The Wheel of the Year turns… and Lughnasadh is here. This be a Celtic harvest sabbath for the first crops of the year. My Celtic roots and lifestyle of working towards self-sufficiency, organic gardening by the moon, and foraging the woods for wild food and medicinals put me at the heart of this splendid summer celebration. For me this is not only a celebration of the bounty, but also a time to bless the harvest yet to come. I make offerings from my gardens, as well as libations of strawberry mead to the Sun god and the Green man, in gratitude for this bounty.
I make it a tradition to go out into the woods as the sun rises on Lughnasadh morn, the sunbeams streaming through the woods are magickal. I’ll pick wild blueberries, raspberries, and some lovely Chicken of the Woods mushrooms that I just saw yesterday in the woods. If luck be with me I’ll find some wintergreen leaves for some fermented herbal root beer I’m brewing. In my herb garden, I’ll gather pineapple mint for iced tea, some fresh oregano, and basil for the eggplant parmesan I’m going to make, with some eggplants from my vegetable garden. Cornbread is made from the first goldenrod flowers of the season, as August is when they first appear. Goldenrod flowers are great for use as a pendulum as well, I use them every year at Lughnasadh. A rustic wild berry pie for dessert, with an amaretto whipped cream. Strawberry mead will not only be enjoyed at the bonfire after the feast but will be used to bless the new crops as well. A tradition of mine created from some old folklore I read where I sprinkle the Strawberry mead that I made on the Strawberry full moon on all my gardens, and within my woods to bless another bounty. Tonight’s full Corn moon is also a supermoon, which will simply make these rituals all the better. I shall dance round the gardens and within the woods tonight to bless the crops and bounty of the forest… with a bewitching full moon to light the way… Blessed Lughnasadh
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