Lughnassad:
        Also called August Eve, Lughnassad, Lady Day or Loaf Mass, this is
the time of Lammas, when the Goddess is ripe and swelling with life.
First
fruits are weighing down the branches of the trees. We stand now between
hope
and fear, in the time of waiting. We journey together this night to this
place of waiting, a place of change and transformation. Now the Mother
becomes the Reaper, the Implacable One who feeds on life that new life
may
grow. Light diminishes, the days shorten, summer passes as we take our
first
fruits to the Temple of the Goddess as offerings. We gather to turn the
Wheel
of the Seasons once again, knowing that to harvest we must sacrifice,
that
warmth and light must pass into winter.

Lammas is the First Harvest Festival and yet the full harvest is
uncertain.
We must wait now and have faith that the Goddess will provide for the
cold
months ahead. She is called Habondia, Laksmi, Demeter and Ceres at this
time.
Often there is a cauldron or Lammas fire where we release our fears. We
bring
a piece of fruit which symbolizes the most perfect fruit of our harvest.
During ritual, this is made into a salad, topped with honey (the
sweetness of
life) and served at the communion. We recieve the Stars of Hope. Often
there
is a Corn Bread Goddess which is ritually consumed as well.
        In Australia, things are different:  "Lughnassad we celebrate in late
January or early February. In the Church of All Worlds, one of the main
rituals of our Pagan Summer Gathering each year, held on the Australia
Day
long weekend (26 January is Australia Day), is a Lughnassad celebration,
where we give thanks for the summer and pray for a good harvest." - Seán

Knight.    At the time those in the Northern Hemisphere are celebrating
Lughnassad, in Austalia, they are celebrating Imbolc:  "I start the year
at
Imbolc (Oimelc); halfway between the Midwinter and the Spring Equinox. I
feel
this to be the turning point between the dying year and the new life of
the
new year. This is my own personal idea; others commence the year at Yule,
and
still others at Ostara. For us in Australia, Imbolc occurs in about the
first
week of August." - Seán Knight

Lammas, or Lughnassad, occurs in late July and early August. It is marks
the
middle of Summer and the beginning of the harvest. It is the first of
three
harvest festivals and is usually associated with ripening grain. It
heralds
the coming of Autumn. The Goddess manifests as Demeter, Ceres, Corn
Mother,
and other agricultural Goddesses. The God manifests as Lugh, John
Barleycorn,
and vegetation Gods. Colors are Golden Yellow, Orange, Green, and Light
Brown. It is a festival of plenty and prosperity.

Have a magical picnic and break bread with friends. Do a meditation in
which
you visualize yourself completing a project you have already begun. Make
a
corn dolly charm out of the first grain you harvest or acquire. Bake a
sacred
loaf bread and give a portion of it to Mother Earth with a prayer of
appreciation. Make prayers for a good harvest season. Do prosperity
magic.
Harvest herbs in a sacred way for use in charms and rituals. Kindle a
Lammas
fire with sacred wood and dried herbs. If you live in or near a farming
region, attend a public harvest festival, such as a corn or apple
festival.

        And, being myself Roman Shintoist, I celebrate instead Neptunalia.

While Diana is the focus of our next celebration, it is named for Neptune
-
Neptunalia.  All things relating to the sea, the moon, and horses are
celebrated from the Calends to the Ides of August.  Sporting and hunting
games in oak groves are dedicated to Diana, with any prizes won being
offered
to her - archery, running, stalking, knife throwing, ball and tossing
games,
races of all sorts.  Proserpina discovers the lure of knowledge which
Trivia
and Minerva offer, and disappears on her yearly lessons with them, and to

dally the winter with her lover God.  Ceres doesn’t yet begin to mourn,
as
she refuses to believe Propserpina would leave her.  But she does ripen
the
grain, and bread is baked in her shape and honor.  For the darker side of

human nature, Furrina must be supplicated by those who feel a need for
vengeance.  If they try to extract their vengeance without her blessing,
things could go very wrong.  There is feasting at the end of the day to
celebrate the start of the hunting season, the cycles of the moon and the

sea, and the departure of Proserpina.  The feasting and prizes are done
to
distract Ceres from Proserpina’s departure.
        This is the celebration where we glean the wheat and grind the grain,
then make the bread with natural leavenings (wild yeasts!) and bake it in
a
temporary oven built out back.  This is to remind us that bread is truly
a
gift of tehGods and is not a simple thing.  No bread bought from the
grocery
store is permitted at this feast, nor can we use store bought and ground
flours or pre-packaged yeasts.  It takes about 5 days to bake bread this
way,
and each step is highly ritualized.

Nodigio