As late summer settles in and the intensity of the season begins to soften, Lammas arrives as a meaningful turning point on the Southern Hemisphere Wheel of the Year. In Australia, Lammas is not marked by golden wheat fields or cool breezes, but by cicada song, sun-warmed earth, ripening gardens, and the subtle awareness that energy is beginning to shift.
Also known as Lughnasadh, Lammas is the first harvest festival = a time to pause, take stock, and acknowledge what has grown through persistence, resilience, and care. For Australian witches and pagans, it is also an invitation to practise seasonal spirituality in a way that is land-aware, respectful, and rooted in place, rather than imported symbolism alone. This year I have been called to learn more about how the traditional custodians of our land celebrate the seasons, and how I can respectfully incorporate this into my personal practice, without using Indigenous ceremonies, stories, or symbols.
🌏 Acknowledging Country
Before we mark Lammas, we pause to acknowledge Country.
We recognise that the land on which we live and practise spirituality has been cared for, sung, tended, and honoured for tens of thousands of years by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The seasons we observe, the plants we work with, and the rhythms we feel are part of living systems that long predate modern pagan traditions.
As witches and pagans practising on this land, we are guests here. Our spiritual paths do not replace Indigenous knowledge, nor do they grant ownership over land, stories, or sacred practices that are not ours to carry.
May our observance of the Wheel of the Year be guided by respect, humility, and listening, grounded in relationship with the land, and held with care for the cultures who remain its custodians.
We honour Elders past and present, and commit to earth-based practice that does no harm.
🌻 The Meaning of Lammas
Lammas reminds us that life moves in cycles – of growth, fruition, and rest. The golden days begin to shorten, inviting reflection and gratitude.
It’s a time to celebrate what has ripened in our lives, release what no longer serves us, and prepare to slow down as the cooler months draw near.
Spiritually, Lammas represents gratitude for what we’ve gained, and trust in the process of change – knowing that every ending leads to new beginnings.
In an Australian context, Lammas often carries a quieter, more introspective energy. It is less about abundance as excess, and more about earned harvest – recognising what has survived heat, pressure, and uncertainty. This sabbat asks us to honour effort, adaptability, and honest self-assessment.
🍞 Simple Ways to Celebrate Lammas
Celebrating Lammas doesn’t require elaborate ritual. Simple, grounded acts aligned with the land you live on are often the most powerful.
- Bake or share bread with intention
Bread symbolises effort transformed into sustenance. As you knead or prepare food, reflect on what you’ve poured energy into this year. You might offer the first slice to the land, ancestors, or deities you work with.
- Create a local, land-honouring altar
Use ethically gathered items from your environment – seed pods, grasses, stones, leaves, shells, dried herbs, or late-summer fruits. Let your altar reflect place, not imported seasonal imagery.
- Offer gratitude to spirits of place
A spoken thank-you, libation, or quiet moment outdoors can be a powerful Lammas offering. This is about relationship, not performance.
- Practise harvest magic
Lammas is well suited to workings focused on sustainability, protection, balance, and maintaining what you’ve built – rather than striving for more.
- Share food in community
Lammas has long been a communal festival. If appropriate, share a meal with friends, coven members, or chosen family.
🌿 In the Den This Year
This year, Lammas in the Den is being honoured as a threshold sabbat – a pause between intensity and rest.
The focus is on:
- finishing existing creative projects
- grounding spiritual practice into daily life
- slow craft, seasonal journaling, and reflection
- releasing unrealistic expectations carried through summer
Rather than planting new seeds, this Lammas is about closing loops, acknowledging effort, and conserving energy as we move toward autumn.
🌾 Decolonising the Wheel of the Year in Australia
For many Australian pagans and witches, the Wheel of the Year is both meaningful and complicated. Rooted in European seasonal cycles, it doesn’t always align with Australian climates, ecosystems, or lived experience.
Decolonising the Wheel of the Year doesn’t mean abandoning it. It means holding it lightly.
Listening to the Land
A decolonised practice begins with observation:
- When does the land actually shift where you live?
- What plants flower, seed, or die back?
- How do heat, rain, and light affect your body and energy?
Rather than forcing sabbats to match imported imagery, allow them to emerge from lived, local experience.
Adapting Without Appropriating
Decolonising does not mean incorporating Indigenous spiritual practices into pagan ones. Respect means:
- not using Indigenous ceremonies, stories, or symbols
- not claiming Dreaming or seasonal calendars as pagan tools
- not speaking for Country
True land-based spirituality accepts boundaries and practises accountability.
From Aesthetic to Relationship
A living, ethical Wheel of the Year is:
- flexible rather than fixed
- responsive rather than prescriptive
- grounded in place rather than aesthetic
- shaped by relationship, not rules
Lammas, viewed this way, becomes not just a harvest festival, but a moment of reflection:
What have I gained — and how have I lived in relationship with the land while doing so?
✍️ Lammas Journal Prompts
If you enjoy journaling as part of your spiritual or self-care practice, use these prompts to deepen your connection to Lammas.
You can print or save them for your Wheel of the Year journal, planner, or Book of Shadows.
Lammas is a beautiful time to pause and reflect on what has ripened in your life – your work, relationships, creativity, and inner growth. As the first harvest festival of the Wheel of the Year, it invites gratitude and gentle release.
Use these journal prompts to deepen your Lammas reflections:
- 🌾 What have I “harvested” in my life since the start of the year?
- 🌻 Which intentions or projects have come to fruition, and how do they make me feel?
- 🍞 What am I most grateful for right now – in my home, relationships, or inner world?
- 🕯️ What parts of my life feel abundant? What areas feel depleted and in need of rest?
- 🌕 How can I celebrate the work I’ve done so far this year – even the small victories?
- 🌬️ What lessons have I learned from challenges or “failed crops” this season?
- 🍎 What do I want to release as I move toward the quieter months of the year?
- 🪴 How can I nurture balance between giving and receiving – between work and rest?
- 🔥 What rituals, meals, or creative acts help me feel connected to the cycle of nature?
- 🌿 How can I bring more gratitude into my daily routine beyond Lammas?
(Tip: Write freely, without judgment. This is a time to honour both your growth and your humanity.)
As always, Lammas is a reminder to pause, give thanks, and trust in the turning of the seasons.
Blessed Lammas – may your harvest be honest, your magic grounded, and your path steady. 🌾
