Lammas 2012

Chalice of the Willows Ritual for Lammas

Miami Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Centerville Ohio

8 August 2012

Around a firepit by the wetland

Call the Quarters/Elements

Earth - We call to the Earth that nurtures the seed, and supports all crops until it is time for the harvest. Please provide us with your nurture and support in guarding our circle throughout our ritual this night. Hail and well met!

Air - We call to the Air that brings movement to the leaves, and transports the pollen, such that all plants may thrive. Please share with us that movement, and transport our words to realms beyond this realm, while watching over our circle throughout our ritual this night. Hail and well met!

Fire - We call to the Fire that fosters transformation from seeds to plants, and ripens the fruits to their full potential. Please foster our potential by protecting our circle throughout our ritual this night. Hail and well met!

Water - We call to the Water that encourages growth, and sustains the roots which all crops need. Please offer us the same encouragement and sustenance, by standing guard over our circle throughout our ritual this night.

Casting the Circle

Statement of Intent

Make or acknowledge the sacrifices and difficulties (those physically manifested in the harvest, our bodies, our minds and our spirits) the past season has presented to us and everyone around the world.

Give thanks for those seeds we have sowed (physical and spiritual) that have managed to grow, and for bounties received.

Prepare for the decent into the darkness.

Evocation of Deities

Our rite has now begun

Beneath the rays of setting sun

To join us in the circle of hands

We invite the spirits of the land

First harvesting is now at hand

Of fruits and grains as nature planned

The cauldron fills up once again

So join us, spirits of the land

The long arm reaches far and wide

As harvests span the countryside

We celebrate these bounties when

We welcome the spirits of the land

In song, in chant, in spoken word

We place our hopes that we’ve been heard

By presence felt, we offer then

Our rite, with the spirits of the land

Sacrifice/Blessings/Graces

Many religions recognize this is as a time of sacrifice.

-          Ramadan (an Islamic holiday) means scorching heat or dryness and is a time of self-sacrifice and fasting in order to return the mind and spirit to the Divine for which participants are blessed.

-           Ullambana (Shinto Buddhist) is Sanskrit for hanging upside down, a means of suffering.

If you wish to make a sacrifice or acknowledge a sacrifice, may it be for yourself alone or the greater good please do so. Use this time to let go of something, prune it from your life, so that healthy growth may flourish when the season of growing returns

Many religions also recognize this as a time of giving thanks for the first of the harvest is ready

-          Christian’s Loaf-mass (Lammas)

-          Celtic Lughnasadha. 

-          Ga people of Ghana celebrate Homowo (Hooting at Hunger).

-           Native Americans also have a variety of stories and traditions.

If you wish to give a symbol of gratitude to the fire please do so. Give thanks for the blessings in your life.

 There are also the stories dealing with the changing of the seasons, of the turning of the wheel 

-          Demeter/Persephone/Hecate

-          Xipe-Totec

-          Innana

-           Kronos

-          Ishtar and Tammuz

-          Christ

-          Mithra

-          Osiris

The Gods/Goddesses of Death and Rebirth are preparing for their decent. If there is something in the darkness, something within yourself that you wish them to bring back into the light when the season of growing returns, now is the time to ask them.

Devocation of Deities

Our ceremony’s passed its peak

Now, in gratitude we speak

In words wrote down with ink and pen

Our thanks to the spirits of the land

We hope the blessings of this night

Which we’ve released to take their flight

May increase to the power of ten

By grace of the spirits of the land

The long arm reaches ‘cross the sea

 The cauldron has a place to be

A place beyond our mortal ken

The home of the spirits of the land

In parting now, we thank once more

These visitors upon our shore

Return to Tara’s dale and glen

And farewell, the spirits of the land

Release of Quarters

We call to the Water, and offer our thanks for their encouragement and sustenance during our gathering. Stay if you will, go if you must: Hail and farewell!

We call to the Fire, and offer our for fostering our potential during our gathering. Stay if you will, go if you must: Hail and farewell!

We call to the Air, and offer our thanks for breath and movement that transported us during our gathering. Stay if you will, go if you must: Hail and farewell!

We call to the Earth, and offer our thanks for the nurture and support during our gathering. . Stay if you will, go if you must: Hail and farewell!

Open the Circle

Release the circle in the opposite manner as it was cast, beginning in the North and going widdershins around the circle. All then recite together: “Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!”

Gather inside for cakes and ale (potluck)