Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

nally held in

honor of Tailtiu,

mother of Lugh;

but other com-

petitive masculine

games of strength

and skill have tradi-

tionally been held at this

time as well, including the

Olympics, the Panathe-

niac Games, the Highlands

Games, and modern football

season. It is also a time for

male initiations. This festival

has been Christianized as

Lammas, or “Loaf-mass.”

At Annwfn

We hold Games of Lugh at Lughnasadh and give

special fun awards to the winners in various catego-

ries. The traditional five games (Pentathlon) are: run-

ning (50- or 100-yard speed race); long jumping (from

a running start, over a sand pit); wrestling (gripping

only above the waist; whomever can get the other’s

shoulder to touch the ground wins); boulder

heaving (a bowling ball is about

the right size and weight;

the winner is the greatest

distance); and taber tossing

(a long pole, like a flagpole,

thrown at a haybale target; the

winner is the one who comes clos-

est to the target).

At Your House

As Summer passes, we remember

its warmth and bounty in the food we

eat. Every meal is an attunement with Na-

ture, and we are reminded that everything

changes. Lughnasadh is the first of the three

Harvests and Thanksgivings. Bake a loaf of

special ritual bread (cornbread is good), in-

cluding some berries you have picked yourself.

Share it with your friends and family, with thanks

and blessings. Go camping if you can; or at least

spend the day outdoors, maybe at the park, taking

a picnic lunch and playing active physical games,

such as Tag and Frisbee, with your friends. It’s es-

pecially fun and traditional to play Hide & Seek in the

evening, as it gets dark. Lughnasadh

is a good time to make and bless

magickal tools. Decorate your al-

tar with Summer flowers and food

from the fields (especially grains, like

corn and grass seeds); use a yellow al-

tar cloth and candles.

Lesson 6. Mabon

We praise the Earth who feeds us,

And raise the Harvest Home.

The stag with light step leads us

To dance the season come.

Ash links the worlds, entwining

Our realms with Gods and Elves.

The bonfire blesses, shining,

Our food, our drink, ourselves.

—Leigh Ann Hussey

Mabon (MAA-bon), or Autumn Equinox, is named

for the Welsh god of the harvest, the Sacred Son of

Modron (“The Great Mother”). He is the Green Man

whose blood is intoxicating beverage: Dionysos

(wine), Osiris (beer), and John Barleycorn (whiskey).

The bay tree is sacred to Mabon, as its magickal ac-

tion is preservation, a time-honored harvest occupa-

tion. Also known as Harvest Home, Kirn Feast, Mell

Day, Ingathering, and Harvest’s Height, this festival

commemorates the ritual sacrifice of the Green God

and His descent into the Underworld, and the brew-

ers’ art that produces the sacrament of this season. In

Nor-Califia, where I live, it is

the Festival of the

Grape Har-

vest.

In

Latvia this harvest

festival is called Vela

Laiks, the “Time of the

Dead.” Just as at

Eostara, the day and

night are of equal

length. Harvest Home is

the traditional name for

this feast of thanksgiving

in England, but the Plymouth

pilgrims had a late harvest, so

Amer-ica’s Thanks-giving is

celebrated much later. The most

universal tradition throughout Eu-

rope was the “Corn Dolly” made

from the last sheaf of grain to be

harvested. It was believed that the

spirit of the grain resided in this doll

and it must be treated accordingly,

presiding over the Harvest Feast.

192 Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

Corrected pages 3rd printing.2.p65 18 6/10/2004, 4:02 PM