Lughnasadh (the three most common pronunciations are; loo-NAS-suh, LOO-nah-sod, or loo-NESS-uh) takes place on August 1st in the northern hemisphere and February 1st in the southern hemisphere. This is my explanation of this holiday. It may or may not work for you and your path. There are a number of things that this Sabbat usually celebrates:
Fertility (in plants, animals, and humans)
The first harvest
Honor the God Lugh
Honor any other deities related to the harvest (there are many)
Some ways of celebrating culturally are:
Creating a feast with harvest foods
Baking bread
Making jelly or jam
Making tomato sauce
Preserving food (canning, jarring, etc.)
Going on a picnic
Going for a hike
Singing
Playing games, especially outdoor games
Plan a BBQ with seasonal foods
Make crafts using corn and corn husks
Some ritual ideas are:
Imbibe food with intention or energy and eat it
Make sacrifices to the local land wights, fae, or whatever else you believe in
Midsummer or Litha takes place on the summer solstice (around June 21st in the northern hemisphere and December 21st in the southern hemisphere. This is my explanation of this holiday. It may or may not work for you and your path. There are a number of things that this Sabbat usually celebrates:
The power and strength of the sun
Various sun Gods
The longest day of the year
The Oak King takes over for the Holly King
Some ways of celebrating culturally are:
Have a bonfire
Eat foods that honor fire (usually spicy)
Eat seasonal foods
Go on a picnic
Go for a hike
Drink mead, but drink responsibly
Have a drum circle
Dance
Host a barbeque
Watch the sun rise
Spend time with family
Pick herbs
Make a flower or oak leaf crown or wreath
Pick seasonal foods (where I live, this means we go strawberry picking)
Watch A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Some ritual ideas are:
Fire magic
Drum or make other music
Dance or move
Honor a sun God
Reaffirm your relationship to any deities you work with
Some people prefer to just celebrate the Sabbats. I see those as Sun holidays, since they are all determined by the solar calendar. The Esbats are Moon holidays, since they are determined by the moon. I think that celebrating both is important for a balance in my religious practice.
However, I had put off writing this article for a while because I never really celebrated these apart from a group. When I first started learning about Paganism in the form of Wicca, the only thing I knew to do to celebrate the full moon was to do a “Drawing Down of the Moon”. However, I had never progressed far enough in my Wiccan studies to learn how to do this, so once I started celebrating with a Circle that only sporadically celebrates full moons. For years, I didn’t really celebrate Full Moons. Sometimes I just forgot. Other times, I didn’t keep track of the full moons. Now that I am trying to revitalize my faith, I am trying to celebrate them. At the time of this writing, I still didn’t know how to do a “Drawing Down of the Moon”. I did some soul-searching and some research and this is what I came up with.
This is what this Esbat celebrates:
The most powerful time of the Lunar cycle
Most magically potent time of the Lunar cycle
The cyclic nature of life
Women’s monthly cycles
The Mother aspect of the Triple Goddess
Fertility and fruition
Here are some ways that I and others celebrate it culturally.
With my latest spiritual crisis and in thinking about how I’m not a good Pagan, I asked some advice, did some research, and asked for some guidance. I don’t have a lot of time, so I had to find some way that I could easily include things in my daily life. Here is the list of things I came up with.
Read a bit of a book on Paganism
Draw or do other art with Pagan themes
Add something from nature to your home decor
Practice energy work
Meditate
Scry
Do divination
Cook and put energy into the food or bless the food
Clean with the intention of cleansing or protecting the home
Light a candle
Light incense
Diffuse essential oils (be careful of this if you have pets)
Take a walk in nature
Play some Pagany music and sing, play or dance with the music
Try something new (i.e. energy work from a book, a craft from an article)
Ostara is usually celebrated on the spring equinox. It’s usually pronounced “oh-star-ah”. This is my explanation of this holiday. It may or may not work for you and your path. There are a number of things that this Sabbat usually celebrates.
Balance
The coming of spring
Baby animals being born
The continued return of the sun
Honor the Green Man
Honor the return of Persephone
Fertility
Here are some ways that I and others celebrate it culturally.
Dying eggs
Balancing an egg (I have managed to do it on the equinox)
Plant plants
Go outside for a walk
Make and eat foods with eggs, baby greens, veal, rabbit, or any foods that are in season for you right now.
Decorate your altar and home with local flowers (if there are any yet)
Read stories about the Green Man or Persephone
Here are some ideas for Ostara rituals
Balance within yourself
Plant a plant and inbibe it with intentions for the coming year
Finding and celebrating your inner child
Honoring the Green Man and/or Persephone
Honor the returning of the sun
A fertility ritual (whether for the fertility of your garden or if you are trying to have a baby)
Decorate an egg with symbols full of intentions for the coming year
Go outside and connect and ground with the grass or a tree (weather depending)
