Your Friendly Neighborhood Swamp Hag

“In Czechia the period between two important Marian feasts, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the so-called Mother of the Sower on August 15) and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the so-called Mother of the Sower on September 8), was in the past referred to in folk circles as thrice blessed and between Mothers. The aforementioned feasts were particularly associated with the now-forgotten custom of blessing herbs and grain seeds as the first fruits of the harvest.”

I’m planning on getting my Dožínky (harvest) wreathe ready during this time period. When I questioned one of my Czech Instagram friends (who works at one of their folk museums) if Dožínky had a set date (like Lammas or Michaelmas) she said that it was usually flexible, and somewhere between the second half of August or early September which falls right into this thrice blessed time period between mothers.

The harvest wreath was kept until Christmas or until the next harvest, hanging in a hall or a chamber. I’ve used mine in the past as an advent wreath.

I’m distraught because I can’t find my Virgin Mary icon anywhere. I’m trying to decide whether to set aside my Coptic embroidery, to do a second quick side project of a simple Mary cross stitch.

In Czechia the period "between the mothers" (Mezi matičkama) was important, between August 15 (the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) and September 8 (The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary). Herbs picked and fruits harvested during this period had greater power and strength than at other times. Wormwood picked "between the mothers of God" was used to treat cattle, and nut kernels were given to geese on Christmas Eve to help them lay eggs better. Housewives called eggs laid between these holidays "mother's" and stored them for the winter, because they considered them more durable.

So far I gathered some sumac berries at Mom’s house and white walnuts from our tree (to me that falls under fruits). I’m waiting to do very much because we have a cool front coming next week and some days may only get to the 70°s F (here in Arkansas 90°s and sometimes even low 100°s F are the norm).

Mezi Matičkama is over but in neighboring countries the Women’s Thirties continues to honor Mother Mary/Our Lady of Herbs.

Mary’s Heart, north-eastern Moravia, mid-nineteenth century

Source:

Photo Source:

For the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary I decided to prepare a mini dožínky feast. According to Kulinářskě dědictví the grain harvest would have been finishing up at mid August and there would have been feasting and the assumption is always mentioned in conjunction with the harvest in my research.

This cookbook is a joint project between museums in Austria and Czechia to collect recipes from 1750 to 1918 that were traveling back and forth across the borders with Czech and Moravian domestic workers—introducing Czech folk recipes into Austria and Austrian recipes back home to southern Bohemia and Znojmo (my great-grandparent’s region of southern Moravia where they lived until 1912).

Since the cookbook mentioned roosters several times (also in pages not included in this post), I decided to adapt one of the recipes to the chicken breast that I had on hand.

My husband is not a huge fan of roasted poultry. I never cook a turkey for American Thanksgiving, so my plan was to do something like chicken cordon bleu but Czech style!

First I made the stuffing using the recipe from the book as a guideline. I chopped up several slices of sandwich bread that I had on hand and poured over the remaining cream and egg mixture from basting my “fatling of Mary” earlier in the day. I added anchovies, lemon juice, parsley, marjoram and a little dried pepperweed and sheep sorrel (so that something from my personal harvest was included in the meal), salt and pepper. I then poured over some bread crumbs until it was thickened enough to handle.

I quickly made up some chicken řízek the same way I make the pork version ( flash fried and not completely finished cooking) and layered a hefty serving the stuffing between pieces of the breaded and fried chicken with a slice of cooked bacon. I baked it for 30 minutes at 350°F.

While the chicken was baking I made up the mushroom sauce that I serve with the pork version and made some mashed potatoes.

She stands against pain, she stands against venom, she is potent against three and against thirty, against a foe’s hand, against great guile, against malice and bewitchment from animal and spirit.

When gathering herbs for my assumption bundle, I looked to gather nine herbs, as the number of herbs tended to be important in this historic practice and nine is also important for the heathen inspired elements of my practice. Germanic folklore has the concept of "nine kinds" where using nine kinds of plants or woods was considered more potent for the working.

As I gathered, it became clear I wouldn't be able to consume most of the plants I was gathering do to their harvest location, so I looked for other uses for plant in the bundle which, in addition to it's protective qualities, was used as a source of medical herbs for the family.

Inspired by the charmed sachet section of Roger J Horne's book Folk Witchcraft, I decided to make a fabric packet that would contain some of the dried materia from the Assumption bundle and act as a protection amulet.

Combining Christian and Pagan iconography and methods, this protective amulet charges the nine herbs collected for my Assumption of Mary bundle to act in my defense and protect my harvest. The amulet's design incorporates the sown field motif and the Virgo Virginum symbol alongside the nine colors mentioned in the Nine Herbs Charm as the nine wurms that cause sickness. In this design they threaten my harvest, but the solar power of Our Lady is invoked through the double V symbol, and the nine herbs I've collected for her work in her name to cast out the wurms.

Inside the amulet is plant matter that fell from the bundle as it dried, handspun wool, and a buckeye. The buckeye, has been incorporated into the design on the back of the amulet to serve as protection against the evil eye. Once winter comes and the amulet bag becomes a part of my Winter Mother effigy, the design will serve as her watchful eye during the perils of winter.

Thank you to @pagan-stitches for encouraging me to follow through on this project! I have a bad habit of coming up with ideas and starting projects, rather than finishing them, but seeing your bag progress and talking with you about it gave me the kick in the pants I needed

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Upon Barra (Outer Hebrides, Scotland) the opening of the harvest was celebrated in the early nineteenth century at the Catholic feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, La-Feill Máire, on 15 August. Allowing for the calendar change of 12 days in 1752, this would put an original festival very close to Lughnasa. The rites, however, were not very similar to the Irish set. People would rise early to pick the first of the newly ripened corn and make it into Moilean Máire, the fatling-of-Mary bannock. Each of the family would then take a piece and walk sunrise around the household fire singing lollach Mhaire Mhathas, the Paean of Mother Mary (above). The embers of the fire were then out in a pot, and the procession was repeated around the house and farmland, singing the paean again.

—From Ronald Hutton’s Stations of the Sun

After our Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary/Dožínky feast, I walked my bannock sunwise around the house, and then I brought it to the main altar and lit candles and incense.

I also burnt a few petals that were with the wild rose incense that @msgraveyarddirt sent me awhile back.

I then sliced the bannock up and it was shared amongst people, dogs, and our beloved house guardian.

Assumption Day is arriving soon, and I wanted to share with you all a ritual I do on this day every year.

La Quinzou is the Acadian national day in Canada, and Acadian culture, music and history is remembered and celebrated anywhere Acadian families settled or ended up being deported to. It is distinct from the French Canadian Saint Jean Baptiste Day (June 24th), to celebrate and demarcate Acadian culture as unique from other French Canadian cultures. Originally, the 15th of August was chosen by the Acadians to highlight their ties with France instead of Canada.

Their patron saint, the Virgin Mary, Star of the Sea, also has an important day on August 15th - Assumption Day, where her earthly life ends and she ascends to Heaven to become Queen of the Universe and of the Heavens, being closer to God to act as intermediary between believers and God.

Subtle activities can be done that day if you don't have time for a ritual. You can pray for oceanic health, for mariners, and it's a good occasion to bless guardians with holy water. It's also good to acknowledge the first harvest of the year. This ritual is of my own composition and of how I interpret this holiday. Feel free to expand on it as you learn more on Acadian customs and culture!

Without further ado, here's my own ritual for La Quinzou:

Materials: a sky blue candle, sea salt, a shallow white bowl, holy water, a star-shaped object of your choice, a statue or image of the Virgin Mary, rosemary incense, a fresh white rose or an image of one.

A good idea to take a cold shower before the ritual to simulate being immersed in cold waters of this land, to don blue and white clothing, and to have the ritual take place at twilight when the first few stars appear in the sky. Call the four winds as you see fit, speak from your heart as to what these winds mean to you. The ritual has opened.

''Ave Maris Stella, mother of Jesus Christ and of the whole world, queen of the oceans and stars, you watch over us with warmth and charity. Queen of the Universe and the Heavens, your blue sky greets us every morning, and your starlight protects us in the darkest of nights. Your life was lived in full service to God and humankind, and we are eternally grateful. Your compassion and tenderness warms our hearts, and we know that with your Assumption, we can hope to have you back among us to give to us your Son one day. With your Assumption, we have hope in the eternal life of our souls as well.'' (light the blue candle).

Next, we bless the bowl as the vessel. Take the bowl and pour holy water in it. Place it in your hands and with incense lit underneath, say, ''by the sanctity of air, may you be blessed.''

Take salt and say the same line. Place the salt in the bowl. Take your bells and chime them three times, letting each ring die out before starting anew. This blesses the water, salt and vessel. Extend your hands over the bowl and say: ''Glory be to God for our sister the Moon and for the stars, who shine radiantly in the night sky of your making. Glory be to you, God, for our sister Water, who offers us life, in both ferocity and gentleness. Glory be to God for our brother Fire, in which you give us the light in the darkness. Glory be to God, we thank you and pray that we may serve you in greatest humility with the help of these elements. Amen.''

Place this bowl in your garden or in a pail to be disposed of later (under a tree or whatever strikes your fancy), and say: ''I offer this water to the all-powerful Mother Earth, in which the materials in this bowl come from. The earth offers us her oceans, lakes, rivers and brooks, and cradles us from birth until death. We are one with this Earth. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust we are and shall be. Amen.'' Set aside.

Adorn the altar with your rose, rosemary incense, and any star-shaped pieces you may have. After you are satisfied with its outcome, say with palms up: ''Mary, watch over our gardens and our crops so that we may feed everyone by the bounty of the Earth. May your holy waters flow over all living things in need of it and may everything be blessed in your presence.'' Take the rose and offer it up to the sky, say: ''I offer you this rose from the garden of my mind in memory of the purity of your soul and heart.'' Gently kiss the rose, and place it near the statue or image of Mary. Light the rosemary incense and stay there a while enjoying the atmosphere.

Any singing or reciting of canticles, hymns or prayers to Mary can be said here. It's up to you! Feel free to ask her for any favours you might need that day, or confide in her a while.

On the feast day of Mary the fragrant,

Mother of the shepherd of the flocks,

I cut me a handful of the new corn,

I dried it gently in the new sun,

I rubbed it sharply from the husk,

With mine own palms,

I ground it in a quern on Friday,

I baked it in a fan of sheep-skin,

I toasted it to a fire of rowan,

And I shared it with my people.

I went sunways round my dwelling,

In the name of the Mary Mother,

Who promised to preserve me,

Who did preserve me,

And who will preserve me,

In peace, in flocks,

In righteousness of heart,

In labour, in love,

In wisdom, in mercy,

For the sake of thy passion.

Thou Christ of grace

Who till the day of my death

Will never forsake me!

Upon Barra (Outer Hebrides, Scotland) the opening of the harvest was celebrated in the early nineteenth century at the Catholic feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, La-Feill Máire, on 15 August. Allowing for the calendar change of 12 days in 1752, this would put an original festival very close to Lughnasa. The rites, however, were not very similar to the Irish set. People would rise early to pick the first of the newly ripened corn and make it into Moilean Máire, the fatling-of-Mary bannock. Each of the family would then take a piece and walk sunrise around the household fire singing lollach Mhaire Mhathas, the Paean of Mother Mary (above). The embers of the fire were then out in a pot, and the procession was repeated around the house and farmland, singing the paean again.

—From Ronald Hutton’s Stations of the Sun

Bannock recipes I have tested: