August in the Wheel of the Year: Foraging, Festivals and Felines - Lucya Starza

08/08/21 | By Lucya Szachnowski
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August in the Wheel of the Year: Foraging, Festivals and Felines - Lucya Starza

While the start of the grain harvest is celebrated on August 1 in the Wheel of the Year festival called Lammas, or Lughnasadh, the harvest continues throughout the month. There are plenty of other things to do and celebrate, and this post covers seasonal fruit and flowers as well as other festivals.

Fruit Picking and Foraging

August is a great month for foraging. I live in a London suburb, but there are overgrown verges beside the pavements where I find all sorts of wildflowers and fruit. Obviously don’t go picking things from parks or other people’s gardens or fields without permission.

Blackberries are probably the most frequently foraged fruit in England, and are ripening now. According to Manx folklore, the first blackberries of the season should be left for the fairies. If you ignore this advice, the saying is that others you pick will be full of grubs. Folklore also says you shouldn’t pick blackberries after St Michaelmas Day, September 29. According to Christian mythology, that’s supposed to be the anniversary of when Lucifer was chucked out of heaven, landing in a bramble bush. He likes to mark the occasion by peeing over everyone's brambles. Whatever the truth of those tales, the sweetest, juiciest blackberries are found from mid-August to early September.

The lavender blooms in my garden at this time of year too. As well as having lovely purple flowers and a wonderful perfume, lavender is one of the most useful herbs for a witch. Herbalists have used it to treat a variety of things including sunburn, insomnia, insect bites, and skin complaints. However, my Wheel of the Year posts are about magic rather than medicines. You can make lavender wands or lavender favours, like the one in the photo, as gifts or altar decorations. Lavender herb bundles can also be made now, to use for smoke cleansing throughout the year.

The herb is a traditional ingredient in love magic. It can be put into bottles, pouches or poppets, or help you communicate your desire to one you love by hand-writing a letter with lavender ink. To make this, boil a handful of lavender flowers in a small amount of water for about 30 minutes. Make sure it doesn’t boil dry. Strain it and gradually add drops to a bottle of purple ink without diluting the colour too much. You can also use this ink when writing spells by hand, or creating a Book of Shadows.

August is also a great month for collecting seeds for spellwork or planting, including hawthorn and poppies. Collect them on a dry day after any dew has evaporated. You can tell if poppy seeds are ready by shaking the head to hear if it rattles. Dried hawthorn berries are great for putting into poppets to represent the heart. Use poppy seeds in spells for sleep, love matters, and inducing forgetfulness.

Celebrating Cats

While we might still be in The Dog Days of Summer, which run from July through to late August, this month also holds modern-day festivals about cats. International Cat Day takes place on 8 August every year. It’s a day to raise awareness for our feline companions and learn about ways to help and protect them. Events are organised by International Cat Care, a not-for-profit organization that aims to improve the welfare of domestic cats. Spend quality time with your cat if you have one. You can sit and meditate with your moggie. If your cat likes being stroked, then do that mindfully, just be in the moment and let your other worries and concerns slip away.

There’s another cat day in August - Black Cat Appreciation Day is on 17 August. It’s different in the UK though, as here National Black Cat Day is held each year on 27 October. That was started by Cats Protection with the aim of promoting the beauty of black cats. As a witch, I don’t think you can celebrate black cats too often so why not do so in August and October?

Nemoralia – The Roman Festival of Diana

In ancient Rome, 13 August was the start of Nemoralia, or the Festival of Torches. This three-day celebration honoured Diana, goddess of the women, children, animals, hunting and the moon. it was a time of rest and celebration, especially for women. Those participating would bathe, beautify themselves, and process by torchlight around the shores of Lake Nemi, which was sacred to Diana, under the night-time moon. Worshippers would make offerings of fruit and other things, then ask for her blessings. Afterwards there would be dancing and singing.

Diana is a goddess much revered by modern witches as a symbol of feminine strength. The concept of the huntress can be applied to pursuing a goal or tracking down an object of desire. Personally, I see her as being a goddess of photographers too, as there is as much skill needed in getting a great shot of an animal with a camera as there is in hunting one. If you want to offer a prayer to Diana, here are some suitable words:

Prayer to Diana

Lady of the Moon

Diana, virgin huntress

Protector of the innocent

I call upon you and ask you

to give me your blessings

and help me find my way.

Holiday magic

Now on to holiday magic. August is peak holiday time. Here’s a spell I wrote in the Moon Books community book Every Day Magic for keeping your holiday memories:

“Holiday Memories: On the last day of a holiday, find a small pebble as a memento. A stone with a hole is particularly magical. Stand in a beautiful spot with your pebble and say: ‘Spirits of the land, sea and sky; spirits of place; I thank you for my holiday and ask your blessings. Let this pebble remind me of this happy time and place.’ Focus your happy memories into the pebble. Thank the spirits and keep the pebble with you. Hold it if you ever need happy thoughts.”

In England the month ends with a bank holiday, which I like to think as the last big celebration of summer. Marldon, in Devon, holds its customary Apple Pie Fair every August Bank Holiday Monday. A huge pie is baked and brought by donkey to the meadow in which the festival is held. I’ll be writing more about apple folklore in a future post, but you could certainly end the month by baking your own huge apple pie and sharing it with friends.

This is the fifth in a series of posts I’m writing for the Moon Books Blog on the theme of the Wheel of the Year. My posts will be compiled and edited into a book: Pagan Portals – Wheel of the Year. Other books by Lucya Starza in the Pagan Portals series include Candle Magic, Guided Visualisations,Poppets and Magical Dolls, and Scrying. Lucya edited the community book Every Day Magic – A Pagan Book of Days.

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