Lughnasadh
By Tara Sutphen
Lughnasadh is the harvest and reaping great rewards, it is also a day of feasting. Lugh, is the Celtic God of Light and this Pagan Sabbat is the midpoint between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. Some bake a figure of the “corn god” in bread, and then symbolically sacrifice and eat it. The tradition of eating and sharing the first fruits, vegetables and grains of the season started with Lughnasadh in Ireland. In England, it became the medieval festival known as Lammas day. In keeping with the Lughnasadh tradition, the first grains were offered to the gods, the form of a baked loaf of bread. The loaf was blessed and cut into four pieces, with one piece placed in each corner of the home for good luck.
The non-sporting competitions in festivals were singing, dancing, poetry-reading and storytelling. Trial marriages were performed, couples would join hands through a hole in a slab of wood. The experimental marriage would last one year and a day, after which it was annulled without question.
Celtic festivals like Lughnasadh was an opportune time to make political, social and economic deals. All weapons and rivalry’s were laid down so the neighbors could get to know one another. Chieftains held important meetings, farmers would make trade agreements about crops or cattle for the coming season.
A common tradition of Celtic festivals were to visit holy wells. People would give offerings to the wells and decorate them with flowers and garlands, they could leave coins or clooties (cloth). They would walk around the well in a sun-wise direction praying to the Gods.
Recipes
Farm Fresh Quiche
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cups chopped fresh mustard greens or spinach
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry
4 large eggs
1 cup 2% milk
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup shredded smoked cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese, divided
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and onion; cook and stir until broccoli is crisp-tender. Stir in greens and garlic; cook and stir 4-5 minutes longer or until greens are wilted.
Unroll pastry sheet into a 9-in. pie plate; flute edge. Fill with
broccoli mixture. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, milk, rosemary, salt and pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup Swiss cheese; pour over vegetables. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.
Wild Rice Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half cream
4 cups cubed cooked chicken
4 cups cooked wild rice
2 jars (4-1/2 ounces each) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 jar (4 ounces) diced pimientos, drained
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/3 cup slivered almonds
Directions
In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in broth; bring to a boil. Boil and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly. Stir in the cream, chicken, rice, mushrooms, pimientos and parsley; heat through.
Transfer to a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.
White Spaghetti Casserole
Ingredients
4 ounces spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces
1 large egg
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 can (2.8 ounces) french-fried onions, divided
Directions
Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat egg. Add sour cream, Parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Drain spaghetti; add to egg mixture with Monterey Jack cheese, spinach and half of the onions. Pour into a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until heated though. Top with remaining onions; return to the oven for 5 minutes or until onions are golden brown.
Pasta Pizza Skillet Casserole
Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can (15 ounces) pizza sauce
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.
In a large cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium heat. Add mushrooms, green pepper and onion; saute until tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Increase heat to medium-high. In same skillet, heat remaining oil. Spread pasta evenly in skillet to form a crust. Cook until lightly browned, 5-7 minutes.
Turn crust onto a large plate. Reduce heat to medium; slide crust back into skillet. Top with pizza sauce, sauteed vegetables and olives; sprinkle with cheese and Italian seasoning. Bake until cheese is melted, 10-12 minutes.
Layered Fruit Salad
Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
2/3 cup orange juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
FRUIT SALAD:
2 cups cubed fresh pineapple
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
2 medium kiwifruit, peeled and sliced
3 medium bananas, sliced
2 medium oranges, peeled and sectioned
1 medium red grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
1 cup seedless red grapes
Directions
Place first 6 ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes. Cool completely. Remove cinnamon stick.
Layer fruit in a large glass bowl. Pour juice mixture over top. Refrigerate, covered, several hours.
Berry Pie
Ingredients:
5 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (15 ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts
1 cup sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon sugar
Method:
Sprinkle berries with lemon juice; set aside.
Fit half of pastry in a 9-inch pie plate according to package directions.
Combine 1 cup sugar and next 3 ingredients; add to berries, stirring well.
Pour into pastry shell, and dot with butter.
Unfold remaining pastry on a lightly floured surface; roll gently with rolling pin to remove creases in pastry.
Place pastry over filling; seal and crimp edges.
Cut slits in top of crust to allow steam to escape.
Brush top of pastry with beaten egg, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar
Bake at 400° for 35 minutes or until golden.
Cover edges with aluminum foil to prevent over browning, if necessary.
Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.
Lughnasadh or Lammas is a harvest festival. In other languages:
Irish – Lá Lúnasa
Welsh – Gwyl Awst (August Feast)
English – Apple Day (drinking Apple juice, Apple cider, or Mead
Lughnasadh Harvest Spell
sit down in the middle of a circle of candles (tealight)
Cup your hands ready to receive
Repeat Aloud:
Thank you Mother Earth and our Amazing Land
Thank you for the seeds creating the food
Thank the nourishment feeding everyone we love, Thank the Farmer for tending the crops
Thank the handlers to get the crops to market, Thank you for the market representatves
Thank you Food Preparers, Thankful for Food. Let us Pray. So Much to Be Thankful For
The Sustenence, the Healing, The nourishing and the nurturing. Blessed Be
New Book by Tara. https://www.amazon.com/Soul.../dp/B0C91KRHQF/ref=sr_1_3...
Tara Sutphen CHt has developed automatic writing into an art. With the assistance of her spirit guide Abenda, she has answered questions of troubled seekers who write to her for help. After 40 years of spirit contact, she can point to an astounding track record of proven accuracy.
To receive the communications, Tara goes into a theta-level altered state, and Abenda her guardian angel would find someone on the other side that knows the letter writer, their spirit guide or a loving entity who is aware of the problem. Under Tara’s spirit guide's carefully orchestrated conditions, this soul controls her hand and the response was received via automatic writing.
In “Soul Writers” Tara asks introspective questions from three men she knew in life, who now reside on the other side. Two of the men were famous prolific authors Jess Stearn and her husband Dick Sutphen, and the other man was called “the Irish Seer” - Patrick Smith. The three of them were researchers in paranormal studies. It is only fitting they are trying to convey what they have found out through stretching and reaching beyond the unknown.
Example of a question asked in the book:
Q. Will We Stay The Same Being When We Go Live There
A.
Jess: You worry about losing your wallet. Well… you also worry about losing your body-suit. Did I like leaving my skin behind. No, but there isn’t a choice. I transform and must come to the next layover or station area. My laugh is the same, my jokes and laughing at my jokes is the same, my frustration is the same, but I am just being wayward rather than truly being upset. I think it makes me more interesting to keep my journalistic rhetoric.
Patrick: You’ll be pleasantly surprised one day. I was thoroughly surprised, especially as I was raised a nice Catholic Boy in Ireland. We breathed, ate, and slept with the church in mind. So I thought the angels would herald me on high when I got here. There are certainly angels, and I could have some heralding me, but it isn’t their normal. They really aren’t a tv show or entertainment. They are the beloved and devoted to anyone needing assistance. I ask them what is in it for them, and they claim sovereignty. I get it, I do. I want some kind of restitution and reinstatement as well. I feel expanded and limited in the same vein, I’m not feeling so different when I was alive yet I’m curiously not anywhere except where my consciousness takes me. You always wanted magic powers, this my friend is it. But there isn’t a reward. Not even a candy bar for your efforts. Many people want to leave their candy bars behind, but they should know you’ll miss them.
I have been a priest many lifetimes so it was curious to me to again die and not have the catholic teachings in place. But I am me in my holy form, I have chosen to serve and so I am one of what you would call the Holy Ghosts. I plan to stay here and continue to be of service, lend a hand to those hurt, fearful, lost or traumatized.
Dick: For me, I just got here really. I still get a candy bar if I want one. But I guess you go past the urge of food, once you’ve gone through sanctorium. I’m feeling very normal. I see an outline of my human body, experience picking up things and asking many questions. I thought I’d be afraid of this time, but I feel very much myself and better about me as well. I know I have a process to go through upcoming but I feel confident about being able to easily go into it. Especially as my friends are very much the same as before they died, so I’m not afraid. I have an overview now, I’m more aware of who and what was good for me in my life.
Abenda: I still carry the same astrological timing as when I was born in 1814. I feel very much the person I was on earth. I have the same values, but not the limiting thoughts or idiosyncrasies. My hologram is the years I liked how I looked, not the year I died. Since I don’t have a time of return on earth. I feel more myself here on this side of the veil. Not to say that everyone would think this to be the case. As with anything in life, there is a protocol and a systemic way of doing death. Thats why there are ghosts and lost souls, and if you agonize in life, you could be in a bad way here. As the timing is much faster and not at all easy. It’s important to do your best in life, so when you get here; you can have an optimal experience. No matter what happens, it’s how you react to your circumstances. Be above board, be charitable, be honorable. This is the adage of gaining merit points in heaven, certainly this is comparably true.
There are 87 questions asked in the book. Ranging from; do you see us clearly on earth, to why are we here on earth. What is love, money, death, and the importance of things including aging. Why problems with others. Are there other life forms beside us. Tara tries to ask a lot of questions. She says, “Just because the spirit dies might not make them smarter, but it may spark their curiousity and have them explain a summary of what they are experiencing.”