Lammas Ritual Honoring Gratitude, Abundance, and the First Harvest

Lammas Ritual Honoring Gratitude, Abundance, and the First Harvest

Lammas, also known as Lughnasadh or First Fruits, is a holy day that celebrates the grain harvest, the turning of the Wheel of the Year, and the abundance flowing from Earth Mother. Falling on August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere (February 1st in the Southern Hemisphere), it marks the beginning of the harvest season. This time of year represents not only the wheat harvest and first loaves but also the fruition of dreams, intentions, and seeds planted since winter.

Lammas, Lughnasadh, and the Wheel of the Year

This ritual embodies gratitude for the first golden grains, the Corn Mother’s blessings, and the cyclical nature of life. It honors our “first harvest,” encourages us to release what no longer serves us, and helps prepare for future growth during this harvest festival . Let’s gather to celebrate Lammas with baked bread, summer fruits, and gratitude for life’s blessings.

Lammas and the Wheel of the Year remind us of nature’s cycles, where every phase has its purpose. Falling between the Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox, Lammas is a time to reflect on the wheat harvest and “harvest” of your efforts—whether personal, professional, or spiritual. It invites gratitude for accomplishments while creating space for new opportunities as the seasons shift. Traditionally, it’s celebrated with baking, feasting, and sharing abundance with loved ones.

For a deeper understanding of Lammas, Lughnasadh, and its themes, check out my other post exploring this sacred time and its rituals.

Preparation Before the Lammas Ritual

• Timing: Perform this ritual on or around Lammas Day, often called Loaf Mass Day or the Quarter Day marking the first bread from the new grain on August 2nd.

• Space: Choose a spot that feels sacred for your celebration—outside among trees and crops in your family’s garden, or indoors with your altar honoring the earth’s cycle.

  
  

Items You’ll Need:

• A small loaf of bread (homemade is magickal— you've gotta check out this cute video with my aunt and baking bread), honoring the grain and the tradition of baking the first loaves)

  • A yellow or gold candle (symbol of the sun god and summer’s waning power)

  • Seasonal symbols: wheat stalks, sunflowers, fruits (apples, berries, first fruits of your local market)

  • A small bowl of water (for renewal and to honor the planting and growth cycles)

  • A pen and paper

  • A fire-safe dish (for letting go in the ritual)

  • Optional: seeds gathered from your garden (to remind you of future harvest and the endless cycle of planting, growing, reaping)

    
    

Step 1: Ground and Center

Settle in your chosen space—maybe barefoot in the grass, honoring the earth beneath and the sun above. Take a few deep breaths, let that summer energy fill you up, and reflect on the rhythm of the season. In this moment, you’re part of an ancient celebration—a tradition and pagan rite woven through countless summers and winters.

Visualize golden sunlight (the blessing of the sun god and the promise of autumn ahead) streaming down, roots extending from your feet deep into the earth, connecting you to Spirit, the Corn Mother, and the land's fertile circle of life.

Say aloud or internally:

"Mother Earth and blessed Spirit, thank You for the bounty of this harvest season. I anchor myself in Your energy and offer up gratitude for all that has grown within and around me on this Lammas Day."

Step 2: Create Your Harvest Altar

Arrange items that speak to the grain harvest, the new bread, fruits, and symbols of the earth’s first harvest for the loaf mass on this festival. Place your loaf of bread, golden candle, stalks of grain, fresh produce, and tokens of what you wish to celebrate. Sprinkle a few seeds if you’ve been collecting them this year, connecting the magick of planting to the blessing of the feast.

Light the candle in the center—the sun's spirit as it begins its slow descent toward autumn. Let its glow remind you of cycles: life, death, rebirth; the turn of the Wheel of the Year.

Say aloud:

"I honor the circle of life, the harvest celebration, and this loaf mass day of Lammas. May my altar reflect all the joy, gratitude, and blessings received under the summer sun—blessed be."

Step 3: Reflect on Your Personal Harvest

Take your loaf of bread—your loaf mass, symbol of both tradition and your own mark on this holy day. Feel the heft of it. The world has offered up these grains, and your own life’s labor has its own “first harvest” to share.

Reflect quietly during this celebration :

• Which seeds or intentions did I plant in spring that have grown into something beautiful as summer peaks?

• What in my personal garden feels ready to gather, to feast upon, or to share with family and community?

• Where do I see the abundance and generosity of Spirit reflected in my life this season?

• Who or what has played the role of foster mother, god Lugh, or Earth Mother—supporting and inspiring me along my path?

  
  

Break the bread, holding a piece at your heart, and voice your gratitude for all that has come to life. If you’re with others, pass the bread around—sharing is ancient witchcraft and deepens every feast.

Eat, knowing this is more than food: this is your connection to the earth, to pagans and witches before you, and to the future harvests your heart still dreams.

Step 4: Release What No Longer Serves You

Write down the beliefs, fears, or habits that have run their season—what feels stale, heavy, or no longer feeds your Spirit. Acknowledge the gift in letting go, just as farmers clear their fields of what cannot go on to the next cycle.

Speak:

"On this harvest festival, I honor my lessons, free myself from what holds me back, and prepare the soil for new seeds, new seasons, new magick. Spirit, Earth, Sun—transform these burdens in the lammas ritual so I may greet autumn with an open heart."

Burn your paper with care in the candle flame or bury it under a tree, trusting in the endless support of earth and sun to carry away your offering.

Step 5: Closing Blessing

Stand, breathe deeply, and let gratitude radiate outward in a circle—toward the crops, the family and friends, the sun, the earth, the cycles that shape each day.

Say:

"With gratitude, I celebrate First Harvest Lammas—

Blessings upon the crops, grains, the loaves, the fruits, and the hands that brought them forth.

I honor the earth’s cycle, the gathering of seeds, the promise of future harvest.

Spirit and Sun God, guide me as summer turns toward autumn.

Blessed be this Loaf Mass day, the feast, the magick, the abundance.

May my heart always remember the center of the circle—

Gratitude, life, and the turning Wheel of the Year."

Let your candle burn a moment longer while you soak in the beauty of this quarter day. Extinguish it in gratitude. Gather a keepsake—maybe a stalk of wheat, a few seeds, a crumb of bread—from your altar as a symbol of this celebration and reminder as the seasons spiral on.

After the Ritual

Take some time to journal, reflect, or just breathe in summer’s last golden spell. You might circle the garden, tend your trees, or start collecting seeds for the next planting. Remember, Lammas is not about perfection, but about being a living part of life's great cyclical nature—knowing that the first day of e year turns, and so do we.

Honor your Spirit, your roots, the corn and bread, the god Lugh, your family, and your witchcraft. Here’s to the first harvest, the feast, and the promise carried forward in every grain. Blessed Lammas! 🌾