Lughnasadh 2008
by Bird

Items Required
Altar to be decorated with apples, barley, wheat, rye (grain can be in bowls if sheaves not available), bread, cider, ale, mead, corn and fresh flowers.
Offerings for the Corn King
Circlets of flowers and leaves for Maiden, Mother and Crone
Crown of grain for Corn King
Cloak for Corn King
Shroud for Corn King
Gifts for Corn King/Paper to write on
Sickle
Cup of ale
Barley for offerings
Oil for annointing

Roles
HPS, HP, 
Air Guardian, Fire Guardian, Water Guardian, Earth Guardian
Maiden, Mother, Crone
Corn God – To be chosen by the men

Before the Ritual
Everyone either brings something they have made as a gift for the Corn God that represents the harvest in their lives, or they can write something on paper before the circle starts.

Corn King is chosen by the men before the ritual starts – they are taken aside as a group and the HP will help the men choose the Corn King.

While the men choose the Corn King, the women will prepare the circlets for the Maiden, Mother and Crone and dress the circle with flowers.

The Ritual
As each person enters the circle, they are given a handful of barley to place on the altar as an offering by the Earth Guardian and anointed with oil by the Water Guardian and welcomed into the circle.

Circle Cast		By the blade a circle born
Between the worlds a boundary formed
			By the power raised herein
			To guard without and hold within
			Be this circle cast

Elementals		I call upon the winds of the world…
I call upon the flames of the fire…
			I call upon the waves of the ocean…
I call upon the stones of the earth…

HPS: 			Welcome to the Sabbat of Lughnasadh! At this time on the wheel, 
we celebrate the harvest, we celebrate that which has come into 
our lives and the earth, that which we have planted, we now reap. 
But as we celebrate, we also acknowledge the mystery of the 
season contained within the grain. 
HP: 			We call forth the Guardians of the mystery of this time, we call 
forth those who have raised the grain high, helped it to grow, 
nurtured its future. We call forth the triple Goddess, we call forth the Maiden, Mother and Crone.

Maiden, mother and crone step forward and they are crowned with the circlets of flowers and leaves and welcomed with a kiss.

HP: Invokes triple Goddess
We call to thee O Maiden of the starlit plain
Virgin of the crescent moon
Whose light kisses the field unfarrowed
Whose beauty shapes the world unformed

We call to thee O Mother of the ripened grain
Queen of the fertile earth
Within whom the seed is planted
And the bounty of the fields is born

We call to thee O Crone of blackest night
Dark Lady of the sickle and scythe
Before whom the field lies fallow
Awaiting the blood-red dawn

Maiden, Mother, Crone of Old
Thee we invoke by the harvest gold
Three in one and one in three
Light and bright and dark are thee!

They stand beside the altar.

HP: 			Who amongst us will accept thanks for the bounty of our year and 
the responsibility that goes with that?

Who will give our thanks to the earth?

Corn King comes forward and is crowned and dressed in the cloak.

HPS: 			We call to thee O Father of the sunlit plains
Lover of the crescent moon
			Whose golden light lives within the seed
			Planted in the field

We call to thee O Father of the maturing corn
			King in the fertile soil
			Wrapped in the womb of the mother
			Where the bounty of the wheel is born

We call to thee O Father of the setting sun
			Whose head bows in the summer breeze
			Full of the love of the earth
			Awaiting rebirth from the earth

O King of the Golden Corn
			We invoke thee 
			King of the Golden Corn
			We welcome thee
The maiden and mother step forward, and welcome him to the circle:

Maiden:		We who have loved you and nurtured you, we who have helped you 
to grow, will now celebrate that which you return to us.

Mother:		 We here have prepared offerings to you to thank you for that 
which you have bought into our lives.

Maiden and mother take him around the circle for everyone to thank him and to offer him a gift, which is attached to his cloak, or placed around his neck. As they thank him, they say:

Thank you for the good things you have given to me. Thank you for 
the food in my belly, the water which gives me life, the fire which gives me warmth and light, the air which I breathe, and the Earth which is my home. I give you in return a small gift; a symbol of my love for all the things which you have given to me.

When he has finished going around the circle, he is taken to the altar. The Maiden and mother kiss him and thank him once more. They then stand him behind the altar and say to the Crone:

Maiden:		O Great mother of us all, Receiver of Sacrifice, bridger of worlds

Mother: 		You who holds the mystery of our season

Maiden: 		Accept our sacrifice of thanks to you, so the wheel may spin once 
more

Crone( to Corn King):	You who have grown so tall and free, you who have had the run of 
the fields, now must you return to the earth once more. 

The crone kisses the Corn King as she cuts his throat and he falls behind the altar.

The Maiden and Mother cover him in a shroud.

The Crone keens for his loss.

The maiden and mother take the ale from the altar, and take it to the Crone and say:

Maiden: 		Do not mourn for long grandmother, as it was his time to die.  
The sun that warned our summer days, no longer is so high. 

Mother: 		We have thanked him for the corn, we have gathered in his harvest 
now, and he leaves the fields forlorn.

But, now do we celebrate life as it moves ever on, for we can not 
stay here forever.

Maiden and Mother: 	all things grow
all things die
all shall be reborn

Maiden: 		Here, drink him in, as his sacrifice is transformed once more into 
life.

The Maiden gives the crone a drink, the Crone then takes the cup around the circle to everyone to drink from. As she gives the cup to each person, she says: 

Crone:			drink deep of the life of my lord, born from the earth, crushed in 
the mill, reborn in the waters of life.

The cup is placed back on the altar. The Maiden, mother and crone stand again beside the altar.

Cakes and ale

As the ale goes around the circle, the Maiden, Mother and Crone remove their crowns and place them in front of the altar, they also remove the shroud from the King and fold it and place it in the altar, and he rejoins the circle.

Close circle