Lammas Magick Collection

The Witches Harvest - Lammas - Cornucopia – July 31st - August 2nd

Meititura, Lughnasadh, The First Harvest, Harvest of Corn and Grain

Meititura - The Harvest of Grain and Wheat

During the month of July into early August, corn and grains were the first crops to be harvested by the ancestors of the Witch. In ancient Sicily, the ‘Meititura’ (Harvest) was period of hard work, festivity and the blessings of the ‘First Fruits’ of the Agricultural Season. An effigy or puppet of the Grain Mother was fashioned from sheaves of wheat and adorned in female attire. This ‘puppet’ was then carried in procession throughout the local villages in joyous festivity. The sheaves of the Effigy were later used for amulets of protection and good fortune.

Throughout the world, July to August is marked as a time of harvesting corn, grain, and grapes – (to make wine). In our Witches’ Tradition we offer our devotion to the Goddess Demeter (Roman: Ceres) offering Her thanks and gratitude for the bounty She has bestowed.

In many cultures, this sacred climax of power is associated with bread and the nourishment of the physical body. We as Witches give thanks and honor to all Gods and Goddesses of the Harvest, as well as those who represent Death and Resurrection. During this time the Sun God begins to weaken as each day grows shorter and the nights grow longer. The Witches’ Goddess watches in sorrow, but she realizes that while the God passes into transition, he lives on inside Her Belly. This is, in a manner, the Witches Thanksgiving, and we continue to tend to our gardens, and begin to harvest our magickal herbs and flowers.

Lughnasadh or Lammas

In The Celtic Traditions of Witchcraft, Lammas, or Lughnasadh (pronounced LOO-nahs-ah), is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “Loaf-mass”. This is one of the Greater Witches’ Sabbats, usually celebrated on August 1st or 2nd, or occasionally on July 31st. The Lughnasadh Sabbat is a time to celebrate the end of Summer and the beginning of the Autumn season, as well as to usher in the first of three harvest celebrations in the Celtic Yearly Calendar.