Lughnasadh Ritual

• incense
• incense burner
• chalice of water
• salt
• pentacle
• dagger or sword
• four Element candles
• chalice of wine
• plate of bread
• cauldron, with an orange or yellow candle in it
• fall flowers, ivy, and leaves for decoration

With casting the circle as your basic starting point, perform the same ritual illustrated in the Basic Sabbat Ritual, inserting the following steps where the Ritual states, "proceed with your planned spellwork or ceremony..."

Light the cauldron, saying:

O Ancient Gods of the Celts,
I do ask your presence here.
For this is a time that is not a time,
In a place that is not a place,
On a day that is not a day,
And I await you.

Set the plate of bread on the pentacle. Stand still and breathe deeply for a few moments. Concentrate upon the cleansing power of the breath and air. When you are ready, say:

I have purified myself by breathing
In the life force of the universe
And expelling all evil from me.

Lift the plate of bread high, then set it back on the altar. Say:

I know that every seed,
Every grain is a record of ancient times,
And a promise to all of what shall be.
This bread represents life eternal
Through the cauldron of the Triple Goddess.

Eat a piece of bread. Put the chalice of wine on the pentacle. Hold high the wine chalice, then set it back on the altar. Say:

As the grape undergoes change to become wine,
So by the sacred cauldron of life shall I undergo change.
And as this wine can give man enchantment of the divine
Or sink him into the lower realms, so I do realize
That all humans rise or fall according to their strength and will.

Drink some of the wine. Say:

As in the bread and wine, so it is with me.
Within all forms is locked a record of the past,
And a promise of the future.
I ask that you lay your blessings upon me,
Ancient Ones, that this season of wanting not be so heavy.
So mote it be!

Refer to the Basic Sabbat Ritual at this time for the standard closing or departure ritual, commencing where the Ritual states, "when everything is completed..."

SOURCE: Joelle's Sacred Grove, as taken from Celtic Magic by D.J. Conway