You will need:
Candle in a colour that speaks to you of abundance – yellow, green, gold, orange but go with what works for you and what you have to hand.
Lighter or matches and a candle holder.
Dried grasses or straw. These can be long grasses from your garden, the hedgerows, fields or verges. Straw if you live near a field that is growing wheat or from pet bedding if you have it. You will need enough to tie into a bundle or to weave/plait. If you have lavender or rosemary stalks, that will work too!
Ribbon that speaks to you of abundance – colours listed above.
Introduction:
Abundance (latin: Abundanta) meaning overflowing.
1. A very large quantity of something.
2. State or condition of having a copious quantity of something.
3. Plentiful of the good things in life.
Source: The Oxford Dictionary.
August in the UK is usually a time of harvest and abundance – and I say “usually” because as we know, our weather can be all over the place and our seasons can sometimes feel different to what we expect them to.
Seasonally, Spring and Winter is not a time that you associate with abundance, but magically, abundance can be worked with at any time of the year, particularly when we focus on the ‘plentiful of the good things in life’.
Abundance isn’t about wanting more - be that money, luck or happiness (although it is nice for the universe to shine a little of that on us), it is about realising all that we already have and being able to share it if we can.
Circle Casting
By the power of the fertile earth and solid stone
By the might of strong winds and soft breezes
By the warmth of the fierce Sun and the gentle flickering flames
By the waters of turbulent seas and gentle streams
We are connected
Gefjun (pronounced GEV-Yoon)
Norse Goddess of Agriculture, Fertility and Abundance
Your name means “to give”
We ask you to show us how we may share what we are abundantly blessed with
Welcome!
Corn Dolly
One of the things that is well known at this time of the year is the corn dolly.
Corn dollies are an ancient tradition that predates Christianity and spans from the UK to Scandinavia in the North and various Slavic countries in the east.
At the time when the last of the harvest corn was harvested, the last sheaf from that harvest was said to be sacrificed along with a hare to ensure a good harvest for the next year. The sheaf from that harvest contained the spirit of the cut crop and it was deemed a very precious item.
Thankfully, the sacrificing of animals made way to fashioning a ‘dolly’ out of the sheaf. A female figure to represent Mother Earth although the word ‘corn dolly’ is said to mean ‘grain idol’.
Corn Dollies don’t have to be figures, in some traditions, the sheafs are plaited or woven into beautiful shapes, cornucopia (horn of plenty) is another shape and in Scotland, the straw is made into a dog or goat. There are also straw men, whose job it is to protect the farm from the harshness of the winter weather.
Corn dollies can be kept indoors, hung over your door, or kept on an altar until the following year when the ground is ploughed for the sowing of the seed, then they are sacrificed to the land as an offering for a bountiful harvest that year.
Corn Dollies later came to be associated with the festival of Lammas or Lughnasadh celebrated at the beginning of August.
Spell Work
We are going to make a corn dolly of sorts today. As said at the beginning, although they are associated with August, we are going to focus on the intent of abundance which can be done at any time of the year.
Light your candle and focus on the flame. Think about what you are abundantly blessed with… health, family, friends, happiness, a good job, a fruitful garden. How you can share some of that with those around you…..
Share a hug or words of encouragement. If you have an abundance of fruit, gift some to a neighbour or friend. Listen to someone who needs to talk, if you are a good listener. Look after nature – pick up rubbish, feed the birds, water the plants. Gift a wild seed box.
Take your straw or your dried grasses. You can have a go at plaiting or weaving them, securing the ends with your ribbon.
Alternatively, take your ribbon, make a slipknot in it and gather your grasses or straw in a bundle and attach the ribbon to it. Wind the ribbon down the length of the grasses and secure at the bottom with another knot.
Think again about what you are abundantly blessed with and how you may share some of that if you wish to…
You can place this corn dolly on your altar, hang it by your door over the coming months. Then you can bury it in the ground or burn it when you think the work is done.
Feast, Drink and Chat
Closing:
Gefjun – Norse Goddess of agriculture, fertility and abundance.
We thank you for your presence here today
You have shown us how we may share our own abundance
Farewell!
By the power of the soft earth and solid stone
By the might of strong winds and soft breezes
By the warmth of the fierce Sun and the gentle flickering flame
By the waters of turbulent seas and gentle streams
We always remain connected but our ritual here is done
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