I missed out on participating in Sierra Madrone’s celebrations on the 29^th of July, again.  Oh well, at least I’m getting the ritual layout down :-)  I celebrated my Lughnasadh on the 7^th, with Lugh and his mother Tailitu as the Deities of the ritual.  Finding a poem to read to honor Tailitu was difficult – even impossible even.  I ended up needing to write one myself (me, write a non-erotic poem?  Egads!!).

As for the ritual itself, it went quite well.  It was intriguing in that while I was involved with it, I kept getting warmer and warmer, to the point of being absolutely drenched in sweat by the time I was honoring Lugh and Tailitu.  It almost felt like I had been harvesting in the hot fields all day (yes, I do remember how that feels – my cousin’s had a farm and there is nothing like corn you picked yourself) instead of inside an air-conditioned home.

When I got to the round of praise offerings, something unusual happened. I had given a coconut macaroon to the ancestors (my father loved them), and had just put a dime(ish)-sized piece of resin amber on the charcoal for the nature spirits, and was reaching for the whiskey for the gods, when the resin burst into flame.  I have never had my amber resin flame before – other incenses with plant materials, of course; resins not particularly.  So that gave me a bit of a start.  The rest of the ritual followed more sedately.

This being the first Celtic themed ritual that I’ve done since I got my new Ogham sticks, I decided to try them out.

·        Have my offerings been accepted?
For this question, I pulled Saille – willow.  A general meaning is:  Feminine energy, fertility, psychic powers, intuition, cunning, new forces flowing, enchantment

·        What is offered in return?
For this, I pulled Beth – birch.  A general meaning is: New beginnings, bringing change, birth of new ideas, general good fortune

·        What else is wanted/desired from me?
And this – Ngetal – reed.  A general meaning is: Awareness of environment, creating order from chaos, progress through vigilance, harmony of will, action

I don’t really have a lot of knowledge on these yet, but found the brief meanings at The Druid Fellowship.  They didn’t feel as comfortable as my runes do, so I don’t know yet if they will work for me, but I’m going to keep using and learning them the best I can. (410 words)

Ogham pulled: