Lammas

A schedule conflict prevented us from attending the August ritual at CedarLight Grove, so we wrote and performed our own at home – the first one we had done ourselves.

We adapted one from the ADF website, so that it would be suitable for our Anglo-Saxon hearth. We ensured that it followed the ADF core order but kept it fairly simple.

Our offerings were: grain for Nerthus, the Earth Mother; home-brewed beer and homemade banana bread for Hama, the gatekeeper; pipe tobacco for the ancestors; grain and banana bread for the land wights; and banana bread and beer for the Shining Ones. Then we added special offerings and words for Frige, Woden and a petition of Ing to help us succeed at gardening (as our first effort failed miserably.)

Our omen was, we think, positive. We used the Anglo-Saxon futhorc runes. In asking whether our offerings were accepted, we turned up Ing – and since this was the first time we had specifically spoken to him and it had come with a request, we took that mean he wanted a bit more.

Asking what blessings the gods offer in returned, we turned Eolh – elk-sedge, protection from outside dangers.

And in asking what the gods wanted from us, we turned Yr – a reminder to use our own skills and knowledge as well as asking their help.

Overall, I much prefer the fellowship and sense of shared worship at the Grove, but it was good to see how it works in a more solitary setting. We honored the gods and deepened our connection to them that much more.