Lammas/Lughnasadh

I did manage to have a very small celebration this year. There is a park within walking-distance of my house, but unforunately up a long hill. All the same, I walked up yesterday to scope it out, and found the most amazing oak tree by the back fence of the baseball diamond. I sat for a while reading my "contraband" reading material (my mom doesn't like it, so I just take it out of the house to read. Technically I'm not even supposed to have it), and that was almost a ritual in and of itself.

So today I went back, books and all, and took a very modest lunch with me: two tangerines, two ricecakes, and a PB & J sandwhich on multigrain-sourdough bread. I sat and read for a little bit to recover from my walk, then closed my eyes and cast the circle in my mind. Though it was pretty late in the afternoon and there was virtually no one about my general area, I seem quite adept at doing things I wouldn't want others to watch just as a schoolbus of nuns and children goes by. I'm just not comfortable being stared at in that sense. So I held the whole ritual in my head. I prayed and offered thanks to the God of the Dying Sun (There iiiis, a Goooood, in New Orleans....they CAAAALLLL the DYyyyying SUNN---'Kay, couldn't resist) and the Mother Goddess of the Bountiful Harvest. I sat and meditated with them for a moment, staring at the brown leaves beneath me, before thanking them, the Elements, and releasing the circle. I ate most of my meal and arranged some as an offering to He, She, and They (when you say it like that it sounds like something out of Heavenly Creatures), and poured out some of my water for the oak tree that watched.

The whole thing was quite relaxing, but not quite as grounding and spiritually cleansing as it should have been. I think I should have written out a chant beforehand--it was a little too casual. But I plan to go back for Mabon, and of course in between, since I'm really curious to get to know that tree. Yes, for Mabon I shall do something quite special.

What did you guys do?

EDIT: Just got back from my walk--the Moon hung low in the sky. It's waxing, just below a Half Moon, yet it was rather gigantic, and an orangey brown color. I swear it looked just like a cornucopia. When I got a clear view of it coming back past the country club, I said another couple of prayers to the Mother Goddess and the Dying God. It felt quite magickal. By the time I got to my front porch, the Moon had set.