I’ve always wanted to circle in a body of water, and this Lughnasadh I got the opportunity. I’ve heard that sitting or standing in water helps to amplify psychic energy; thus, my curiosity about holding ritual in water. We have a swimming pool at our current home, and the hot summers here have made us enjoy this watery feature even more. A pond, lake or the ocean could serve as well or even better for a water located ritual.
When I saw a floating drink holder at a local store, a light bulb lit up in my brain. Why not make the floatie into a floating altar?! And so we did. There’s a picture of it above. You could use real candles if you insulated them to not melt a hole in the floatie. I used electric candles and we tried not to splash water on the altar. I cut a piece of plastic table cloth to use as an altar cloth (and to cover up the shark mouth design 😳). The holes in the drink holder were the right size for small candles, and in the remaining two holes I inserted water filled jars with flowers.
So, how did the ritual go? It went very well, indeed! Dancing in a circle in water to raise energy really creates a swirling cauldron effect. Amazing!
We started our Lughnasadh celebration by gathering in the magickal kitchen to craft some corn dollies. This sabbat is to celebrate the first of 3 harvests and to honor the god Lugh. Lugh of the Strong Arm is multi-talented and rather solar in his aspect. The corn dollies we made were a symbol of the harvest and meant to add prosperity and protection to the home.
Here are steps to creating a corn dolly of your own. You will need to find dried corn husks and string or bind wire as well as a pair of scissors.
Gather about 4 leaves.
Tie them together.
Flip all of the leaves over the area you tied, covering the wire or string.
If you want to make hair or a cape, save one leaf out and tie the other leaves together to form a head. Try to pull the leaves taught before you bind them together.
To form the arms, take one leaf and cut it down the middle. Then, line up the two pieces so that the narrow and wide ends are opposing each other.
Roll up the two pieces and bind them in the center.
To add the arms you will need to separate the leaves of the body and slide the arms up to just below the head. Then tie them in place to create the dolly’s waist. It’s looking like a dolly now, right?
Trim the bottom of the skirt so she stands up.
Create elbows and hands with the string or wire.
Trim up the arms to a pleasing length. Cutting at an angle makes the ends look more like hands.
As your dolly dries it will become stiffer and hold it’s shape. You can wire the dolly to create various poses.
Create a flying witch!
Be creative and work at adding your own unique details! Just take a look at what we came up with. Don’t say, “I can’t”. Use your witchy resources! That’s what it’s all about!
As we gathered at the pool edge we set our corn dollies on the floating altar.
We drank some crystal charged rose water to ground and shake off the stress of the day.
We cast the circle, called the quarters and the center, inviting in Cerridwen and Cerrnunos, and proceeded with our blessings and petitions.
We observed the sacred rite of cakes and ale.
As center and quarters were dismissed, and the circle was taken down we stepped out of the water feeling blessed by all we had experienced.
The Lughnassadh incense I had mixed up some weeks before filled the air with the scent of oak moss and copal. We sat on the deck, ate the delicious potluck meal we had prepared and relaxed in the waning daylight.
I hope your Lughnasadh was blessing filled….and there’s still lots of time to create a corn dolly! Let me know how they turn out!
Blessings,
Sarina
The Magickal Cottage 