Abundance

What is Lammas and an Abundance Ritual!

Happy Lammas! (No, not Llamas, there are no llamas here). Also known as Lughnasadh.

What is Lammas and what relevance does it have in my life you may be asking yourself. Firstly, I will say it is a celebration, and who doesn’t need a glorious reason to celebrate!? Secondly, let’s go explore what it is – so are you sitting comfortably? Have a nice cuppa tea to hand, or a cool glass of water? Then let us begin.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago in the wonderful Gaelic mythological story of the Wheel of the Year, the Sun God (Lugh, Celtic God of Light and the son of the Sun) transfers his power into the grain, and is sacrificed when the grain is harvested. So we have a dying, self-sacrificing and resurrecting god of the harvest, who dies for his people so that they may live. Sound familiar?

The power of the sun goes into the grain as it ripens. It is then harvested and made into the first new bread of the season. This is the Saxon hlaef-masse or loaf-mass, now lammas. Seed grain is also saved for planting for next year’s crop, so the sun god may be seen to rise again in Spring with the new green shoots, as the sun also rises in the sky. There are many traditions and customs all over the country that are still carried out at harvest time today.

So Lammas is the first Harvest Festival of the year, it is a time of awareness that the strength of the Sun (Lugh) is beginning to wane and there is a shift and change afoot. Active growth is slowing down and the darker days of winter and reflection are gently and slowly raising their heads. It happens normally anywhere from July 31st – August 2nd, though some will tell you it can happen between August 1st and September 1st.

“ At Lammas the Goddess is in Her aspect as Grain Mother, Harvest Mother, Harvest Queen, Earth Mother, Ceres and Demeter. Demeter, as Corn Mother, represents the ripe corn of this year’s harvest and Her daughter Kore/Persephone represents the grain – the seed which drops back deep into the dark earth, hidden throughout the winter, and re-appears in the spring as new growth. This is the deep core meaning of Lammas and comes in different guises: it is about the fullness and fulfillment of the present harvest holding at its heart the seed of all future harvest. (It is a fact that a pregnant woman carrying her as yet unborn daughter is also already carrying the ovary containing all the eggs her daughter will ever release – she is already both mother, grandmother and beyond, embodying the great Motherline – pure magic and mystery.)”

So as the grain harvest is gathered in, there is food to feed the community through the winter and within that harvest is the seed of next year’s rebirth, regeneration and harvest. The Grain Mother is ripe and full, heavily pregnant she carries the seed of the new year’s Sun God within her. There is tension here. For the Sun God, the God of the Harvest, the Green Man, or John Barleycorn, surrenders his life with the cutting of the corn.

What are some of the symbols, plants and colours of Lammas you ask?

Green, Gold, Mint and Sunflowers! Mint is one of the revered plants of the Druids and Its magical properties are both protection and healing, and at this stage in the year, its properties of drawing abundance and prosperity, are most appropriate. Why sunflowers? Think about it, we often take sunflowers for granted, yet by this time of year their flower heads are full and heavy with that wonderful spiral of seeds and they spend the whole day gently turning their heads to gaze at the sun. In the Aztec temples of the sun, priestesses carried sunflowers and wore them as crowns. They symbolize the fertility of the Solar Logos.

I found a glorious little ritual for abundance to do on Lammas that you might want to try. (Courtesy of The Goddess and Green Man).

Lammas Charm For Gathering In Abundance

You will need:

A broom or besom. Don’t worry if it isn’t a traditional besom, any broom will do as it is always the intent that is important. If you have no broom, collect a bundle of twigs and tie them at the top with a Lammas ribbon to make a hand broom shape. The besom/broom is a potent symbol of hearth and home, found in some form in almost every household. It is a traditional magical tool useful for everyday charms as it has the imprint of its owner firmly on it. Sweeping is a natural gathering gesture.

Ribbon. A piece of green ribbon (for abundance), a piece of gold ribbon (for prosperity and gathering) or ribbon in Lammas harvest colours would be equally suitable.

A Sprig of Mint. Ideally a sprig of mint from your garden (but you can get this from any supermarket), or dried mint – put it in a pouch. The mint represents abundance and plenty and is easily accessible to the urban hedgewitch.

Take your broom and tie your ribbon around the stave or top. Tie in your sprig of mint or securely fasten your pouch. Take your broom outside, place both hands on the stave and focus on your intention – gathering in your harvest for winter. Turn slowly three times in a clockwise direction then start to sweep towards your door saying:

“By one, two, three and four, sweep Lammas gifts to my door. May abundance be a constant friend, by my hearth till Winter’s end.”

Repeat this three times, then take your besom/broom back into your house and put it in its usual place. You can leave the ribbon on for as long as you want to, for a lunar month, or until winter is done. If you have made your own broom you can place it where you consider the heart of your home to be. The mint can be returned to the earth with thanks.

If you do not have an outside space you can sweep from your front door inwards to either your kitchen or hearth using the same charm.

So now you know what Lammas means, why it is celebrated and have a fun and easy ritual to perform to honour it, and bring in abundance. So go grab your broom and start sweeping!

Summer Solstice. How to Embody and Celebrate it!

Jenny Heston · 1:01 am ·

What is Summer Solstice you ask and why the heck should I give it any attention?

Mighty fine questions, so let’s go for a little explore. Solstice comes from the Latin words sol, meaning Sun and sistere, meaning to come to a stop or stand still. On the day of the June Solstice, the Sun reaches its northernmost position, as seen from the Earth. At that moment, its zenith does not move north or south as during most other days of the year, but it stands still at the Tropic of Cancer. It then reverses its direction and starts moving south again. The opposite happens during the December solstice. Then, the Sun reaches its southernmost position in the sky – Tropic of Capricorn – stands still, and then reverses its direction towards the north.

On a purely factual basis Summer Solstice (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere) marks the longest day of the year and the shortest night, it’s the start of the lazy hazy days of summer. Kids are normally on summer break, families scramble to go on a holiday or camp, and a lot of time is spent soaking up the sun whilst hanging at the beach, playing in the water or hosting a summer bar-b-que. Summer Solstice both ushers in the warmest season and also a gentle reminder that the days are going to get a bit shorter. Even though the days feel longer, more languid and relaxed there is an underlying freneticism of getting outside, celebrating the sun as much as possible, as it will soon be gone.

This year Summer Solstice occurs on Friday June 21st.

Okay, so we have the facts, but what does it all mean? Summer Solstice (also known as Litha) is all about abundance, growth, expansion. It’s the celebration of the Sun! Think about it, the farmer plants the seeds in the cool of the Spring in the wet ground and as the Summer Solstice approaches things have sprouted and are reaching up as if they are doing a glorious sun salutation. It’s a time to watch the ripening and fruiting of the plants around us and our ideas.

This is a delicious inner fire/power celebration that acknowledges the abundance that grows from tiny seeds.

At Stonehenge, (which was built over 5,000 years ago) the heelstone marks the midsummer sunrise as seen from the centre of the stone circle. In ancient times, the Summer Solstice was a fire-festival of great importance when the burning of balefires ritually strengthened the sun. It was often marked with torchlight processions, by flaming tar barrels or by wheels bound with straw, which were set alight and rolled down steep hillsides. The Norse especially loved lengthy processions and would gather together their animals, families and lighted torches and parade through the countryside to the celebration site.

The use of fire, as well as providing magical aid to the sun, were also used to drive out evil and to bring fertility and prosperity to men, crops and herds. Blazing gorse or furze was carried around cattle to prevent disease and misfortune; while people would dance around the balefires or leap through the flames as a purifying or strengthening rite. The Celts would light balefires all over their lands from sunset the night before Midsummer until sunset the next day. Around these flames the festivities would take place.

In Cornwall up to the mid 18th century the number and appearance of fires seen from any given point was used as a form of divination and used to read the future. So as we can see, this celebration has been around for years upon years and has an intensity and a deliciousness about it.

So now we have facts, the meaning – how does one celebrate it? There is no right or wrong way by any stretch. However, here are a few simple ideas that aren’t overly complex.

Move your body. Welcome the sun on this longest day with a couple of sun salutations. This is a simple Yoga flow that requires you to be present and go as far as your body will allow you to go. If you are unclear as to what it looks like there are some great beginner versions on line and this will give you a glorious full body stretch (in a gentle way).

Make an altar. Pop some seashells, flowers, fruit and dried herbs on it and voila, you have created an altar. It doesn’t have to be big, or front and centre in your living room if that makes people around you uncomfie. Your altar could be those cool rocks you picked up over the last year all gorgeously stacked on your kitchen counter.

For more ideas, herbs, energy, rituals, guided visualisation and spells thus a deeper dive into Summer Solstice there is a glorious downloadable pdf for my most amazing community.

I call it your Summer Solstice B.O.S.S Enjoy!

It’s All About the Balance Baby – Autumnal Equinox and 8 steps to harness this energy.

Jenny Heston · 5:28 pm ·

There are 8 spots on the wheel of the year and these are called Sabbats. 4 are major and 4 are called “lesser” in other words they are the mid point between 2 of the major. So this Equinox, which is also known as Mabon (named after the Welsh god, Mabon, son of the Earth Goddess Madron), is a lesser Sabbat as it is mid way between the summer solstice and the winter solstice. Does this mean it has less energy – heck no!

This is the second harvest, the fruit harvest, late July we celebrated the first harvest festival which was Lammas. With this festival, you are being invited to look at the seeds that you sowed in the Spring, on every level, and reflect on how they have manifested. Most crops are in and the fields are beginning to look brown and are slowly going to sleep for the winter (unless they are filled with gorgeous orange pumpkins). I personally have pulled up all my soft and tender zucchini plants and am almost done harvesting my tomatoes, but I am going to leave my carrots and beets in the ground until first frost (it makes them far more juicy!) In my wanderings with the hounds I also found a gorgeous old, old abandoned orchard filled with apple trees and have been harvesting apples galore (although the bears have had something to say about that!)

What you need to appreciate is that Mabon is the balance point, the place where there is equal amount of day and night. While we harvest and celebrate the glorious gifts we are receiving we have to accept that the soil is dying, and release. We have food to eat, but warmth is gently tucking behind us and cold and dark lie ahead. Now if this if making you gulp a little, don’t! Remember you can’t experience light without the dark and vice versa. When the day and night are of equal length, it offers a powerful vibration and harmony between the time of creation (night) and the time of manifestation (day). This allows the flow between creation and manifestation to be more seamless and flows with ease and effortlessness. There are no limits on what you can manifest during an Equinox, however, for a Spring (Southern Hemisphere) it is a time of new beginnings and for us in Autumn it is a time to harvest, release and let go.

So how do I mark this time and celebrate it and harness this glorious energy you may be asking. Good question and there are a myriad of ways, so pick whichever resonates for you. You can do more than one most certainly, but if it feels like a chore – put it to the side!

Create An Altar

Now if the word altar makes you uncomfie, call it a celebration nook or a gratitude space. It could be on the dining room table, a kitchen counter a dresser – you name it. Gather up leaves, acorns, seed pods, rocks, twigs – whatever calls out to you and put them in a lovely spot and enjoy them. Take your kids or friends on a Nature walk. When you have gathered and placed give them a little blessing and thanks. It’s the ritual of taking time to acknowledge that’s important, not the objects per se.

Clean House!

With the longer nights soon approaching and most of us spending more time inside than out, this is a perfect time to do a fall version of spring cleaning. Gather together the things that no longer serve you, it could be clothes you don’t wear anymore, books that you aren’t going to read again, those random arsed odd soxs that you hold onto just in case…… Release them. Gift them to a charity shop (not the odd soxs), take them to your library, but give them a little pat and thanks and pass them on to someone else who will enjoy them. Give your house a good clean and then do a smudging. Decorate your home with symbols of the harvest season. Buy or pick a gorgeous bouquet of orange, gold and green and have it somewhere where you can see it daily.

Celebrate Your Abundance!

When we say abundance, it doesn’t necessarily mean material or financial gain — you may be abundant if you have friends who love you, a satisfying family life, or a rewarding career. Think about that things you have for which you are most grateful. I get Notes from the Universe, every morning (and I love them) and today’s was – “If you’re reading this right now on a phone or computer, you’re rich. If you have somewhere to go today, you’re connected. And if there is anyone anywhere for any reason knows where you are at this moment, you’re loved.“

You can turn it into a game with your family at dinner time and everyone takes turns to share what makes them feel abundant (it’s very cool to hear all the various responses).

Play With Your Food

If you have access to berries, apples, pears or whatever fruit is around you right now. Gather it all together and create an abundance mandala. In other words, play with your food! Get your most favourite dish out and arrange the fruit in any way that you like that resembles a mandala and have it for dessert (or your main course). Involve your kids, have friends over, but celebrate!

Apple Magic

Apples are the perfect symbol of the Mabon season. Long connected to wisdom and magic. The apple has figured significantly in many sacred traditions. It is known as a symbol for life and immortality, for healing, renewal, regeneration and wholeness.

If you cut an apple widthways it reveals a pentagram containing seeds. The five points represent the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water with Spirit at the top, and thus also the directions of East, South, West, North and Within. The circle of the apple around the pentagram represents the eternal circle/cycle of life and nature, and of wholeness.

So if there are apple trees nearby, or a local pick your own orchard go get some apples! Then think of the pies, crisps and crumbles you can make with your glorious fruit. You could also dehydrate (dry) the apple circles and make them into an edible wreath.

It’s All About the Balance Baby

As I mentioned earlier, Mabon is the perfect time of balance between light and dark. So why not give yourself the gift of balance. Take a few moments or longer and just sit and breathe slow and deep and meditate on balance. Reflect on how you handle pressure, how you manage your emotions and other people’s. Is your life in balance? Do you make sure you get enough rest, water and play or are you pushing and striving and feeling a tad overwhelmed? What little shifts and changes can you do to create more balance in your mind, body, work, home life, family? Do you need to practice saying No more or do you need to practice saying Yes more? Get it? So just take some time and if you feel inclined write down a few small tweaks that would make you feel more in alignment and balanced.

Decorate with Sunflowers

As I have said repeatedly, I love, love sunflowers! Their big bobbly heads that track the sun, their glorious cheerful faces that waft in the breeze. But as with all things, that changes. The petals are starting to drop off and the seed heads are beginning to curl back a bit and the leaves are drooping. So I’m gently going to trim the heads off the flowers, save one and dry the seeds (so I can’t plant my seeds at Spring Equinox) and with all the rest (and there are quite a few), I’m threading them on fishing line and hanging them in the branches of the trees for the birds. That way the birds and the squirrels can stock up on seeds before the winter comes.

Light ‘Er Up!

Get a candle or candles and as you light them you can ask for blessings on your home, hearth and self. This doesn’t have to be complex or over the top (although if you want it to it can be). You can just simply take a breath, light your candle and say “Goddess or Green Man, I ask for your blessing on this special day. Bless my harvest, my home, my hearth and my self. Keep us safe and warm, the winds away from the door, harmony and health abounding. I give thanks and so it is.” Voila! Remember though, please don’t leave candles unattended and most certainly don’t go to sleep with one burning.

If you like ritual there are two gorgeous ones here – one is for Autumnal Equinox (Mabon), and the other (if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere) is for Spring Equinox.

So delicious one, that is how to celebrate and harness this potent time of Equinox. I hope you give yourself the gift of doing something to mark this special day.

Enjoy!

Holy Hannah it’s almost New Moon and Equinox! Weekly Reading September 18th.

Jenny Heston · 2:00 pm ·

Happy Monday, happy new week, happy nearly New Moon and Equinox! (Happy glorious day to you delicious lovely!) How are you? Did you take some time in the last week to rest, relax and play? I pushed it a bit too hard over the last few weeks with work, staining, staining and more staining (I think there should be a staining recovery group) and my body finally said – meh, this is not fun and so we are going to hand you a lovely little virus that is going to make you feel like shit, slow down and sleep. Bugger! I am a very grumpy sick person to be honest, however, I have paid attention and took the weekend to read, sleep, eat soup, sleep and read. Although I did push a tad and insisted on building a gorgeous arbour header, stained and mounted it on Saturday, which I am very happy I did. Every time I look at it now I smile. Why? Because it is beautifully shaped and it has all the phases of the moon carved and cut out of it and that resonates for me. So once I had finished that I donned a big sweater, made a cuppa tea and curled up in a big garden chair and read my book and watched the chickadees attack the sunflower heads with vigour.

We head into birthday season tomorrow (note I said season), as there are 3 of us in September, 3 of us in October, 3 of us in November and 1 in December! Can you say – ribbon by the largest spool possible? It’s my son Ry’s birthday on Wednesday which is also the New Moon and mine on Friday (the Equinox), so we are going to have a joint celebration of birthdays and Equinox! Whoot! Whoot! Ry very kindly gifted me as my birthday present the new book from Brene Brown called “Braving the Wilderness”, it just came out on Tuesday and if you haven’t got it – go get it!. I was reading it this past weekend and wow, she blew it out of the park again. It’s about the quest for true belonging and the courage to stand alone. As Brene says – true belonging is not about fitting in, pretending, or making the people around us comfortable because that’s safer.

I don’t know about you but there have been times in my past where I was most certainly a chameleon and tried to ensure others were comfortable even though I most certainly wasn’t. Not a great way to spend one’s time that’s for sure. So it was interesting to see which deck wanted to come play this week, I most certainly thought it would be the Divine Circus however, it is one of my other new decks, The Isis Oracle and it’s very appropriate actually as it addresses the fact that you are a powerful soul who is awakening. The crystals that wanted to come play are Amethyst, Smoky Quartz and Rose Quartz and of course Selenite as an amplifier.

With all that being said I invite you to take a moment and just settle into your body. Feel your feet on the earth (give your toes a little wiggle even if they are in shoes), lengthen your spine and roll your shoulders up, back and down. Breathe gently in through your nose and sigh it out through your mouth. Give your shoulders another roll up back and down and when you feel ready, pick the card or cards that resonate for you. Trust yourself.

Have you picked?

Shall we go see who wants to work with you this week?

INITIATION

When you are being spiritually initiated into the mysteries of light, love and power, there are moments of deep challenge. The key is to find the light within the challenge – the learning, growth or wisdom that can be summoned to turn the challenge into an opportunity for healing. Initiation will occur at various stages. Sometimes your entire life will feel like an initiation, at other times specific areas will be flowing easily whilst others re deeply challenging. Please know you are not needlessly suffering. If you can find the light within the struggles, tests or challenges that face you now, you will experience breakthrough healing.

As an Initiate, honour life as a gift and treat any challenge or pressure as a way for you to grow into a brighter and purer light capable of great spiritual service on this planet. That spiritual service includes growing an ability to be able to love freely and beyond limits, to love with courage and faith.

In fact initiation for you now, dear one, is an opening to new levels of power and peace, self-possession and love. There are such sweet fruits waiting for you at the top of the tree you are currently climbing. It may seem as though you are in barren land at times with little hope, nourishment or encouragement, yet your spiritual oasis is not far away! The Lady Isis and the Power of Ra together are helping you grow. Stay focused on the Lady and Her love for you and you shall pass through the desert of the Initiation unharmed and deeply transformed.

MAGICK AND RITUAL

Effect in the external world can be created through inner practice. Magick and Ritual can support your Divine Path now in the physical world and you are encouraged to enhance your power with regular practice. The results that you experience will encourage you to continue with the practice as you grow in power, grace, love, ability and wisdom, and apply your inner beauty to transform your outer world.

For us to grow empowered and potent we need to honour our knowing and being and cultivate sacred practice. Sacred practice becomes the habit of growing our spiritual power and consciousness. Like a garden needing regular care and watering to blossom and flourish, our inner garden of the Soul, where our creativity, joy, spiritual gifts and bliss bubble away, also needs regular attention. Coming to our practice takes strength and inner will – even though it can feel amazing, we still have to wake up, set aside time and discipline ourselves to show up for our own inner growth. We will reap the benefits when we do, but we must allow ourselves to fall in love with our practice, to craft something that really speaks to us, so that we want to do it. The desire and discipline together help us engage with our practice regularly and we can grow so fast it can be quite shocking!

You have great power and wisdom within you, but you need to provide channels for it to flow and be active and empowered in your physical life. Sacred Practice is such a channel. Without these channels, the ego is left to create on its own which is not much fun at all! The ego believes in fear and separation and no matter how much it may want to feel love, bliss, connection, joy and fulfilment, it really cannot do it without your spiritual presence in life. Choose what feels good for you and experiment with what might be a regular pattern of practice for you. You are worth the effort! Remember, whatever effort you do put in will be repaid to you in wonderful benefits many, many times over!

FLOWER OF LIFE

You are entering a fertile period of your life. Focus on your innate creativity and how potent this is becoming, and watch it rapidly grow! You are guided to think of yourself as a creative being and to surrender your control over how things will manifest and instead allow them to do so. Don’t resist change, instead flow and let it happen. Now is the time for your blossoming. Your Soul is hungering for creativity and manifestation of the beauty in your inner world, to witness it and live it in your physical world too. Much of your spiritual energy is directed into creative process and your creative powers are growing fast now. As you are gaining more potency in your creative flow, it is important that you use this growing ability wisely. Become aware of how easy and quick your thoughts and feelings are manifesting into conversations, situations and responses from the Universe. Notice how quickly your prayers are confirmed through sign and dreams, intuitions and opportunities opening up for you. You are becoming more and more swiftly that which you choose to think, feel, speak and believe.

Align yourself with love each morning so that your thoughts will serve you well and the manifestations you set in motion will be ones that enhance your life experience, rather than more of what you do not want to experience! It can require time, habit and consistency to change patterns of thought and behaviour but it can be done. You are guided now to allow yourself absolute and radical permission to detach from past thoughts and behaviours, to bear the challenge of not knowing who you are or how you will be on the “other side” of the transformation, in order to let it happen.

The Flower of Life contains repetitive patterns, each interlacing and inter-relating to the other. In this way, all that is required is to tap into one part, one element, one thought or one behaviour that relates to your desired creative outcome – and integrate it into your life. All the rest will flow through natural connection. You are in the midst of a changing pattern and although it might be uncomfortable at first, it holds the seeds of what you desire and to allow it to happen is wise and loving to the Self. Be brave, beloved one. The Flower of Life is nurturing you into a more whole expression of your Divine self.

Holy Hannah. Have I said how much I love the cards and how they work? So we have gone through Initiation, to creating a Sacred Practice to Manifestation. If you have never seen the image of the Flower of Life, there is a great article here. I have often used this pattern for crystal gridding and love it. So delicious lovely have a superb week, remember to plant your seeds with your New Moon wishes and if you are on the wonderful email list keep your eyes peeled on the 22nd as my birthday gift to you is a fun ritual for clarity, manifestation and magic on the Equinox. Remember to breathe, receive and allow and have frigging fun! See you next week or possibly Friday! Huge hugs and big love.

Abundance

jennyheston

Release Anxiety And Claim Your Power