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Episode 22: Lammas/Lughnasadh
842 Plays2 years ago
Welcome back Witches! Today we're discussing all things Lammas, or Lughnasadh! This sabbat occurs on August 1st for the Northern hemisphere and it is the half way point between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. We'll discuss its roots, ways to celebrate, and of course all the correspondences. So get in losers, and lets discuss Lammas/Lughnasadh!
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
- Aldan, Temperance. The Year of the Witch. (2020). Weiser Books.
- Bhagat, Dhruti. The Origins and Practices of Lammas/Lughmasad. (2019) The Boston Public Library. https://www.bpl.org/blogs/post/the-origins-and-practices-of-lammas-lughnasad/
- Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham’s Book of Shadows. (2019). Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
- The Festival Sabbat of Lammas. The Goddess & the Green Man. https://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/lammas/
- Lughnasadh (n.d.). Celtic Connection. https://wicca.com/pagan-holidays/lughnasadh.html
- Claddagh Design. (2022). All About Lughnasadh. Claddagh Design. https://www.claddaghdesign.com/history/all-about-lughnasadh/
- Shirley Twofeathers (2017). Lammas vs Lughnasadh. Pagan Calendar. https://shirleytwofeathers.com/The_Blog/pagancalendar/lammas-vs-lughnasadh/#:~:text=Lughnasadh%2C%20which%20is%20pronounced%20LOO-nah-sah%2C%20traces%20its%20roots,plains%20of%20Ireland%20for%20the%20purpose%20of%20agriculture.
- Kajora Lovely (2019). Lughnasadh: History & Traditions of the First Harvest Festival. https://www.kajoralovely.com/lovely-blog/2019/7/28/lughnasadh
- Brandon-Evans, Tira (n.d.). Goddess Alive! Goddess Celebration and Research. https://goddess-pages.co.uk/galive/issue-18-home/tailtiu-harvest-goddess/
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Transcript
Introduction to Witchcraft
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult, but feel lost in where to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser, we're doing witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey.
00:00:11
Speaker
Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we have learned about
Lunasa Festival Discussion
00:00:15
Speaker
the craft. So get in witches as we take a deep dive into Lunasa or Llamas. Llamas. Llamas. Llamas. Llamas. I always feel weird saying that word. I don't know why.
Personal Stories and Reflections
00:00:49
Speaker
I rolled my ankle so hard the other day. I literally fell. Super embarrassing too. In front of a group of guys, I was with my family, but I was walking behind them. I was carrying chicken and we got on the food truck and I stepped in a hole, wasn't paying attention, rolled my ankle so bad, I fell.
00:01:14
Speaker
saved the chicken though. So I guess that's all that matters. And my foot has been killing me the past few days. So I think I like actually sprained my ankle, but you know, military medicine, I am not getting it checked out. I know it's not broken. So it'll just be a couple of days. That reminds me one time when I was still in the military.
00:01:40
Speaker
Our, so Ramstein used to make us wear blues every Monday. If you were in a job that like allowed you to wear blues, including in the winter when it's like snowy and icy out and those shoes have no traction at all. And so we had a commander's call one morning. We had to be there at like 6 45 or something. It was really stupid.
00:01:58
Speaker
So me and one of my friends went and got coffee and we were walking in and he was carrying like, thank God he was carrying the whole tote of coffee and his coffee. And I was carrying my coffee and my phone and we're walking, you know, and I hit a patch of ice in the parking lot in my fucking blue. And I like, my feet just went out, right? Like up in the air. It was so dramatic. I saved and did not spill a single drop of my coffee and chucked my phone. I was like, fuck this phone.
00:02:30
Speaker
And then like he sat the coffees down and was like bent over dying laughing. He couldn't even like help me up. I'm laying there fucking dying laughing. People are walking by us and we're just like, don't worry about us. We got this.
00:02:45
Speaker
You know, moral of the story here, chicken and coffee, more important than our life, our body. I just love that nobody, like, everybody walked by us just looking at us like, what the fuck is going on? And I'm like on the ground, coffee's still up in my hand, my phone's across the parking lot.
00:03:02
Speaker
And then we walked in, we were like, so anyways, here's everyone's coffee. Right. Oh, this wet spot on the back of the blue worries. I had the stupid blue jacket on. Oh, nice. So, you know, they couldn't even tell. And so there was enough injuries that happened that winter, the winter that I fell.
00:03:20
Speaker
that they actually got rid of blues in the winter. So we only had to wear them like, I think it was like May through October or something. I mean, cause then like, especially if it gets really hot, then you're just like sweating. And then you can see it because the shirts are so light colored. Yup. I guess, you know, but also like that stupid ribbon rack when you have boobs, it's like, hello, here's my rack and my back.
00:03:47
Speaker
We're just gonna poke you in the eyeball with the rack. With both racks. I have racks on racks today, so maybe watch your eyes. If you can tell, I do not miss the military at all. Yeah, I know. I couldn't tell. Not at all.
Military and Social Issues
00:04:06
Speaker
Also, how about that guy in my comments saying, you were in the military for gross sakes. I'm like, what does being in the military have to do with abortions, bro?
00:04:15
Speaker
Exactly. Nothing. I forget how he worded it, but basically saying like, my words mattered. I'm like, yeah, they do matter. You asshole. Right. Like you can be in the military and not love everything about your employer. But also like, what does that have to do with Roe v. Wade? Needless to say, we are no longer friends on Facebook.
00:04:35
Speaker
I had a friend, like I haven't even messaged her back yet. I read it, but I didn't message her back. Um, and she sent me this super long, like thing. She's obviously pro-life and she is basically like.
00:04:51
Speaker
Even though I don't agree, like I expect, I respect your opinions, but I don't, here's the thing. I don't respect yours when it comes to human rights issues. Yeah. Yeah. If you, it's one thing to still like be friends with people and have like respectful conversations, but at the same time, like I find it really hard.
00:05:13
Speaker
to be friends with people who do not respect human rights. And so I haven't even written her back. I just read it and I'm like, I'll think of something because I don't even know what to say. Cause I'm right now I'm still too angry. Yeah. I had a friend who we've been friends since we were like 10.
00:05:30
Speaker
And she sent me a thing and it was like from a pastor and I was just like, I'm going to hold off on responding to that one because I'm tired of telling people like, I don't follow your stupid Bible. Okay. Yeah.
00:05:47
Speaker
And I shouldn't have to like, no. And that's the thing in like, you know, it's just, it's not like we go out and we like try, we're not evangelical pagans. Like we don't try and like convert people to pagans. Christians are like the only ones that do that in America.
00:06:02
Speaker
They expect that just everybody believes the same way you do. And, you know, I fully respect your, you believe how you want to believe, whatever. I respect that. But whenever it's violating someone's human rights or whenever you're trying to make it seem like, well, this is the word of God and here it is.
00:06:20
Speaker
No, it's not. This is written by a man for men. What the hell? And then like translated many, many, many, many, many times. And the whole like actual meaning is lost in translation. Did you see that one that I posted? That was like, it was basically a guy being like, fuck religion. Like I respect you. If you believe in God, that's cool. But like, if
00:06:46
Speaker
you are doing things that put people in danger or like harm other people. Fuck you and fuck your religion. Yeah. And so for those of our listeners, we will get into the episode in just a second. But just know this is being recorded like right after the whole lovely state of affairs of our community. Yeah. So this, yeah. We're not having a great time. No. We're just hoping that we can get our human rights back.
00:07:13
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be great. I'd like to, you know, have more rights than my mom had. Exactly. Or just the same amount, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Too much to ask. You know, the thing like, it just makes me mad like being a mother of girls and knowing that like you strive as a parent or if you, if you're a good parent, you want to strive to like leave your children a better world than once you found it. And the fact that like,
00:07:42
Speaker
It's just looking abysmal if you're a mother, especially a mother of girls. It's just terrifying. And also it's hard for me to wrap my head up. Julia and I were actually talking about this. It's hard for us to wrap our heads around the way that people think right now, like the people that are
00:08:00
Speaker
excited about this. I don't understand how they can get to the point that they think that this is a good thing and they don't understand what they're losing. Yes, women have lost their rights, but also you just lost your privacy. Everyone, not just women.
00:08:16
Speaker
So when you try to go get a fucking job and your employer requests your medical records and can look at them and then doesn't hire you because maybe you have some kind of mental health diagnosis that they don't want to deal with, they can do that now. And they've opened the door for so many things to be returned and it's just, people don't realize it. And one of my friends,
00:08:38
Speaker
Um, she actually, so she had an ectopic pregnancy a few years back and she almost died. But thankfully she was able to get that resolved because Roe v. Wade wasn't overturned, but she had posted this story that somebody had sent into, I think it was an author or a musician. It was somebody I hadn't really heard of, but
00:08:59
Speaker
They had sent a message to them and was like, can you please share this on your Instagram? I am a nurse, like labor and delivery nurse. They were living in a state with trigger laws. And so essentially this woman came in, of course, the same night that Roe v. Wade was overturned with an ectopic pregnancy. And she almost died, like literally was bleeding out for hours because it ruptured.
00:09:24
Speaker
And the doctor had to verify that it was, he was legally allowed to assist this woman who was dying and bleeding out in the hospital. And these nurses, they couldn't do anything. They couldn't do, literally couldn't treat her for hours, like nine hours, I think. Oh my God. And she could have died. She almost died. So
00:09:47
Speaker
But yeah, we also get, you know, our tubes tied if we want to. Yeah, literally. It's insane. Like the whole process for, um, like men to get vasectomies is so like such a smooth process. They don't ask really, I think they ask like certain questions like, um, are you sure you don't want to have any more kids? But that's about the gist of it. Yeah. I got told that my husband might change his mind, even if I don't.
00:10:11
Speaker
Yeah. And I told Anthony and he was like, what the actual fuck? And I was like, yeah, I was told I was too young. I haven't had children yet. And when I said I never planned to have children, well, your husband might change his mind if, even if you don't. Okay. He can change his mind. Doesn't mean I'm having him.
00:10:32
Speaker
What the fuck? And then like in some states too, I don't know if this is a trigger law that has taken effect, but I was reading, or if it's a pre-banned situation or a trigger law, but I was reading that in some states, like they're making it to where like specific contraception is now going to be illegal.
00:10:50
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm wondering how that's going to work. Like, thank God I'm in Illinois where none of this like applies for the time being, but being military, we can be forced to PCS at any given time to wherever we're told to. So like, I mean, obviously you knew that, but some of our listeners might not, like we might end up PCS-ing in a year and into a state that like all of this shit is an issue. And I can't be on other forms of birth control. I can only be on the one that I'm on.
00:11:18
Speaker
it's also one of the ones that are it's like on the chopping block for some of these states. And it's ridiculous to know that like literally we could be forced to move at any point wherever the military wants to send us and knowing that whatever state we move into it could be illegal for us to
00:11:36
Speaker
even just get it replaced or removed. And I just don't think like people who are supportive of this being a return, you don't understand what you're losing, men and women. Look, hopefully when you're listening to this things maybe have changed, but just know we will both be
Llamas Festival Details
00:11:58
Speaker
that person. If you need to go quote unquote camping, we will be that person for you. We will go camping and I've got herbal tea. Anyways.
00:12:07
Speaker
On to the episode today. On to the episode. What are we talking about? What are we talking about? What are we talking about? We are talking about lemons.
00:12:16
Speaker
or llamas day. I swear my brain every time it sees it, I think it's a double M because you know llamas what the double L at the beginning or whatever it like automatically I'm like llamas. So if we say llamas instead of llamas just excuse us. We know what it is. Sometimes I'm just dumb.
00:12:39
Speaker
We've said it once, we'll say it again. We're just two idiots making a podcast. Llamas falls between July 31st and the 2nd of August in the Northern Hemisphere. And this year, it's gonna be on Monday, August 1st. In the Southern Hemisphere, it falls between January 31st and February 2nd. And this is the halfway point between Litha or the Summer Solstice and Mabon or the Autumn Equinox.
00:13:07
Speaker
and it celebrates the grain harvest. It's also known as Lunasad, Freyfest, August Eve, the Fest of Bread, and Harvest Home. I think there were more names, but I forgot to put them in. There was like 17 names for this one. There's always like a few kind of names for all of these things. Yeah, so yeah. So look, we hit some of the important ones. So if you're looking at the background of this holiday,
00:13:36
Speaker
Holiday? You call them holidays? Holiday, Sabbath, whatever. celebration. So looking at the background of this celebration, there's a lot of different versions throughout history or throughout different cultures. So in Ireland, the kind of the Celtic version would be Lunasad. Lunasad? Lunasad.
00:13:56
Speaker
I've heard it pronounced both. I call it Lunasaw, but I've heard it pronounced Lunasaw too. I know. That's why I'm like, what is it? How do we say this word? So Lunasaw is the festival centered around the sun god Lu.
00:14:15
Speaker
And then they're similar with just slightly varying differences that are celebrated throughout Scottish throughout the Scottish and Welsh areas in England, the Saxon version is lamis or llamas.
00:14:29
Speaker
or llamas, which is also known as loaf mass, which I think is just hilarious. I don't know why the idea that this is what this stems from makes me laugh, but it does. Because this was like a Christian centered thing, right? Loaf mass.
00:14:47
Speaker
So basically it's centered around wheat and bread and it's considered the more secular version. And then with modern day paganism, we kind of celebrate a combination of all of these things that came before. So we, you know, we might do some things from each.
00:15:04
Speaker
version, which I think is kind of cool. It's a little eclectic, eclectic celebration. And in Ireland, it's tied to the ancient Gaelic and Celtic traditions, some of which were also seen in England, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. But there's records of this holiday being celebrated in Irish literature. And in Irish literature, it's usually documented that it's celebrated for about a month with the first of August as its midpoint.
00:15:30
Speaker
And so like it would start the last two weeks of July and go into the first two weeks of August. And this is when the sun is in Leo and it's the astrological sign that belongs to the sun and it epitomizes its power. In modern Irish Gaelic, the month of August is called Munasa, which I thought was kind of interesting. Yeah.
00:15:54
Speaker
And then for anyone who celebrates along the Wheel of the Year, it's one of the Sabbats, and it's also known as one of the greater Sabbats to include Imbok, Beltane, and Salin. And it occurs between Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox of Mabon.
00:16:09
Speaker
So this is the time when the plants of spring start to wither and they begin spreading their seeds for their future crops. But it's also when the God is considered to begin to lose his strength as the days grow shorter and the nights start to grow longer. During this time, we see the first hints of autumn. So it recognizes that the hot summer days will soon end and it marks the beginning of harvest season. This is when the first of the grains are harvested, trees begin to drop their fruit and
00:16:38
Speaker
With this, this is usually like apples specifically, but it can be any fruit that's dropping during this time.
Customs and Traditions of Llamas
00:16:44
Speaker
And the weaning of calves and lambs, the ripening of corn, the first apples, pears, bilberries, blackberries, and grapes are seen. And then there's a tradition or
00:16:55
Speaker
custom of basically picking the first apples that fall and making them into a drink called llama's wool or I've heard this also is lamb's wool and then I looked at the recipe and it's basically the same as was and how do you say it was sale was so I.
00:17:12
Speaker
I grew up with it being called wasl, but I have a very white family. It's probably called that, but I don't know. It's spelled with sales. Yeah, it's spelled with sale. And so I always called it wasl until I met you. And then you said wasl and I was like, maybe my family says it wrong because they're all super white and don't look into the history of things. They're just like, ooh, this is a good recipe and they make it and then they do their own thing.
00:17:39
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I don't know. Honestly, I've never actually had it, but I know that you make it every year. So I was just like, yeah, that's crazy. But I know you don't make it for, um, Lamas or Lunasa. You make it like, I make it like you'll like the colder months.
00:17:57
Speaker
It's like, it warms you up for this too. I guess it's like the same recipe. If you look at the recipe for llama school, it is people will be like, Oh yeah, this is wassail or wassail. I can use it as an excuse to make wassail or wassail in the summer. Exactly. Perfect. And we're going to, um, link a recipe for this drink.
00:18:22
Speaker
that I cannot say. We're gonna link a recipe for that in our socials. You're gonna have to send me that link so that I can compare it to what I do, like our family recipe, see if it's like similar. So the word lamas comes from loaf mass, which I think I mentioned earlier, right?
00:18:42
Speaker
Yes, I did. So it comes from loaf mass and that's honoring the first loaf of grain bread of the season. This time also is the celebration of the first grain harvest and it's time it's a time for gathering and giving thanks for the abundance. So the second harvest is mabon and that's the harvest of fruit and the third and final harvest is sowen and that's the harvest of nuts and berries.
00:19:06
Speaker
And then in early Christianity, the first sloths of bread were blessed during mass. I was reading about this and I was reading that sometimes once the bread was blessed, they would take four pieces of it and then put it in the corners of their home. And that's like a protection spell. I've said it before, I'll say it again, especially when it comes to Catholicism, they're like our twice removed cousin.
00:19:33
Speaker
They do all this shit. And then they're like, Oh, but you're a witch. And you're like, so are you bro? Right. I just saw you swing that instance ball around. You just put four pieces of bread throughout your home, making every corner. So weirdo.
00:19:48
Speaker
Lamis is the last of the four Gaelic fire festivals of the year, the other three being Samhain and Balkan Beltane. It also celebrates the festival of Lu, who is the Celtic sun god, or the god of light. And this is like, August is his sacred month. So this is where the name Lunasad comes from.
00:20:09
Speaker
It said that Lou initiated this festival as a way to honor his mother with feasting, market fair, games, and bonfire celebrations, which I think is so precious.
00:20:20
Speaker
It is. I hope somebody celebrates my life that way. Please have a bonfire and lots of food every year. Every year for me. So Luna saw, depending on where you're getting information from translates to, um, in honor of the God Lou also translated as marriage of Lou.
00:20:43
Speaker
Because I guess Lou was married to the land or the earth and sacrificed to the earth and it's symbolic of crops being planted and then harvested, aka sacrificed. So there's that translation for Lunasad also as the funeral games of Lou.
00:21:02
Speaker
to commemorate, like you were saying, the honor of his mother, Teltiwe. Basically she died, I guess, after clearing the plains of Ireland for agricultural purposes.
00:21:14
Speaker
many different translations for the word Loona sauce. So it could be any of those or none of those. And it could be something completely different. That's just what I found online. Lou is also known as the master of all skills, the shining one, Raven, or in Europe, he's also known as Lugos. It's kind of funny that he would be considered like, what did I say earlier? It was like,
00:21:42
Speaker
something about light. And then you have the shining one, but also Raven, which is like dark, associated with like black. And when I was reading about it, I guess like lions and Ravens were like his signature symbols or animals or something. He's also so Lou is also known as the Lord of the Sun.
00:22:01
Speaker
light, victory, craftsmanship, and warm. And he's considered a master poet, warrior, sorcerer, metalworker, cupbearer, physician, harper, and builder. So just like a jack of all trades. He was identified with the planet Mercury, and many believe that European churches dedicated to Michael the Archangel are built over sites that were once dedicated to Lou, which is kind of sad. That is really sad.
00:22:30
Speaker
Leave it to the church. And as far as the festival of Munasa, it became a day based upon this Celtic myth and became a time for contest games, handfasting and seeking lodging for the winter months. So it kind of all celebrates this whole thing.
00:22:47
Speaker
Lamis is also the time that the goddess is also known as the grandmother, the harvest mother, the harvest queen, and the earth mother. At this time, the goddess is ripe and full and she's thought to be carrying the seed of the new year's sun god with her. Have you heard of the John Barley corn portion of this holiday because it made me laugh?
00:23:09
Speaker
No, I really meant to look at it. First of all, John Barleycorn, what a hilarious name. But basically, John Barleycorn is an iteration of Lou or the sun god, and he's considered to be the living spirit of the corn or the grain. And basically, when you do the cutting of the corn or the cutting of the grain for harvesting, he's surrendering his life.
00:23:31
Speaker
So he puts his spirit into the grain at this time of year. And when the grains cut, he then surrenders his life so that the community can survive the winter.
00:23:40
Speaker
And then when the seeds are sown, his life continues. And he just lives in this continuous cycle of putting his spirit into the corn, raising the corn and the grains, and then surrendering it for the rest of the community to continue life during the cold months. What a terrible way to live. Right. But also what a name, John Barley corn. You couldn't think of anything.
00:24:06
Speaker
It's like Lou and John Barley corn. It makes me think of John Jacob Jingleheimer. So there's also Lemus bannock or bannock. I think it's a sample.
00:24:26
Speaker
Maybe. So I did try to do pronunciations on this and it was like said both ways. So like, okay, this is what we're going with. So this is a ceremonial cake that's baked and eaten outside. And as you eat the cake, you're supposed to throw like pieces of it over your shoulder to feed predatory animals.
00:24:47
Speaker
And for every piece that gets thrown, it's believed to be a petition to the wild animals, the predators, that they can't attack the livestock in the coming year. And so this was like an important, I guess, ceremony for farmers because livestock was their livelihood. And then it was considered like a ceremonial petition. So you were petitioning
00:25:09
Speaker
Like, hey, I'm feeding you this bread or cake. So please don't eat my cows this year. I thought that was really cute. That is really cute. But then the fox is like, I need some protein. I will eat your chickens. Yeah. How about that? I'll leave the cow for a chicken, a little, you know, a little chicken with my bread.
00:25:30
Speaker
eggs in there. Yeah. And then there were a lot of customs with the grain. So both the first and the last cuttings of grain are significant during the harvest season. The first grains that are cut are done ceremonially at dawn. And these were the ones that are used to be ground down and baked
00:25:51
Speaker
into the harvest bread that gets shared with the community. While the first barley stocks are brewed into the first beers of the season. And then the last sheaf that gets cut gets turned into a corn dolly. And that gets carried ceremonially into the festivities. And this was like a central piece to the harvest feast. And I read that they also would keep the corn dolly through sowing and then they would burn it during the sowing bonfires.
00:26:19
Speaker
Yes, I read that too. And I thought that was really cool. So of course there's correspondences. That's like one of our favorite things to talk about. I feel like we're always like, listen to all these things you can use. So for this Lamas celebration, your plant correspondences are going to be
00:26:37
Speaker
all grains, obviously, because this is like the grain festival, right? You're harvesting all the grains. So think wheat, barley, oat, and rye. A meadow sweet, which is also known as queen of the meadow, bridewort, and a bride of the meadow. Sunflowers, calendula, sage, rose, sandalwood, genseng, mint, aloe, fenugreek, heather, frankincense, oak, and vervain.
00:27:03
Speaker
And I also saw too, as just a bit of extra. I mean, this is a lot of correspondences. It really is. You know what? You may have some of these, like alder, basil, benoyne. I don't know if I'm saying that right, but I've never heard that before. And borage or borage still have no clue. Chicory, daisy, fennel, gorse, which sounds terrible. I don't know what that is. Um, honeysuckle, ivy, marshmallow, mugwort, and poppy.
00:27:32
Speaker
Trees are going to be hazel, oak, and pine. More incense, you can do rose, rosemary, frankincense, and sandalwood. It can be a blend with any of the herbs that we listed in the correspondences above as well. Loose incense is preferred since this is one of the fire festivals, so you can just throw some of that into your bonfire.
00:27:56
Speaker
The gods that correspond are going to be there's field farmland and crop deities, which are Lou, Demeter, Persephone, Loki, Thor, Odin, Baal, Saris, Ayn, Saridwen, Adonis, Inanna, Ishtar, and Demuzi.
00:28:15
Speaker
Foods are going to be things that are multigrain like a multigrain or a cracked wheat bread. Blackberry pie was listed specifically like a blackberry pie which makes me want to make one. Corn on the cob, potatoes, turnips, apples, pears, nuts,
00:28:31
Speaker
Rice, grapes, wild berries, barbecue meats, or fried chicken. And if you pick wild berries, which is totally cool, I would suggest that if you could, just remember to do your research and make sure you're picking the correct berries and not berries that are going to make you sick or poison you.
00:28:49
Speaker
I will always, always, always give that little warning because not doing your research and not making sure you're picking something that's correct could kill you. So just make sure you're doing that if you pick them wild or pick them at a farm. I know we have like Eckert's is a farm that's like literally right down the street from my house that you can go and pick blackberries right now.
00:29:10
Speaker
For drinks, you can do elderflower wine, cordial or tea, herbal teas, especially fruit teas are good for this time of year, really any wine. And then if you have fruited wines like blackberry wine or another dark beverage like meat or beer, colors associated would be green, gold, yellow,
00:29:32
Speaker
orange, brown, and red. And then crystals are sardonyx, carnelian, fire agate, citrine, adventurine, adventurine, yellow diamonds, which are pretty rare, but if you have them, that's cool. Your animals are going to be a stag,
00:29:50
Speaker
calves and roosters. Mythological will be speaking skulls. That reminds me of Kingdom of the Wicked. Yeah, I was gonna say that was I thought it was like funny because that's all I could think of during that was the speaking skull and that um the phoenix and this symbolizes like the rebirth or like John Barley corn story. Griffins and centaurs and then some considerations for your altar for this time of year would be
00:30:18
Speaker
the corn dolly that we talked about earlier, grains, bread, sunflowers, calendulas. If you have a scythe or like a symbol of a scythe, corn, grapes, apples, any other like crops that can be harvested at this time. And so traditional altars would include a portion of anything from the first harvest that has been collected, a figure of the god, and this can be baked in the form of bread, which I thought was interesting, like baking a little bread god.
00:30:47
Speaker
and putting that on your altar items that correspond to the sabbat as well. And so let's talk about how to celebrate. So celebrating Linasa, depending on what pagan tradition you follow and whether or not you're in the broom closet can differ.
Celebrating Llamas in Modern Times
00:31:03
Speaker
Traditionally, Wiccans viewed this as one of the eight sabbats that make up the will of the year. It's celebrated on the evening of the 31st of July, leading into
00:31:13
Speaker
Lunasa day on August 1st. So during this time, Wiccans would give thanks for the abundance and look forward to what's to come in autumn and winter. And there's the whole goddess and God allegory. So the goddess is eternal, but the God goes through the cycle along the wheel of the year. And so it's kind of related back to, I think a lot of what we've already talked about. And I think it kind of ties back into John Barley corn, but obviously it's different because it's a
00:31:41
Speaker
Different perspective with God and the goddess. So with the God, he's born at Yule. His youth is at Beltane. He marries the goddess and he ages at Lamas and dies at Saland. So he loses some of his strength as the nights grow longer. And so that's what.
00:31:57
Speaker
lamas or nasa symbolizes for wiccans. If you follow the dionic wiccans, the focus is primarily on the goddess aspect of the sabbat, in the form of the goddess of plenty, and this can be seen in Kor or Koray. I don't know how to say that, but look it up because I did. I think I would have said Kor. I would have said Kor. So Kor, Ceres, or Abandia.
00:32:22
Speaker
And for Celtic reconstructionists, they base their celebrations upon historical research for polytheistic beliefs of the ancient Celts, and typically they celebrate this on the day of the full moon that falls closest to the festival or on August 1st, like whichever one falls closest to that.
00:32:41
Speaker
So they recognize a day as a day to give thanks to the deities, ask them to grant them a bountiful harvest, and many of them honor the goddess Tiltui. You know, we briefly mentioned her already, but she is known as the Irish goddess of sovereignty, and there's a lot of cool information about her online.
00:32:58
Speaker
If you are interested in learning more about her, definitely look her up. So if you are someone that's in the broom closet and you want to celebrate, I thought it would be nice to throw in some ways that you can do that. So something really simple you can do is just wear the color correspondences of the Sabbath, like what we mentioned above, the browns, the greens, the reds.
00:33:19
Speaker
Um, you can just wear those in your clothes as a way to honor the, the Sabbath without like going out and building an altar or something that might draw attention or make people ask questions. Yeah. And these are a lot of like early fall colors as well. And you'll see decorations for them probably already in the States and like target hobby lobby, which, you know, we don't want to support.
00:33:42
Speaker
but the Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, any of those. So you can even just decorate your house in these colors as well. You can light a candle in celebration of the festivities, and it's even better if it's one in the color correspondences or use something like a traditional beeswax candle. Pretty much everybody has candles, so that's not gonna make people question why are you lighting a candle.
00:34:02
Speaker
You can just take a walk in the woods or in the nature around you. You can go berry picking like I talked about earlier, especially for blackberries this time of year. Bake, like this whole harvest is centered around bread. So you can just bake some bread, bake a blackberry pie or a blackberry crumble or some other like baked good to share with your friends and family.
00:34:25
Speaker
just, you know, it doesn't have to be anything elaborate. It could be something super simple, but it's an easy way to celebrate without being like, look at me. And you can even just have a big feast and invite your friends and family over like a big barbecue, big cookout. And you don't even have to tell them like why you're inviting them over or what you are trying to celebrate with inviting all your family over.
00:34:48
Speaker
You can just invite them over and then just think in your head, like why you're wanting to celebrate this. Like what is significant and special to you about this day. Or keep up with that kitchen witchery and make some blackberry jam to serve them with their bread. That sounds amazing. You can harvest your own garden if you have one. So use this time to also collect seeds for future harvest if you can. And you would just like gently dry them out and store them for use in your next crops.
00:35:14
Speaker
Like Sam said, you can have a feast with some of the foods that we've mentioned, like just having foods during this time of year, it would just seem like having a meal. It's not like, you know, the foods that correspond roast, I think roasted chicken was one of them. Like these are things that are not going to raise questions.
00:35:31
Speaker
And then popcorn was another one that I found that's like a good tie in. So popcorn is a great item to use for this because it's, it's fairly normal to other people, but it's also, you know, honoring like the corn that's harvested this time of year. And really eating any seasonal fruits or vegetables, any of the ones we've discussed
00:35:50
Speaker
Earlier in this episode, apples or grapes, pears, berries, any of those are great. Drinking some beer, barley's harvested, like Tiffany said at this time of year. So partaking in a beer is a great subtle way to celebrate if you are in the broom closet. And then also just something that you can do.
00:36:09
Speaker
to celebrate this super mundane is soak up the sun safely with some good SPF. And you can even meditate if you want to or just sit outside in the sun and reflect on the day. So if you're out of the broom closet and people already know how you celebrate things, this is a festival that celebrates the god, Lou. So take some time to learn about this god, his ties to the harvest, and honor him. Lou is a god of skill and craftsmanship, like we talked about earlier.
00:36:38
Speaker
So even if you just like you have a craft that you like to do or a particular thing that you're really good at, do that thing in honor of Lou. Again, you can make things like a blackberry pie. Something that I did read that I thought was kind of cool is when you bake a pie during this time of year,
00:36:56
Speaker
to put a solar cross on top of it, and then obviously pick blackberries fresh if you can. Create a Lamas themed altar. So again, we kind of talked about that earlier, but using things like sunflowers, dried grains, or plants, crystal correspondences, offerings to loo, candles to represent the fire festival element. And you can also add some popcorn to represent the corn of the harvest.
00:37:19
Speaker
And I also was reading that during this time, any wicker wooden baskets can be added to like an altar as well, because it still has a symbolism of the harvest. Yep. Going. I mean, I think even at the farm down here that I don't know if you ever went to Eckert's when you guys were out here.
00:37:37
Speaker
Yeah, they give you like little, um, bushels to take out with you when you pick your own, like fruits and vegetables from the farm, which is really cute. You can make a bezel or a broom. Traditionally, these are a symbol of good fortune and they're used to clear spaces.
00:37:52
Speaker
You can gather the tools to make it while out in nature, like your sticks and twigs, maybe pine needles, those kinds of things. You can make a stang, which is similar to a staff, but instead of having a single end, it has a pronged end. I didn't know what this was until I came across it in our research. I had to look it up and I was like, okay, it's literally the same thing, but it's pronged.
00:38:12
Speaker
You can create a bonfire, burn loose incense or burn bay leaves with wishes on them in your bonfire. It's also a great way to gather people together and to appreciate the fire element that's tied into this Sabbath. Before electricity, fire was extremely important to our ancestors at this time of year.
00:38:31
Speaker
So the fire can also symbolize that for you. You can do fire or circle dancing, which is just dancing around the bonfire to help raise the energies. And it's just a good way to have fun, honor the earth and it's bounty this time of year. That's something that's like.
00:38:47
Speaker
So easy and like kind of brainless, right? Like as you're cooking, just be happy for the things that you were able to harvest. So you can make a corn dolly and then, you know, use it during your celebrations and then save it for the next in bulk and then bury or burn it at Samhain. You can also make a solar wheel out of eight years of corn or a corn man. That came out of grimoire for a green witch. So if you want
00:39:16
Speaker
the instructions on how to do that. That's included in there, but it is under their lunastar section. You can make a wicker man out of spare twigs or wood that you have. Write down all of your bad habits and your negative attitude on small papers and push those into your wicker man and then you burn him in the bonfire, which I thought was kind of cool. That is like releasing all of the negative and bad habits out of your life by burning them.
00:39:41
Speaker
This particular Sabbath is a great time for manifestation, as well as releasing things that just no longer serve you. I feel like almost every Sabbath, that's a thing, like manifestation and releasing things.
00:39:54
Speaker
Um, this one in particular is like listed as one of the, the good times of year to do that. And then we talk about this, I feel like every, um, Sabbath episode, but Faye are considered to be still prevalent at this time of year. So it's believed that you should leave some offerings out for them to honor them as well.
00:40:14
Speaker
I feel like one aren't the fae prevalent. Right. They're always around. They're always around. They're in every holiday. And then you could do home blessings and cleansings. Traditionally, you would do a full house blessing using holy water, blessing candles, or mirrors. For spell work, like I said earlier, lamis is a great time for manifestation. It's a time to settle disputes and renew contracts. It's ideal to do workings around those things. Reconciliation magic.
00:40:44
Speaker
reform your energetic bonds, prosperity magic like money spells or money bowls. Dream magic is also very prevalent this time of year and starting a dream journal is ideal for Lamis.
00:40:58
Speaker
And it's believed that you should place an ash leaf under your pillow to enhance your chances of having prophetic dreams during lamis. And some use mugwort lavender and ash leaves to create prophetic or psychic dream pillows, which I thought was kind of cool.
00:41:14
Speaker
That is really cool. I like that. So let us know.
Podcast Conclusion and Preview
00:41:18
Speaker
I mean, we're going to be posting on our socials how we're going to be celebrating Llamas or Munasa, however you want to phrase it. So let us know how you guys are celebrating. We'd love to see what you guys are doing.
00:41:35
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get a Loser We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you loved this episode, we would be forever thankful if you lose a five-star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get a Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes or search the Supercast website for Get a Loser We're Doing Witchcraft.
00:41:58
Speaker
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