Somethings and Otherthings

☀️ Also known as the summer solstice or Midsummer

☀️ Takes place around June 21st but it varies every year. It is the midway point between the spring equinox and autumn equinox. It is the longest day of the year

☀️ Herbs: cinnamon, chamomile, foxglove, lavender, rosemary

☀️ Flowers: daisy, heather, marigold, rose, sunflower

☀️ Trees: elder, hazel, oak, rowan

☀️ Animals: bee, bull, butterfly, cow, hawk, horse, lion, lizard, eagle

☀️ Crystals: citrine, calcite, sunstone, clear quartz, tiger’s eye, amber, jade

☀️ Colors: yellow, orange, gold, green, blue, red, white

☀️ Incense: orange, cinnamon, rose, lavender, lemon, myrrh

☀️ Decorations: flowers, honeycomb design, ribbon, sun symbol

☀️ Deities: Aphrodite, Apollo, Gaia, Hestia, Manannán mac Lir

Lughnasadh is an ancient Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. It was observed in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The story tells that the god Lugh begun this festival in order to commemorate his mother or foster-mother Tailtiu, who had died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture. Tailtiu was a gooddess related to the Earth and she represented the dying vegetation that fed mankind.

The festival included sports contests, horse racings, music, storytelling, trading and many law-related issues, such as proclaming laws. 

From the 9th century to the 20th many things changed. What’s important is the celebration of two different gods and a new story: Crom Dubh - who generates the growth of the crops and guards this as his treasure - and Lugh - who must seize it for manking. The two competed for Eithne’s approval- she represented the grain. Lugh eventually wins the harvest.

Modern Lughnasadh in Wiccan Culture 🌙

Lughnasadh or Lamma is today celebrated by wiccans and it’s part of the three harvest festivals. 

Here are listed some ways to celebrate Lughnasadh.

Altar🕯

Decorate your altar and house with grains such as barley, oats and wheat. Fruits and veggies are well accepted too. Adorn it with summer flowers (marigolds, yarrows, peonies, daffodils etc). Light yellow, red, orange and brown candles. Adorn your wand with a golden ribbon.

This is the perfect period to gather and dry herbs, flowers, grains or seed that you will be using the following year. Make magickal oils with seasonal’s fresh herbs.

Kitchen🍴

Bake bread with olives and tomatoes

Bake bread using oat meal, corn meal and wheat.

Have a picnic in a corn or wheat field. Drink fruity red wine or cider and eat bread, cheese and olives.

Make a blackberries pie. If you want, draw on the crust an abundance sigil.

Spells✨

The perfect spell for this festival are spells related to connection, career, health, money and abundance.Make sun water and storm water with the violent storms that occur during summer.

Herbs 🌿

Goldenrod, peony, nasturtium, clover blossom, yarrow, heliotrope, boneset, vervain, Queen Anne’s lace, myrtle, rose, sunflower, poppy, milkweed, Irish moss, mushroom, wheat, corn, rye, oat, barley, rice, garlic, onion, basil, mint, aloe, acacia, meadowsweet, apple leaf, raspberry leaf, strawberry leaf, bilberry leaf, blueberry leaf, mugwort, hops, holly, comfrey, marigold, grape vine, ivy, hazelnut, blackthorn, elder, bee pollen.

Stones💎

Lughnasadh, also known as Lúnasa, Lùnastal, Luanistyn or Lammas, is a Gaelic festival of the first harvest, which also corresponds with other European early harvest festivals. It is held on the 1st of August, halfway between the Summer Solstice (Litha) and the Autumn Equinox (Mabon).

The festival is named after the Celtic god Lugh, and part of the festival is often offering some of the first harvest’s bounty in gratitude, and feasting or athletic competitions. Historically, journeys to sacred wells or holy shrines, or climbing mountains or hills have been popular, and in some places are still observed. Lugh is often seen as a personification of the first harvest, or the corn itself, and he is sometimes recast as folkloric figures such as John Barleycorn.

 Lughnasadh colours: gold, orange, yellow, green, light brown

 Lughnasadh crystals: amber, citrine, aventurine, peridot

 Lughnasadh foods: Bread, corn, soup, root vegetables, berries, mead, rice, barely, nuts, seasonal fruits, roasted meats, honey, beer

 Ideas for Lughnasadh celebrations:

Bake bread! Baking bread is one of the most traditional ways of celebrating this festival, and the first of the grains have been harvested. Consider baking different types of loaves, experiment with plaiting the dough or drawing designs on the top. Add seasonal berries, nuts or seeds to the dough to add flavour and interest

Have a picnic with friends and family – with lots of bread!

Go on a walk up a mountain or hill, or visit a sacred place such as a shrine, holy well, stone circle or burial mound (or just somewhere sacred to you if none of those are available)

Play games with friends or family, have a sports contest such as a running race or a tug of war

Make a donation of food to your local food bank or donate money to a charity

Hold your own Lughnasnadh ritual, light a fire and offer some food to the god Lugh and thank him for your harvest, and feel gratitude in knowing that all your efforts are coming to fruition

Make corn dollies, instructions for lots of interesting designs can be found online, or make sculptures and decorations out of salt dough

Light a candle and make a list of all that you are thankful for, and meditate upon this

Go on a foraging trip, look for early apples, plums, berries and edible fungi (ensure you are certain of what you are harvesting before you eat it!)

Here's one I made a couple years ago with a variety of genres:

Strawberry Swing - Coldplay

Litha - Sowulo

All Summer Long - Kid Rock

Fireflies - Owl City

Litha - Threefold

Tokyo Nights - Digital Farm Animals, Shaun Frank, Dragonette

Svitjod - Forndom (this one sounds exactly the way heat distortion in the air looks to me. Just picture dry grass and buzzing insects and suffocating heat. Perhaps better suited to late July)

Now Welcom Somer - Mediæval Bæbes

Green Man - Magicfolk

Rose Buds in June/Mrs Preston's Hornpipe - The Imagined Village

Midsummer's Night - Dervish

Midsummer Night - Mirabai Ceiba

Noon of the Solstice - Damh the Bard

King of Morning, Queen of Day - Horslips

King of the Fairies - Maidens of the Celtic Harp

Solstice Call - Gaia Consort

Come Sail Away - Styx

Ostara: flowers, eggs, milk, honey

Beltane: flowers, ribbons, acorns

Litha: oak leaves, sun symbols, sunflowers

Lammas: bread, wheat, beer, honey, corn dolls, iron

Mabon: fall leaves, cornstalks, grapes and grape vines, pomegranates, apples

Samhain: tarot cards, mirror, food offerings, mulled wine, dark bread

Sister to the Blackthorn, a solitary Hawthorn growing on open ground is a sacred tree deeply entrenched in the lore of the fair folk. Hawthorn trees were (and in some places still are) treated with fear and respect because they were said to be the home of the fae. To cut down or in any way injure the hawthorn was to risk the wrath of the good people. The fair folk were reported to take their revenge in brutal and often gruesome ways, blighting the land or bringing violent injury or death to the offender and their family.

Is any man so daring As dig them up in spite, He shall find their sharpest thorns In his bed at night.

A lone Hawthorn is a dangerous and some might even say, cursed tree. Because it is believed to be an entrance to the Otherworld, to stand or fall asleep under the tree - especially at night - is to risk being stolen away by the fairies, never to return home again. In some folklore, it was the Faerie Queen herself who came to steal away the unfortunate individual.

Hawthorn can be very unlucky to bring indoors. Since it is considered the home of the fair folk, bringing any of it inside can mean bringing or inviting the folk into your own home. Sleeping next to it is also said to potentially bring about death or other misfortune.

Hawthorn blooms and elder flowers will fill a house with evil powers.

Hawthorn is also a tree of very contradictory lore. While it is considered extremely dangerous as it related to the fair folk, it is also a very powerful protector, as well as an aphrodisiac, a tree of fertility and love, and a healer.

The Hawthorn tree was used in folk medicine as a cure for many ailments, from soothing sore throats to mending broken hearts. Hawthorn was also used at weddings to decorate wreaths and altars, a symbol of chastity and prosperity, and used to promote fertility. It was a protector of children, hung over the cradle to keep newborn babes safe from harm. Hawthorn hung over a stable will protect animals from witchcraft. Tools made from the branches or thorns of this tree are well suited for any work involving the Elphame Queen and various concoctions can be made from the berries for love workings or to enhance the Second Sight or soul flight.

Hawthorn trees can also be associated with clootie wells, a type of holy well or spring. The custom is to take a strip of cloth, dip it into the well, and tie it to the tree while making a prayer to the spirits. This prayer can be made simply to honor the local spirit, but is mainly to petition for healing.

When recommending resources for witchcraft, I usually recommend books because authors often put together the best organized methods to start out. Or to increase your knowledge. But purchasing books can be expensive and sometimes we want resources that won’t cost us anything. This list is only meant to get you started. It will lead you to other resources as you build your path.

cleanse your house thoroughly

banish any unwanted energies

put some time into making solid wards

rearrange/cleanse your altar space and tools

take inventory of your supplies

make new batches of sun and moon waters (and any salts, tinctures, etc. you like to keep on hand)

start a dream journal now that you have the time

find a witchy article or book on somewhere like JSTOR and learn something new (and tell other witches about it)

try kitchen witchcraft if you haven’t already

create a new sigil or charm to display in your house

bless or add a glamor to an item in your home (ex. adding a glamour to a centerpiece so the food always looks good or to the welcome mat so people don’t notice the messes so much)

send a blessing to those who are helping (and donations, if you can)

or perhaps jinx, hex, curse, or bind those doing harm

set aside time each day to meditate– it’s the perfect time to start such a habit!

leave an offering to or commune with a spirit or deity you have not in a while due to time constraints

try a type of magic you are interested in, but struggle with

practice with your divination tools to get better at them

update your grimoire with things you’ve been meaning to write down

make a crystal grid of your own

make your own pendulum and board

make your own oracle deck

using the items you already have, make a new powder, oil, or tincture for an intent you have often

make a sigil and set it as your phone background

paint your phone case with a sigil, a symbol, or a color coordinated with your intention (use acrylic and then coat it in mod podge!)

create a new talisman

write a hymn or incantation

create a playlist to listen to during witchy things

buy a service from a local witch if you can afford to– many are in need of money right now, especially

draw, paint, or sculpt a deity you worship and add it to your altar

use notecards to write down and categorize things you have for each basic intention (ex. write down all of the herbs, crystals, etc. you have for love, for money, etc. so you never have to sit and think hard on what you can use– it’s a quick-reference for yourself)

write down your favorite spells or ones that you want to try

in your school or work space, add a sigil or charm for productivity, focus, or stress-relief

make a new sachet for sleep

contact a witch friend and facetime them to meditate together or do readings for each other. it’s important to stay in touch!

make shoebox, on-the-go, or pocket altars so when quarantine is over you’ll keep your practice up in daily life

write yourself affirmation cards or letters to open in a month/year/whenever you like

make your own runes

enchant a piece of clothing or jewelry for stress-relief or motivation

learn more about your own natal chart

transfer the info you look for in your grimoire most often to make a quick-reference book of the most important pages for yourself

learn about the plants and trees around your house and their properties

sit in your yard for a little while and enjoy nature and it’s sounds

open your curtains and blinds and windows to let in a little fresh air and sun into the house

start journaling– being in-tune with yourself will improve you as a witch

write letters or send care packages to witchy friends with things like bay leaves, sigils, and kind notes

on your next grocery run, grab some seeds or plants and plant whatever is in season where you are. try something that can grow in your windowsill, if you’re new! this is a way to have sustainable ingredients for your witchcraft that has no pesticides and is cultivated with your energy.

alternatively, get flower seeds and plant them around your home. this will also give you a reason to step outside to tend to them from time to time.

learn a new song or hymn and perform it as an offering to your deity of choice

make a list of this year’s dates of full and new moons, transits, and holidays and mark them in your calendar or put them in the notes of your phone