Lughnasadth/Summer CrossQuarter Personal Correspondences
The Summer harvest is approaching! It’s the first harvest of the year! This sabbat to me represents reaping the rewards of hard work all year long, and if you feel like your goals have not been met, you still have 5 months (a little less than a half a year) to achieve them! Especially if you started a garden in spring you will see literal ‘rewards’ emerging in your garden now. Vegetables are ripening, garden herbs are ready for use, this is also the time when berries are ready to be foraged and farmers markets are bustling with fresh produce. Lughnasadth is about celebrating the abundance and the awards you’ve gathered from hard work from the first half of the year. It also marks the beginning of the harvest season! A great way to celebrate it is by having a garden party if you grow your own vegetables or a large picnic feast in the park.
Lughnasadth - The First Harvest
Gold
for Prosperity and wealth
Emerald
for wealth, the summer greenery, the first garden harvest, money and abundance.
Beige
color of wheat, grains, potatoes, bread and Ale. The central foods that are in harvest.
crickets
for the summer music!
grasshoppers
I associate the ant and the grasshopper with this sabbat for its morals
Green garland like leaves and ivy
Corn husks
more traditional: Corn Dolls
Wheat, Dough and Corn:
The biggest symbol and major focus of harvest on this day is Wheat! It is custom to bake bread with the flour of the first harvested wheat as a symbol of gratitude and reward for hard work and what your hard work will reap for the resting period of the year. Bread is custom, and breads with herbs can honor the garden herbs in season. There’s a lot that can be done with bread and dough. Since a lot of vegetables are in season one could make a well seasoned summer vegetable pizza with spiced zucchinis and eggplants. One could make a soup bowl, or dip bowl. Corn is more involved in American cuisine, but we are (or at least I am) in America and corn is the staple of many cultures as well so if you feel more inclined to use corn do so! Both are great and are golden and represent wealth! If you have more of a caribbean or latino background you can make some delicious polenta with summer vegetables or bring tortilla chips with dip to a gathering or make handmade tortillas. I mean whether it’s grits, cornbread (my favorite), or just corn on the cob with butter cream, herbs and paprika, corn is very versatile and can be served in a number of ways, especially if you care about establishing a connection to your heritage. If you are more of a wheat person you can stick to breads and pastas. Tomatoes are beginning to get in season around now so that will pair well with pasta salads or sauces for dishes.
The Vegetable Harvest:
As I’ve mentioned a number of times, many vegetables are coming in season. There are cucumbers, zucchinis, peppers and tomatoes to name a few off the top of my head. This year I would like to attempt to make ratatouille but any dish with in season vegetables especially if its from the fruit of your labor (the garden) or locally grown from a farmers market will represent the festivities of this sabbat. You can hit two birds with one stone by preparing some deliciously moist zucchini bread.
Fruity Season:
There are also many fruits that come in season at this time. Berries are ripe and ready to be picked. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries would be great to put in desserts. If you want to get into the spirit of the wheat harvest you could use some dough to make a berry pie or tart. Peaches are also ripe and in season and would make a great peach cobbler. Then there are the melons that I believe have been in season for a bit but now canteloupes are especially delicious and ripe along with honeydew and of course watermelon. Serving fruity wine, or a sangria or punch with these fruits would be great for the festivities or to bring to a picnic.
Ale, Fruity Ciders, Wine and Whiskey!
Also for drinks you can drink Ale or any wheat based bears. Whiskies are ok too since some like Bourbon, Wheat or Rye whiskey are corn and wheat based. Fruity wines are a plus and wine in general because the grape harvest is soon. Fruity beers or ciders like Peach cider are perfect or fruity beers. I’m not the biggest fan of fruity beers but a fruity shandy like a light beer mixed with a fruit cider or fruit soda (or fruit syrup with club soda) could be a great subsitute.
Sweets and Treats!
For sweets like treats and candy anything that reflects the fruits in seasons like fruit gummies are great. Making home-made gummies are really easy, it’s just a lot of gelatin and fruit juice. If you want to go the extra mile you can make hard candy or gummies with fresh pressed fruit juices (or buy Hasboro fruit gummies that are cute and fruit shaped or even Welches honestly). Also since this sabbat is about abundance and earning from the hard work you put in then gold coin chocolates would be fun to pass out too!
Acoustic guitar, Lute
Also I love the album L'Ecornifleur by Francois Pernel, I feel like it captures the feeling of this time of the end of summer outdoors celebrating yet sleepy feel. (Link is to the full album to listen to!)