Decorate the altar and circle with grain, bread, and other symbols of the harvest.
This ceremony is available for private use, but you must credit Silver Rose Clan for its authorship. There is one part of this ceremony that has been taken from another source, but that source is credited.
The purpose of this ceremony is to celebrate the Lammas harvest and the changing of the seasons. The enactment of the myth of the God's sacrifice is to help bring the participants into harmony with the natural forces of the Earth. This ceremony is designed for group use, but it can easily be adapted to be used by a solitary. The parts are each labelled "covener" so that you can divide up the parts however you choose. A solitary does not need to act out the myth, but can simply visualize it.
The basic opening and closing of the ceremony is shown here in blue. You may use what we've shown, or use your own method of casting the circle. Remember that whatever beings you invite, you should also thank at the end of the ceremony and wish on his/her/its way.
Supplies:
Container of salt
Dish of water
Incense and something to burn it in
Lighter
1 candle for each Element
1 candle for the God
1 candle for the Goddess
1 Sickle or other blade
1 crown or other symbol of Lordship
Circle Casting:
The circle is cast deosil.
All: “I conjure thee O circle of
power that thou beest a boundary between the world of men and the
realm of the Mighty Ones, a guardian and a protection to preserve
and contain the power that we shall raise within. Therefore do we
bless and consecrate thee.
So mote it be!”
(This is a traditional Gardnerian circle casting, but any number of other poems are also good. It is not necessary to speak a circle call at all if you do not wish to.)
Covener: Trace a banishing pentagram onto the salt. “Salt from the deep earth, grounding element of Earth, be thou clean.”
Covener: Trace a banishing pentagram onto the water. “Water from the mighty seas, unifying element of Water, be thou clean.”
Covener: Mix three portions of salt into the water. “Water is life’s beginning and salt is life’s end, and together they are rebirth.”
Coverner: Asperge the circle with the water, beginning and ending in the northwest. All the while repeat, “By Water and Earth, this circle is purified and blessed.”
Covener: Lift the salted water up above the altar. Say, “We have purified this circle with the power of Water and Earth and have made it sacred.”
The bell is rung three times.
Coverener: Trace a banishing pentagram over the incense, saying, “Herbs that will become air, the element of intelligence and freedom, be thou clean.”
Coverner: Trace a banishing pentagram over the incense charcoal, or over the cherry of the incense if it is not loose. Say, “Flame that we have sparked, creative and destructive element of Fire, be thou clean.”
Covener: Cense the circle, beginning and ending in the southeast. All the while say, “By Fire and Air this circle is purified and blessed.”
Covener: Lift the salted water up above the altar. Say, “We have purified this circle with the power of Fire and Air and have made it sacred.”
The bell is rung three times.
Calling the Archangels:
Covener: “Let all angels of goodness and light be welcome here in our circle. We invite by name RAPHAEL, MICHAEL, GABRIEL, and URIEL. Angels, we invite you to join us in celebration of Midsummer and life. We beseech you to protect us, guide us, and to aid in our magick. Angels, be welcome!”
(If you wish, light a candle to honor the angels. Additionally, you might light one candle for each specific angel that is called. It is considered good form to light a candle to honor every individual being that is invited into the circle. These candles should never be used afterward for a different purpose.)
The bell is rung three times.
Calling the Elements:
Covener: “Let us call in the Elements.”
Covener: Trace a white invoking
pentagram, then the green symbol of Earth in its center. Say:
“Earth beneath my feet
Ground of Being
Fertile soil nurturing life
Cold stone that with warmth supports the world
Element of Earth, please come.
We light this candle in your honor.”
The bell is rung three times.
Covener: Trace a white invoking pentagram, then the yellow symbol
of Air in its center. Say:
“Air within our lungs
Breath of Life
Carrying sound and thought
Bringing freedom and intelligence
Element of Air, please come.
We light this candle in your honor.”
The bell is rung three times.
Covener: Trace a white invoking pentagram, then the red symbol of Fire in its center. Say:
“Fire burning bright
Spark of Life
Soothing warmth and bright Light
Spirit of passion that transforms all you touch
Element of Fire, please come.
We light this candle in your honor.”
The bell is rung three times.
Covener: Trace a white invoking
pentagram, then the blue symbol of Water in its center. Say:
“Water that fills us
Source of all Life
Primordial Union from which we come
Spiritual harmony that binds us together
Element of Water, please come.
We light this candle in your honor.”
The bell is rung three times.
Covener: Trace a white invoking pentagram, then the white symbol
of Spirit in its center. Say:
“Spirit,
Thou which are all Life and goodness
All pervasive and eternal
The basis and the epitome of existence
Element of Spirit, please come.
We light this candle in your honor.”
The bell is rung three times.
Calling the Goddess and God:
Covener: “Lord and Lady
Creator and Creatrix of All,
We invite you to join us in our circle, in our lives, and in our
hearts.
Share with us your boundless love and wisdom
And help us to live it and to share it.
Lord and Lady,
Be with us!
We light these candles in your honor.”
A covener says, "Let us hear the Wiccan myth of the turning of the seasons - let us hear the metaphors that embody the Mysteries of the Creation, the mysteries of life and death."
A covener speaks the story. "In the beginning was the Lord and the Lady. The two Deities, desiring to create love and life and beauty, fashioned our world. They placed our world in the stars and nurtured it with their love and their power. They danced together on the Earth and in the waves, in their joy creating life everywhere that they went. They peopled the world with all manner of plants and animals, so that the whole of the world was vibrant with wonderful life."
A covener says, "Together they looked at the world they had created, and they rejoiced in it. In joy and celebration, the Lord - the Oak King - and Lady lay together, and the Lady grew with child. The Maiden Lady prepared to become the Mother and the Lord became the Corn King. The first harvest came in, and the two Deities observed the failing of the strength of the world."
A covener says, "The Lord willingly sacrificed himself for the sake of the world, giving his vital essence - his very life - to the Earth. His body died and became part of the Earth, but his spirit lived on. As the Holly King he yet lived, and travelled on to the Summerland. The Goddess in her grief went to sleep. In her sleep she aged, but her body yet gave life to her child. The world too rested from the summer season, but it yet contained the blood and vital life of the God. In time the Lady bore her child, and behold, the child was the Lord reborn."
A covener says, "In love again they were reunited. The young Oak King grew strong again, and the Lady was rejuvenated. So the Wheel of Life turns from life to life - death is but rest; there is no end to life. So the Wheel of the Year turns, resting and rejuvenating, flowering and growing and giving of its bounty, sharing in the same Wheel of Life as do humans, as do the Lord and the Lady. The Wheel turns."
All say, "the Power burns."
All continue the chant, "The Wheel turns, the Power burns" until the covener in charge of the chant ends it by repeating, "The Wheel turns, the Power burns" loudly and forcefully.
One covener is dressed as the Corn King, the Lord of the summer seasons, the Father God. He wears a crown on his head, or some other symbol of Lordship. One covener is dressed as the pregnant Mother Goddess, Lady of the summer seasons. One covener is dressed as the Holly King, the God of winter that will journey to the Summerland.
A covener says, "on the day of Lammas, the first harvest, we celebrate the bounty of the Earth and commemorate the sacrifice of the Goddess and God. Behold the Corn King. Behold the Mother Goddess."
A covener speaks the poem "Lammas" from The Wheel of the Year by Teresa Moorey and Jane Brideson or another poem that captures the essence of Lammas.
Fields of listening, whispering corn
Ripen in the heavy air
Lugh the Golden dancing forth, Leaves and sheaves in his wild
hair.
In perfect circles bow the stalks,
Mark the path where great Lugh walks,
Mark days and seasons, round they go,
As above, so below.
Grainne and Diarmuid meet
Clasping in the heady air,
Loving in the dolmen's shadow,
Lost deep in her corn-sweet hair.
And his Moon follows her Sun,
Marks the way where she has gone,
Marks how love and life must be,
Each follows his own destiny.
Misty sun and steaming rain
Upon the pregnant, swelling earth.
Drying trees and tiring fields
Await the mystery of birth.
Now, in her ecstatic sleep
Mark she opens, dark and deep.
Mark, the Neolithic tomb
Pulses, like a throbbing womb.
Poppies scarlet on the gold,
Slashing, gory, gaudy red.
Colour brash and petals frail,
Bright life cut down, blown away, dead.
Now he lies down on the fields.
Mark, his life he freely yields.
Mark the blood upon the corn
All that dies shall be reborn
All that dies shall be reborn
(At the line "Slashing, gory, gaudy red," the Goddess figure takes a sickle or other blade and pretends to cut the throat of the kneeling Corn King. At the line "Now he lies down on the fields," the Corn King lies down and folds his arms across his chest. The Lady holds the blade in one hand and a sheaf of grain in the other and crosses her arms across her chest with her head bowed.)
A covener says, "The Corn King is dead, but not gone. His powerful spirit yet remains in the land, as truly as his blood is within the Earth. He remains with us now until he will pass on into the Summerland in preparation for his rebirth by the Goddess. Behold, he lives on, crowned as the Holly King."
A covener removes the crown from the head of the Corn King and places it on the head of the Holly King. S/he says, "The Wheel turns. The harvest will come in, and the Earth will rest under snow, and once again the Earth will flower and grow."
All begin to chant:
"Hoof and Horn, Hoof and Horn,
All that dies will be reborn.
Corn and grain, corn and grain,
All that falls will rise again."
The chant ends when the leader of the chant says loudly and meaningfully, "All that falls will rise again."
(During or after the chant, the covener who played the Corn King may rise and rejoin the others).
Now is the time for celebration and for telling stories and poems related to Lammas or the turning of the Wheel.
When the celebration is over, all raise power from the Earth and from the cosmos. It is given to the lands as a blessing as one covener says,
"Blessed be the Earth which gives us her bounty so that
we live.
Blessed be the harvest.
Blessed be Lammastides and the coming autumn.
We lay our blessings on the Earth which has given her blessings
to us.
May she prosper."
All the power raised is given in this blessing.
You may now perform any works of magick that you desire.
It is now time to eat and close down the circle.
Simple Feast:
Covener:
“We call on all Gods to give their blessings on this
nourishment.
Blessed be this food, by which we live.
Blessed be the fertile Earth and the skies,
Blessed be the warm Sun and the Moon,
Which have given of their bounty.
Blessed be those who have given of their bodies
So that we might eat.
Receive all blessings in abundance, and receive our thanks.
Blessed Be!”
All: “Blessed Be!”
The food is shared. The goblet is passed around, and as each covener receives it, s/he raises the goblet and hails a God, Goddess, or other being or life force, and the other coveners shout out the hail in response. Alternately, each covener may have their own goblet, and all take turns giving hails.
Thanking the Goddess and God:
Covener: “Lord and Lady, we thank you for joining us, now and throughout our lives, and we ask to be in your guidance and care always. Blessed be!”
All: “Blessed be!”
Thanking the Elements:
Covener: “Let us now give thanks to the Elements and the beings of the Elements.”
The Elements are thanked and dismissed in turn, saying,
“Blessed be the Element of _____,
and all beings hailing from the Realm of _____
Thank you for your presence and for all your many blessings.
Go in peace to your realms, harming none.
Hail and Farewell.”
All: “Hail and Farewell.”
The bell is rung once after each Element. When all five Elements have been thanked and sent home, the bell is rung three times.
Thanking the Archangels:
Covener: “ Let us now thank the angels.”
Covener: “Uriel, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and all angels here, we thank you for coming, and we thank you for all your blessings and aid. Stay if you will and go if you will, and if you go, then we say ‘hail and farewell.’ Blessed be!”
All: “Blessed be!”
The bell is rung three times.
Earthing the Circle:
One member walks the circle counterclockwise while drawing the energy of the circle into him/herself, or all members draw in the energy in their location. The energy may be given to the Earth as healing and protective energy, given to a person or persons, transmitted toward a goal, or imbued into an object(s).
Snuff or pinch out all candles. Do not blow out candles used in ceremony.
The bell is rung four times to signal the end of the ritual.
Covener: “The circle is open but never broken. Merry did we meet, and merry do we part. Merry will we meet again!”
Now is a time for feasting and merriment.
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