Lammas Sabbat 2017 CO1

Lammas - 5 Senses 

8/12/17 Co1

 
LAMMAS: The First Harvest. Lammas is traditionally celebrated as the 1st harvest of the season. It’s the grain harvest - still the most important harvest, because most of the world uses grain as 90% of their diet. A bad harvest means starvation. A good harvest means survival. For many the festival of Lammas marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. Here in Florida, it simply means we've reached some of the hottest, most uncomfortable days of the year.
 
'Lammas' was the medieval Christian name for the holiday and it means 'loaf-mass', for this was the day on which loaves of bread were baked from the first grain harvest and laid on the church altars as offerings.
 
Lammastide was also the traditional time of year for craft festivals. The medieval guilds would create elaborate displays of their wares, decorating their shops and themselves in bright colors and ribbons, marching in parades, and performing strange, ceremonial plays and dances for the entranced onlookers.
 
Here in Florida, we have a unique situation. This isn't a time of harvest for us. This is the time when nothing grows. In the scorching heat only the strongest can survive. This is our winter when it comes to crops and food sources. The ‘lazy days of summer’ is an old phrase that aptly describes us now - not many want to expend much energy outside. For us it’s a time of looking inward, and moving inside. Air-conditioning is such a wonderful thing, isn’t it?!
 
Looking inward – seeing the small things that gift our lives - every day there are so many treasures that brighten our lives that we simply just aren’t aware of. Life affirmations we simply ignore, gifts of hope we take for granted, memories carelessly forgotten, simply because many of us walk through life blinded by our sight. For many of us we rely on our sight so much that we don’t experience many of the gifts we receive from the universe all around us.
 
Tonight, we’re going to explore our senses a bit. Many scientists say we actually have nine senses - sight, sound, taste, touch, smell - pain, balance, thirst, and hunger. Hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell are known as our external senses. They provide information about the outside world. Pain, balance, thirst, and hunger are considered to be our internal senses. They provide information about the body and its needs. Tonight, we’re going to work with only four – sound, taste, touch and smell. Tonight, I’m going to ask you to keep your eyes closed during ritual. The goal is not meant to blind you, only make you more aware of how much we all rely on our sight. Tonight, we’re going to give our eyes a rest and play a little bit with our other senses.
 

Altar Devotions

 
Let what I feel, fill me but not consume me;
Let me follow what I feel, but not be forced;
Let me become the kind of soul, who never clings too hard,
Who let’s go and yet loves;
Let me imagine better worlds, yet work in this one;
Let me touch, and treasure, even people I can never hold,
And let me learn from all my losses;
Let me out and let me in, Let me see and let me be,
A window - maybe broken - but through which
A bit of air and sunlight comes.

Call Quarters

 
NORTH:   Essence of the North, we bid you welcome. We ask you to join us in our Circle this night. Bring to us your gentle touch that gives life and encourages growth in all as we share these moments with our friends and family. We welcome you with a solid sense of touch and joy in our hearts for this celebration. Blessed Be.
 
EAST:        Essence of the East, we bid you welcome. We ask you to join us in our Circle this night. Bring with you the aromas that remind us of the past as we share these moments with our friends and family. We welcome you with an intuitive sense of smell and joy in our minds for this celebration. Blessed Be.
 
SOUTH:    Essence of the south, we bid you welcome. We ask you to join us in our Circle this night. Entice us with the flavors that warm and excite our lives as we share these moments with our friends and family. We welcome you with an imaginative sense of taste and joy in our souls for this celebration. Blessed Be.
 
WEST:      Essence of the West, we bid you welcome. We ask you to join us in our Circle this night. Send to us the vibrations that create the sounds of our lives as we share these moments with our friends and family. We welcome you with a loving sense of hearing and joy in our bodies for this celebration. Blessed Be.
 

Anoint

(Greet each person, anoint with something to treat the sense of smell)

 
You are the sense of Smell, we invite you to experience Smell and in so doing heighten and renew your own senses.
 

Cast Circle

 
Tonight, we’ll cast our circle hand to hand - a circle of Community, Friends and Family. As you receive the gift from your neighbor to the right, take a moment to experience the sense before passing it on to your neighbor on the left. Three times round this Circle’s bound.
 

(Walk the Circle with something to treat the sense of taste)

You are the sense of Taste, we invite you to experience Taste and in so doing heighten and renew your own senses. The first is a Circle of Protection - as we ask Father Sky to cast a protective eye upon all who dwell within these walls.
 

(Walk the Circle with something to treat the sense of hearing)

You are the sense of Sound, we invite you to experience Sound and in so doing heighten and renew your own senses. The second is a Circle of Hope – as we understand that all who pass through these doors will find hope in themselves and in their futures.
 

(Walk the Circle with something to treat the sense of touch)

You are the sense of Touch, we invite you to experience Touch and in so doing heighten and renew your own senses. The Third is a Circle of Love – as we know that Mother Earth shines the light of her love upon all who gather here beneath this roof.
 
Three times round this Circle’s bound. East, then South, then West and North from edge to edge this Circle is cast. So Mote It Be.
 

Unite energies

(Have everyone stand quietly, listening to each other’s breathing for a moment)

 

Invocation

 

We call forth the Goddess, Mother of the Moon, to witness this rite. Because of You the night is filled with illuminations, help us to become enlightened also. Instill in us the sight of those things that remain unseen.
 
We call forth the God, Sun King, to witness this rite. Your light and brightness warm the Earth, help us to grow also. Enable us to see the wonders of the mundane world around us.
 
Together, you are the sense of Sight, of things both seen and unseen, we invite you to heighten and renew our own senses and in doing so experience Sight.
 

Name the Working

 

Perform the Work

 

Raise Power

 
With malice towards no-one, and harm to none.
If Spirit so desires it, then let it be done.
 

Wish Box, Sacred Space

 

Cakes and Ale

 
From the Golden rays of the Sun, to the fertile Earth, to the healthy grains, to bread - May you never hunger.
 
From the Silver beams of the Moon, to the quiet Earth, to the fruits, to wine - May you never thirst.
 

Thanking Spirit

 
Tonight, we thank the Goddess of the Moon and the God of the Sun for joining us. Shade and Shadow, Dark and Light, you are two halves of a perfect whole. We welcome you to walk beside us as we return to the mundane world. Guide our minds, our tongues and our hearts. Blessed Be.
 

Open Circle

 
This Circle has served us well. It has protected and aided us. It has stood as a boundary between time and space. I now open this Circle. Essence of the West, South, East, and North, thank you for your presence here tonight. We appreciate those gifts you have chosen to bestow upon us. For now, we bid you pleasant parting, know that you are always welcome in this place.
 
May those who guide us with their light, protect us in the dark and walk beside us on the roads traveled - This Circle is open but unbroken. Merry Meet, Merry Part and may we Merry Meet Again.
 

Feast