Supplies needed:

ears of corn
small candles
black cloth
sickle
matches/lighters
two candles for altar
Freddie & stuff
bell
basket for bread
bread
chalice for water
chalice for altar
jug of water

Crone - Odessa
Maiden - Annie
Priestess
Priest
East
West
North
South
Corn Mother
Corn King

As everyone enters Annie pass out little candles to each member of The Tribe. With everyone in place the ritual will begin with:

Maiden (Annie):

"Lady of the Land, open the door,
Lord of the Forest, come you in.
Let there be welcome to the bountiful compassion,
Let there be welcome to the Autumn of the Year.
In fruit and grain you are traveling,
In ferment and bread you will arrive.
May the blessed time of Lammas
Nourish the soul of all beings,
Bringing love and healing to all hurts.
From the heights to the depths,
From the depths to the heights,
To the wounds of every soul."

Crone (Odessa):

"The Wheel of the Year turns on and on, bringing us to and from each season, and from and to another. What will be is. What was will be. All time is here and now inside this sacred space. We pause briefly to watch the Wheel turn, and we gather on this blessed eve so that we might celebrate this season of Lammas -- the first harvest. In this moment between time, we come to praise the bountiful Goddess and the benevolent God. We wish to give thanks for the bounty of the fertile earth, and to feel ourselves a part of the relentlessly turning wheel of life, death and rebirth. Let all who would honor the Goddess and her consort be welcome here."

Priestess:

"Blessed be the bounty of the harvest, fruit of the womb of the Goddess. Blessed be Mother Earth. Today we honor our deities and their aspects as the Corn King and the Corn Mother. Now the Mother becomes the reaper, the Implacable, One who feeds on life that new life may grow. Light diminishes, the days shorten, summer passes into autumn, we gird ourselves for the chilly coming winds of winter. We gather to turn The Wheel knowing that to harvest we must sacrifice and that warmth and light must pass into winter."

Priestess reads the Tenets of the Faerie Faith:

"Dear Mother - we of the Faerie Faith do gather in ancient rite and renewal of spirit. We do now reaffirm ourselves to the tenets of our faith.

There should be a sensitivity, a belief, of the spiritual reality behind what we refer to as "Nature."

There should be a sincere love of Earth Herself and a desire to communicate with Her other children.

There should be a belief in the individual life of this planet and a certainty that it permeates the whole world."

Speakers at the four corners:

East: What is this night?

West: It is the night of Lammas

North: What is the meaning of this night?

South: It is the feast of corn

East: What do we honor on this night?

West: We honor the fruits of the Earth, our ongoing sustenance.

North: After this feast of bread, what will we do?

South: We will tend and store our harvest, preserving what is necessary to life.

East: How do we recognize our part of life on this night?

West: We shuck the corn. We bake the earth's bread. We call upon the Mother, the giver of nourishment.

North: Who helps us?

South: Our Goddess helps us.

East: What is our Goddess?

West: She is the benevolence of our mother planet, the rich gifts of her soil, the fruits of her pains for the nourishment of our bodies.

North: Who is our Goddess?

South: She is the Virgin of Light, the Crone of Darkness, the Mother of Time.

East: Where is our Goddess?

West: She is in our hearts in all seasons of the turning year. She surrounds us, she holds us, we live within her.

North: Who is our Goddess?

South: Behold, she is all the universe, but we find her in ourselves.

Priestess:

"Goddess of the Grain, Harvest Mother, giver of life and plenty. Join with us on this Lammas, and give to us, as of old, thy joy, and beauty, and power. As our ancestors once did, so do we today and so our children will do in the future."

Priest:

"I call upon the Corn King, Lord of the Harvest, Sacred King, giver of riches and protection, to be with us this night. Give to us, as of old, thy strength, and laughter, and power. As our ancestors once did, so we do today and so our children will do in the future."

The Corn King steps forward.

Crone:

"The corn stands ripe in the fields. We give thanks for the fruitful earth. Now is the time for the reaping of the Corn King. We sorrow for his dying, yet we rejoice in his coming again." To honor your virility, we worship your fertility. We sorrow in your dying, yet rejoice in your coming again."

Corn Mother takes up sickle, and circles around the Corn King, while chanting:

"The Earth Mother grants the grain.
The Horned God goes to his domain.
By giving his life once again,
The God dies, then is born again."

Corn Mother stops near Corn King and holds up sickle.

Corn Mother:

"O great and timeless Goddess
We give thanks for this the season
Of the harvest.
We accept, with love and reverence,
This bounty from thy breast,
And offer this sacrifice to thee,
O gracious and beautiful one."

Priestess:

"Corn King, we have honored you. Corn King, we have loved you. Corn King, go now to the underworld."

Corn Mother makes cutting motion at the Corn King. He falls down 'dead.' He is covered with a black cloth.

Priest:

"Corn King, we grieve for you. Rest now in the underworld until the time comes for your return."

Maiden:

"That the season of plenty
Shall return once more,
And in commemoration of life
Springing ever new from death,
I charge you now to bury
Within the earth
The offering we have made to Her."

Corn Mother:

"...Behold, the Corn King is dead.
But if he is dead, all is dead -
all that sleeps in my womb of Earth
would sleep forever.
What shall we do, therefore,
that the Corn King may live again?"

Maiden:

"Give us to eat the bread of life.
Then shall death lead on to rebirth."

Priestess:

"Let it be so."
"Come back to us, Corn King,
that the land may be fruitful."

Corn King rises up flinging off the black cloth. He dances joyfully about.... stops and speaks loudly and resoundingly:

Corn King:

"This is a time of joy!!
To celebrate the life of the harvest.
Take this bread of life,
And know that I live within each of you."

Now he passes out the cornbread around the circle as everyone chants:

"Oats and wheat and barley corn,
Let resound the harvest horn!
Peas and beans and rye and maize
Blessed be these harvest days!
Hoof and horn, hoof and horn,
All that dies will be reborn.
Vine and grain, vine and grain
All that's cut shall rise again!!"

Water Sharing

"Share of my water and know that as the Rain, it is the bringer of life.

Share of my water and know that as the oceans and seas it is the womb of life.

Share of my water and know that as the clouds, it is the seeker, the traveler with a mission.

I share of the water, and may all know that as the streams and rivers, it is the shape-changer, the destroyer of old, and at the same time, through change, the creatrix of new.

Knowing well that water is the essence of life, we have shared and become one, and now as one we offer our lives to She who is the mother of all life, in service and in love."

Crone:

"The harvest is performed thrice each year , today being the first. Just as there are 3 harvests in a year, there are 3 harvests of the soul, the 3 circles in the path to one's destiny. The first is to reflect upon and understand one's Karma and life lessons, the 2nd is to learn self sacrifice and thankfulness. The 3rd and final step is to become united and one after leaving the material world. It is now your time to reflect and contemplate the things planted and harvested during your lifetime."

(Do Freddie, ring bell)

Priestess:>

"It is done!"

"The ritual is finished"