Blessings of the Corn Moon
Also Known As: Sturgeon Moon, Bear Moon, Barley Moon, Dispute Moon, Weodmonath (Vegetation Month), Harvest Moon, Moon When Cherries Turn Black, Full Red Moon, Green Corn Moon, Grain Moon, Parsley Moon, Restful Moon
Element: Fire
Nature Spirits: dryads
Herbs: chamomile, St. John's wort, bay, angelica, fennel, rue, orange, rosemary, basil
Colors: yellow, red, orange, gold
Flowers: sunflower, marigold
Scents: frankincense, heliotrope
Stones: cat's eye, carnelian, jasper, fire agate, garnet, red agate, tiger's eye
Trees: hazel, alder, cedar
Animals: lion, phoenix, sphinx, dragon
Birds: crane, falcon, eagle
Deities: Ganesha, Thoth, Hathor, Diana, Hecate, Nemesis, Vulcan, Mars
Power Flow: energy into harvesting; gathering, appreciating. Vitality, health. Friendships.
Mantra: I sacrifice that which is no longer necessary in my life.
Info on This Moon From About Dot Com: In August, we celebrate the Corn Moon. This moon phase is also known as the Barley Moon, and carries on the associations of grain and rebirth that we saw back at Lammastide.
August was originally known as Sextilis by the ancient Romans, but was later renamed for Augustus (Octavian) Caesar.
Harness some of the Corn Moon's fiery energy for your ritual and spell work. This is a good time to focus on your spiritual and physical health. It's the time to harvest what you can now to put aside for later use. What sacrifices can you make today that will benefit you further down the road?
BY THE BOOKS
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft by Denise Zimmerman and Katherine A. Gleason
The Wyrt Moon, also known as the Wort, Barley, Corn, or Red Moon, is a time of abundance, agriculture, and marriage. This is the time to collect your magical herbs and store them for the winter or share them with others. Remember to give an offering back to the Gods for Their generosity. At this time of the year, you might want to do magick to help someone else reap the benefits of the Earth's abundance. (With that person's permission, of course!) This is also a good time to make a move at work for that higher level position. If you have become pregnant, this is the time to concentrate your energies on having a healthy pregnancy.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Paganism by Carl McColman
AUGUST (Corn Moon)-- Harvest begins. Bake bread, settle old disputes, prepare to harvest.
The Craft - A Witch's Book of Shadows by Dorothy Morrison
Name: Barley
Cakes & Ale: Oatmeal cookies or sweet bread, malt beverage
Colors: yellow-gold, tan, warm brown
Altar Decor: yellow-gold candles, paper chains, ancestor photos or belongings, sheaves of wheat
Incense: patchouli
Esbat Purpose: Celebrate the reaping of the fields' grains
Try Drawing the Circle With: a sheaf of grain
Witch's Brew: Good Spells for Peace of Mind by Witch Bree
August holds the sensual Red Moon, when all lovers should pursue their passion mightily.
Witches Datebook by Yasmine Galenorn
As Lughnasadh, the harvest of grain and corn, arrives, we begin to think about the coming autumn and winter. Before the harvest can be reaped, we must rid ourselves of excess clutter.
Decorate your altar with a gold cloth, ears of corn, and a chalice of wine. Have ready a cauldron or stainless steel bowl in which you can burn paper, and a black candle cast a circle and invoke your Gods and Goddesses, and light the candle.
Prepare a list of those things you are ready to sacrifice from your life for this season, for example: giving up the need for constant control in your life, or sacrificing the need for perfection.
When you have your list, then focus on letting go of these unnecessary impediments from your life, and touch the paper to the candle flame. Drop it into the cauldron and offer them to the spirit of the first harvest. Be sure to have water nearby in case of an unforeseen accident. Affirmation for the Corn Moon: I sacrifice that which is no longer useful in my life.
Witches Datebook by Edain McCoy (2002)
The energy of the Hazel Moon is good for contacting spirits and for enhancing shapeshifting or astral projection rituals. It has a solid reputation of protective energy, especially useful for the protection of travelers. Hazel wood also makes an excellent shield for deflecting negative intent when made with this goal in mind.
To craft a simplified version of a hazel shield to protect yourself, your home or office, your car, or your barn, you will need at least nine hazel nuts some thin cord in gold or white, and a hammer and nail. Empower the nuts as emblems of protection. Hammer a hole through them large enough for the cord, then string them together, making a binding knot between each. Hang these in your home and say,
Hazel, raise the shield so high,
So tall and wide that none slips by;
Protect, deflect, and quell all bane,
Make all around me safe again.
Witches Datebook by Dallas Jennifer Cobb
The Full Moon of August shines bright as you harvest the fruits of your focused labor. The seeds you planted in March have come to fruition. As you harvest, be thankful for your good health, bounty, and fertility. Bake breads and sweet cakes to honor the Gods. Offer these to your family, friends, and neighbors. Feast, and, as you break bread, know the abundance of sustenance you enjoy. Give bread or grains to those in need, knowing that karma is a seed you plant-- what goes around comes around, threefold. Make an offering to Gaia, the Earth Mother, and return some grains to Her, sowing the metaphorical seeds of rebirth. Left upon the earth, some of these grains may sprout in the spring, naturally reseeding themselves.
Barley Moon, Harvest Moon, Moon When Cherries Turn Black,
I share my bounty with those who lack,
Thoth, Hecate, Nemesis, Hathor,
Grains of abundance, wealth, and health we store.
Witches Datebook by Elizabeth Barrette (2010)
To the Cherokee, August is the Fruit Moon. Some kane berries have a second ripening period at this time. Many tree fruits also ripen in August, including peaches, plums, and the earliest "dessert" apples. In Choctaw tradition, this is the Women's Moon, a time for feminine mysteries and ceremonies. The Dakota Sioux refer to this as The Moon When All Things Ripen. Most vegetables that haven't already matured begin to yield. Many wild plants already set their seeds and fruits. The early grain ripens, too.
August marks the seasonal shift. Growth slows and changes focus from expansion to condensation as plants and animals prepare for the end of the growing season. Root crops store energy. Animals gorge on abundant food to store fat for winter. People spend hours harvesting and preserving food.
Rituals in August may acknowledge it as the first of the harvest months, with September and October to follow. Some myths focus on sacrificed Gods and grain Gods who die so that others may live. Magically, work spells for good weather and good harvests. Work to strengthen community ties in your coven or other spiritual group.
Witches Datebook by James Kambos
When the Grain Moon glides to its place in the sky tonight it will burn like a copper disk. This Moon oversees the start of the harvest season, so a ritual for it could be like an early Thanksgiving. Besides giving thanks for the harvest, we must be grateful for our personal harvests. We have sown, patiently waited, worked, and now we reap. Give thanks for everything, including the wisdom gained along the way.
Take time to richly decorate your altar. Place a yellow candle in the center; surround it with brightly colored zinnias, goldenrod, small bunches of grain, and produce. Finally, set out a small dish of cornmeal to honor corn, the most sacred of grains. After speaking the words below, listen quietly. Can you hear it? The katydids are scratching at the night-- summer's end is near.
After the Sun dips beyond the western sky,
The mellow Grain Moon reigns and rides high.
The wheat is brown, the corn is gold
Thanks you for my wisdom and the wealth I hold.
Witches Datebook by Elizabeth Barrette (2016)
In August there comes the Bear Moon. This is the time when bears and other animals begin putting on weight for winter. The berries are getting ripe and bears push their way into thickets to eat as much as they can. Bears also have a taste for many other wild plants. They have a reputation as healers for knowing which roots to dig in order to stay healthy or recover from diseases.
For this spell, you will need a representation of a bear, such as a bead or a stone pawprint. Hold it in your hand and say:
Gentle flower, healing root, hear my magic song.
Ripened berry, growing shoot, make me whole and strong.
Visualize how the bear finds and keeps the healing energy of the plants. Imagine this power flowing into the charm that you hold. Think about what you can do to stay healthy. Wrap it around you like a bear's thick fur. When you are through, give thanks to the plants and the bears for their support.
Carry the charm with your through the winter to help ward of illness. Like the bear's protective layer of fat, it works best by prevention.
Witches Datebook by JD Hortwort
When parsley is gathered under a Full Moon, Venus is said to smile upon the gatherer and to bestow a blessing in affairs of love. The plant's association with amour was once so strong, gardeners were urged not to cut it with a blade, lest they also cut down their love. This is such a sweet tale, it's hard to imagine parsley is also associated with death. Greeks once used it to make wreaths for their dead and to decorate tombs. They believed parsley was a favorite of Persephone, who would guide the soul on its journey through the underworld. The leaf is most often used in magick. However, grind parsley root for a purifying bath or for use in spells to stop misfortune.
In the garden, dwarf forms of parsley can edge the walkway while larger varieties can grace the back of the border. Once up, this biennial is very resilient, providing plenty of foliage in the first year and a good supply in year two before it bolts to flower and seed. Why does it take parsley so long to sprout? Early Christians thought the plant had to go to hell and back nine times to get the devil's permission to grow.
Witches Datebook by Natalie Zaman
Once there was a man who went out to gather firewood on the Sabbath Day, even though he didn't need it. While in the forest, even the animals ran from him, as they knew he should not have been working. He came upon a stranger who asked him why he refused to keep the Sabbath, to which he answered that all days were the same to him. The stranger, an angel in disguise, sent the man to the Moon, where all days are Mondays with no days of rest. Look closely at the Moon-- he can still be seen, carrying his bundle!
Rest is important in any spiritual path. It refreshes and restores balance, giving one the ability to continue magical and mundane efforts to the greatest effort. it is a necessity rather than a luxury, particularly at this time of year when the summer heat and the work of the impending harvests take their toll. Set out a chair or blanket under August's Full Moon. Breathe deeply and relax under its restful glow with a simple meditation:
Restful Moon, restore, refresh,
That I may be my very best.
Witches Datebook by Blake Octavian Blair
The Celtic tree calendar has brought us under the light of the Hazel Moon. The hazel tree brings us associations with wisdom, inspiration, and poetry. The hazel invokes the Irish legend of Fionn mac Cumhail. Fionn gaines Wen (divine inspiration) and powers spoken of in druidical wisdom from licking the hot juice of a roasting salmon that has splashed on his thumb. This was the salmon of wisdom who had consumed the nuts that had fallen from a hazel tree into the Boinn River. Thus, one of the folk names for hazel is tree of wisdom. Perhaps we can harness a bit of the power of this legend this Hazel Moon by trying our hand at a little poetry. Gather pen, paper, and some hazelnuts to munch on (if you're not allergic) under the moonlight. Before you begin, say a simple prayer:
Lunar light of Hazel Moon, Tree of Wisdom, I pray for a boon. May poetic inspiration fill me soon. So mote it be.
Now meditate under the moonlight, and when inspiration strikes, record your creations.
A safe and happy holiday to all who celebrate~!