break off a piece of bread for yourself and hold it in your hands. (Everyone does this.) Before eating our bread, let’s really appreciate it for the miracle that it is. Shortly before this time, just days, really, this bread was growing, live grain, blowing in the fields. It was rooted in the Mother and was blessed by water and sunlight. The Earth Mother is the Goddess of the Harvest, allowing us to take her grain children so that her two leggeds might thrive. Reflect for a moment, that real food is living and that life sacrifices itself so that we might live. Life for life; that is the way it is on earth. So, we eat of the Goddess’s children and are grateful that we may live another day, to, in turn, give of our life force to others. Pause for a moment and think about how the life force of the grain will move through you and back into the world again in great service. Let us share some of the ways we will use our life force from this bread in positive ways.”
Everyone shares how they will give back again, using the energy from their bread.
“Now, smell this wonderful bread and reflect that each of our senses is engaged when we really enjoy food. We see it, touch it, smell it, taste it, and actually hear ourselves chewing it. The life of the food pleases our bodies in all these ways before we even are nourished by its food value.
“So we give thanks for these gifts. May this bread nourish us and may we give beck into the world the energy that it creates in our bodies. Eat now ponder all the ways we are grateful in this moment.” (Everyone enjoys the bread.)
Leader: “Now we will share the fruit of the vine. Each of you has a glass of wine. As we did with our bread, let us deepen our gratitude for this beverage that was living inside grapes not so long ago. Vineyards are ancient and tending them is an analogy for a life well lived. The vines are protected when young, watered and cared for as they grow. They are pruned to take off dead branches and non-producing growth, just as we prune ourselves and let go of ways of being that do not serve us or others. For a moment, let us share some of those ways of being that we have gladly pruned away from ourselves. “
Everyone shares some ways that they have lessened the negative impact they have had on themselves and the world.
Leader: “We have eaten the bread and now we will drink the wine, partaking of the body and the blood of the Goddess. She nourishes us and blesses us. Let us drink and then we will speak of other blessings that we appreciate at this time of harvest.”
Everyone shares other blessings that they enjoy as they eat and drink.
Leader: “We are so blessed. May the energy from the Mother’s food and wine nourish our bodies, minds, and spirits. May the world be better because we are in it. May we use our energy for peace, love, and kinship all the days of our lives. Blessed be."
Everyone shares some ways that they have lessened the negative impact they have had on themselves and the world.
Leader: “We have eaten the bread and now we will drink the wine, partaking of the body and the blood of the Goddess. She nourishes us and blesses us. Let us drink and then we will speak of other blessings that we appreciate at this time of harvest.”
Everyone shares other blessings that they enjoy as they eat and drink.
Leader: “We are so blessed. May the energy from the Mother’s food and wine nourish our bodies, minds, and spirits. May the world be better because we are in it. May we use our energy for peace, love, and kinship all the days of our lives. Blessed be."
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