Ritual Ideas First Harvest

Few crops represent the the harvest quite like corn. 

For centuries, the corn cob has been a mainstay with every harvest season meal.

Let’s make the corn savory by roasting it over an open fire.

Ingredients

• Unshucked corn cobs
• A pot of water
• Butter
• Minced garlic
• Salt, pepper

Directions

Soak the corn cobs in the pot of water—leave the husk on—and let them sit for an hour or two. 

This will make the corn cobs nice and moist.

Put the wet corn cobs, still in their husks, on a grill. 

If you're using a campfire, drop them into the white coals on the edge of the fire ring. 

Turn the corn cobs once in a while, and let them cook for about half an hour. You'll know they're done when the husk is dry and slightly burnt.

Remove the corn cobs from the grill and let them sit for a few minutes to cool a little. Don't let them get cold. 

Peel the husk all the way back and use it for a handle, or use wooden skewer sticks. We like to drown the cob with butter, and sprinkle with garlic, salts and pepper.

Make a Pot of Colcannon

Although Colcannon is traditionally eaten for St. Patrick's Day in March, the use of fresh potatoes and cabbage makes it a perfect harvest meal. 

Serve up a pot of Colcannon for your Lughnasadh celebration.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs potatoes, washed and peeled
• 1 small head cabbage, washed and finely chopped
• 2 sticks real butter 
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 
• 1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and diced
• 4 leeks, chopped
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Steam the potatoes until they are soft, and then drain and rinse. 

Place them back in the pot and mash thoroughly, so you remove all the lumpy bits. 

Gradually add one stick butter, in small pieces, stirring into the potatoes so that it melts. 

Add the cream in and mix.

While you're working with the potatoes, boil the cabbage. 

Some people like to use the potato water, and that's works.

Once it's soft, about 8 minutes, drain and add into the potatoes. 

Add the second stick of butter—again, put it in using small pieces so that it melts and coats all the cabbage. 

Add bacon and leeks. 

Simmer for about half and hour, and then season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve with hearty bread.

Lughnasadh Is Coming

The names that are generally used to denote the Wiccan sabbats (as well as festivals of many pagan traditions) come from Gaelic (both Scots and Irish), Welsh, Norse, and Anglo-Saxon. 

There are variations of pronunciations for each one. 

We are not trying to say that if you don't say it like we tell you to, that you'll be wrong or anything like that. But since so many people have asked, here is a list that can give you a good start in trying to sound like the languages from which these words came.

Just remember, this is not some kind of Sekrit Pagan Language (TM); many of these words are in use in Europe today by pagans and non-pagans alike to denote these days. 

And yes, this shows a European bias, but then so do the commonly-used names for Wiccan holy days. These seem to be the names most frequently asked about in alt.pagan.

Samhain (31 Oct) -- Irish Gaelic for "summer's end." The standard Irish pronunciation is "sow-in" with the "ow" like in "cow." Other pronunciations that follow with the many Gaelic dialects include "sow-een" "shahvin" "sowin" (with "ow" like in "glow"). The Scots Gaelic spelling is "Samhuin" or "Samhuinn." There is no linguistic foundation for saying this word "samhane" the way it might look if it were English. When in doubt, just say "Hallows" or even "Hallowe'en."

Yule (21 Dec) -- Norse for "wheel." It's pretty much pronounced just like it looks, although if you want to make a stab at a Scandinavian sound, it'll be more like "yool" and less like "yewl." This is the winter solstice.

Imbolg/Imbolc (1 Feb) -- Irish Gaelic for "in the belly." Pronounce this one "IM-bullug" or "IM-bulk" with a guttural "k" on the end. Other names include Candlemas; Brighid (pronounced "breed"), who is the Irish goddess whose festival this is; and Oimelc (pronounced EE-mulk), which means "ewe's milk" in Scots Gaelic.

Ostara (21 Mar) -- Saxon name for a maiden goddess of spring, loosely connected to Astarte and Ishtar. This one's easy -- "o-STAHR-uh." Other names include Eostre (say "OHS-truh" or "EST-truh"). This is the spring equinox.

Beltane/Bealtaine (30 April) -- Irish Gaelic for either "fires of Bel" or "bright fires." If you want to try it in Gaelic, you can say "bee-YAWL-tinnuh" or "BELL-tinnuh." Unlike Samhain, this word can within the linguistic structure of its language of origin be pronounced like it looks -- "BELL-tane" -- without totally abandoning its original construction. Other names are Walpurgisnacht (vawl-PUR-gis-nahkt) and May Day.

Litha (21 Jun) -- Norse or Anglo-Saxon for "longest day." You can say this one just like it looks, or you can try for a Scandinavian sound and say "leetha" with the "th" more like a "t." This is the summer solstice.

Lughnasadh/Lunasa or Lammas (1 Aug) -- The first is Irish Gaelic for "festival of Lugh" (a major Irish deity); the second is Anglo-Saxon for "festival of the loaves" ("hlaf-mass"). Don't panic at that spelling; the second (which is modern Irish as opposed to old Irish) tells you all you need to know. Say "LOO-nah-sah." (Some people maintain that the Scots dialect says it "LOO-nah-soo.") Lammas is just like it looks, "LAH-mus." 

Mabon (21 Sep) -- This is believed to be a form of the Welsh word for "son." Therefore, it would probably be pronounced "MA-bon" with the "a" like in "mass." However, most Wiccans and pagans say "MAY-bon." This is the autumn equinox.

Happy Lammas, Lughnasadh, Imbolc

We will be back August 3