August sits at the crossroads of summer’s heat and autumn’s first whispers. It’s a month of fire and grain, of celebrating life’s abundance while honoring the mysteries of death and the ancestors. For the folk witch, August is rich with layers of ancient pagan festivals, Christian feast days, and seasonal magic that can be woven into your modern practice. 

August 1st - Lammas/Lughnasadh 

Folk Catholic traditions around Lammas blend Christian devotion with older harvest customs, especially in rural Europe. When the Church adopted August 1st as Lammas (Loaf Mass), it preserved much of the pre-Christian harvest magic under a Catholic frame. Here are some of the key traditions and beliefs:  

Blessing the First Bread

In medieval England and parts of Ireland, the first loaf baked from the newly cut grain was brought to Mass on August 1st to be blessed by the priest. The bread was then divided: some eaten for blessing the household, some crumbled into the fields or animal feed to ensure a good harvest, and a small piece kept as a charm for protection. This practice echoes older Celtic and Anglo-Saxon grain-offering rites. 

Protective Charms

The blessed Lammas bread was often dried and kept all year to protect the home from fire, storms, and hunger. In some areas, pieces of the loaf were placed in the four corners of barns or mixed into the seed grain for the next planting season. 

Pilgrimages and Offerings

In Ireland, Reek Sunday (climbing Croagh Patrick) often fell near Lammas, blending Catholic pilgrimage with ancient Lughnasadh hill rites. People would bring food offerings, light candles, and ask for blessings on the land, livestock, and family. 

Herbal & Field Blessings

Folk Catholic farmers often brought the first sheaf of wheat or a bundle of herbs to church on Lammas to be blessed, then placed it in their fields or hung it above the door for protection. In some traditions, these blessed sheaves were burned in the hearth on Candlemas to protect the next growing season. 

Marian Connections

As the month of the Assumption (August 15), Mary was often folded into Lammas customs as a grain and fertility figure. In folk belief, the first fruits and bread were sometimes offered at roadside shrines of the Virgin to ensure her blessing on the harvest. 

Folk Magic Uses

• Prosperity: A slice of blessed Lammas bread placed in the money box was said to ensure wealth. 
• Protection: Crumbs of the loaf were carried in a pocket or sewn into clothing to ward off illness and misfortune during harvest work. 
• Healing: In some places, crumbs of the Lammas loaf were mixed into healing brews as a “holy ingredient.”

August 6th - Teinne: The Celtic Holy Fire

In the ancient Celtic calendar, August 6th was marked by the festival of Teinne, meaning “fire” in Old Irish. This sacred fire festival honored the power of the element of fire as a purifying and protective force at the height of summer’s energy. 

The Meaning of Teinne

Teinne was one of the lesser-known but deeply potent fire festivals observed by the ancient Celts. The holy fire was kindled as a symbol of renewal, purification, and transformation, burning away negativity and energizing the community. It was a time to honor the sun’s power as it began its slow turn toward autumn and to call on the fire element to guard crops, livestock, and people. 

Folklore and Tradition

The festival fire was often lit on a hilltop or other prominent place and was kept burning for several days. People would pass through or around the fire, believing it would protect them from illness, bad luck, and evil spirits. Livestock might be driven through the smoke or near the fire to ensure health and fertility. Charcoal or ashes from the fire were kept as potent talismans for protection or healing. 

Fire Magic and Rituals

• Lighting a Teinne fire or candle at home can invoke the same energy of purification and protection in modern folk witchcraft. 
• Fire is also a powerful element for banishing curses, breaking hexes, and igniting personal power and passion. 
• Traditionally, new tools, herbs, or charms might be passed through the smoke or held in the flames briefly to cleanse and empower them. 

Modern Teinne Spell Idea:

Teinne Purification & Protection Fire Ritual What you need:  

• A red or orange candle (representing the sacred fire) 
• A fireproof bowl or small cauldron 
• Protective herbs (rosemary, mugwort, or rowan berries) 
• A pinch of salt 

Steps:  

1. Place the candle in your fireproof bowl. Surround it with the herbs and salt. 
2. Light the candle and focus on the flame’s energy, visualizing it burning away all negativity around you or your home. 
3. Say aloud: “By Teinne’s flame, I cleanse and clear, All harm and doubt, away from here. Fire of power, bright and strong, Protect my heart, my soul, my home.” 
4. Let the candle burn safely for a time or snuff it out and bury the ashes in the earth as an offering. 

Teinne is a beautiful example of how the Celts celebrated the elemental forces with reverence and ceremony, and how we can incorporate those ancient energies into our folk magic practice today. 

august 12th - st clare (lights of isis) 

 

August 12 – St. Clare’s Day & the Lights of Isis

St. Clare of Assisi

St. Clare (1194–1253) was the founder of the Poor Clares and a mystic associated with visions and divine light. Folklore says during her death, the nuns saw her soul rise as a brilliant radiance, which is why she became the patron saint of light, clarity, and vision. St. Clare is often called on for clear sight, inner illumination, and spiritual guidance, qualities that easily syncretize with older goddess traditions. 

The Lights of Isis

August 12th marks the ancient Egyptian Festival of Lights for Isis, celebrating her as the Queen of Heaven and Mother of Magic. Temples were filled with lamps and candles to honor her light guiding souls and bringing fertility to the land. It was a time to ask Isis for protection, prosperity, and renewal, as the Nile’s inundation season began. 

Syncretizing the Day (European-American Folk Witchcraft)

This date naturally blends Christian folk practices with pagan goddess veneration:  St. Clare’s divine light and visionary gifts align with Isis’ celestial illumination and maternal protection. Folk witches can honor both together as the Great Mother and Guardian of Light, weaving old and new. 

Magical Practices for August 12th

1. Lamp or Candle Charm:  
   • Light a white or gold candle in a bowl of water (a traditional Isis offering). 
   • Pray: “Mother of Light, Isis and Clare, Guide my steps and keep me fair. Shine on my path, protect my way, Bless this house this holy day.” 
2. Vision Spell:  
   • Hold a small mirror or bowl of water before the candle. 
   • Ask St. Clare/Isis for clear sight and insight into a situation. 
   • Gaze softly until images or messages form. 
3. House Blessing:  
   • Place a lamp or candle in each window at night to invite divine protection. 
   • In folk Catholic tradition, the light represents Mary or a saint guarding the home; in pagan tradition, it invites Isis’ blessings. 
4. Offerings:  
   • Fresh water, milk, honey, and bread for Isis. 
   • Flowers and a lit candle for St. Clare. 

august 13th - hekate 

 

August 13 – Hekate’s Night

Historical & Folkloric Context

In ancient Rome, mid-August was seen as a dangerous “spirit time,” when the veil thinned due to the extreme heat and the agricultural cycle nearing harvest. The 13th specifically is linked to appeasing restless spirits and making offerings to underworld deities to avert storms and misfortune. In modern Hekatean devotion, this night is often honored as a rite of protection, marking Hekate’s role as the guardian of liminal spaces and the household. 

Traditional Offerings & Rites

• Hekate’s Supper: At a crossroads or liminal threshold (doorway, gate), leave offerings of garlic, eggs, honey, wine, and black bread for Hekate and the wandering dead. 
• Candle Devotion: Light three black or dark candles at a crossroads or on your altar, calling Hekate as Phosphoros (Light-Bearer) to guide and guard. 
• Purification: Sweep your thresholds and sprinkle salt water, inviting Hekate to cleanse the home of ill spirits and misfortune. 
• Divination: Bowls of water, black mirrors, or smoke can be used on this night to see through the veil and receive visions from Hekate or the dead. 

Folk Witchcraft Adaptation

• Protection Spell: Take a black cord, anoint it with protective oil (rosemary, rue, or frankincense), and tie three knots saying: “By knot of one, Hekate come. By knot of two, I call on you. By knot of three, protect this key.” Carry the knotted cord as a charm or hang it at the threshold. 
• House Blessing: Place a small bowl of water with a floating candle at the door. Whisper: “Hekate Enodia, Keeper of the Way, Guard this home by night and day.” 
• Spirit Communication: Use the night to sit in stillness with a candle and key. Call softly to the spirits you wish to hear, saying: “Hekate, Psychopomp, open the way. Let the voices of truth find me this day.” 

European-American Folk Layer

For cunningcraft and modern folk witchcraft, August 13th can blend old Mediterranean customs with Appalachian and European-American traditions:  

• Leave food offerings at a crossroads or fence post as a spirit gift, a practice found in both European and African American traditions. 
• Combine with protective charms using local plants like mugwort, mullein, or black-eyed Susan to tie Hekate’s energy to the land where you live. 
• Use household thresholds (doors, windows, hearth) as modern “crossroads” for calling her protection. 

august 15th - assumption of mary/the great mother goddess 

 

August 15 – The Assumption of Mary

Historical & Cultural Layers

In Catholic belief, it marks the Virgin Mary being taken, body and soul, into heaven. In many European folk traditions, this day is linked to the Great Mother Goddess, a Christianized continuation of ancient harvest and fertility rites dedicated to deities like Demeter, Isis, and Cybele. It’s considered a day when heaven and earth touch, blessing the land, the people, and the year’s harvest. 

Folk Traditions

• Herb Blessings: In Germany, Poland, and Italy, people gathered bundles of 7, 9, or 13 herbs to be blessed at church. These “Assumption bundles” were kept to protect the home, heal the sick, and ensure fertility of the land and animals. 
• Harvest Charms: First fruits, grains, and flowers were brought to Mary’s shrines to ask for blessing and abundance. 
• Weather Magic: Folk sayings claimed the weather on Assumption foretold the coming fall and winter—clear skies meant a mild season ahead. 
• Protection of Women: Pregnant women especially invoked Mary’s protection on this day for safe childbirth, connecting her to older Mother Goddess roles. 

Modern Folk Witchcraft Practice

• Great Mother Altar: Decorate an altar with roses, wheat, sunflowers, and water. Light white and blue candles to honor Mary as the divine mother and protectress. 
• Herb Bundle Blessing: Gather herbs from your garden or local wild spaces (mugwort, yarrow, rosemary, sage, thyme). Tie with red or blue thread and bless with this charm: “Mother of herbs, Mother divine, Bless these hands, this work, this time. As in heaven, so on earth, Bring protection, health, and worth.” 
• Prosperity & Fertility Spell: Offer milk, bread, and honey to Mary (or the Great Mother) to bless your home and “ripen the fruits” of your labor for the year. 
• Ancestor Connection: Because this feast overlaps with harvest rites, you can call on your matrilineal ancestors through Mary, blending Christian and pagan reverence for the “Mother Line.” 

European-American Folk Adaptation

This day can bridge the gap between Christian folk devotion and older cunningcraft practices, giving modern witches a chance to honor the Great Mother in all her forms. Even if you don’t work within a Marian framework, the Assumption carries a potent current of fertility, protection, and sacred feminine power, making it a perfect time to work with goddesses like Hekate, Demeter, or Freyja under the guise of the “Heavenly Mother.” 

august 19th - the vinalia of venus (grape harvest)

 

August 19 – Vinalia Rustica

Historical Roots

Celebrated before the grapes were harvested to ask Jupiter for protection against storms and blight. Venus sometimes shared in the festival, linking the fertility of the land with love and abundance. Farmers offered the first bunches of grapes or early wine to the gods before tasting any themselves. 

Folk Magic & Witchcraft

The day was seen as a liminal time: the fruit is full, but not yet taken. This creates a magical current for:  

• Blessing prosperity (especially anything “growing” in your life). 
• Protection of harvests, money, and ventures. 
• Sweetening relationships and ensuring abundance flows. 

Modern Folk Witch Practice

• Offer Grapes or Wine: Pour out a small cup of wine or leave fresh grapes on your altar or at a tree. Say: “Jupiter high, Venus near, Bless the fruit and bless the year. As the vine begins to fall, Prosperity comes to one and all.” 
• Prosperity Charm: Take a few grapes, whisper your desires into them, then eat them slowly, imagining them becoming part of your life force. 
• Business & Money Magic: Anoint a coin or dollar bill with wine, let it dry, and keep it in your wallet as a “seed of abundance” until next year’s Vinalia. 
• Love & Fertility: Pair grapes with honey and offer to Venus to bring sweetness to relationships or to call in love. 

European-American Folk Adaptation

In a rural cunningcraft style, this could blend with late-summer blessings of the land and household prosperity charms. In an urban context, it becomes a day to “bless the fruits of your labor,” honoring both the physical harvest (food, money) and the spiritual harvest (goals, creative work). You can Christianize it in a folk-Catholic way by offering grapes or wine to a saint associated with abundance (St. Vincent of Saragossa, patron of winemakers). 

 August 23rd - The Nemesea: Appeasing the Dead

The Nemesea was a private, household observance rather than a public festival. Families offered sacrifices and libations to their deceased ancestors (the di manes) to keep peace with the spirits and ensure they would bless the home. It was less about celebration and more about quiet reverence, honoring the dead so they would not become restless or bring misfortune. Offerings often included milk, honey, wine, and black beans, all traditional foods associated with the Underworld and spirit appeasement. 

Timing Before the Mania

The Nemesea served as a spiritual preparation for the opening of the Mundus Cereris on August 24th. By honoring your dead on the 23rd, you secured their goodwill before the gates between worlds opened, keeping the household safe when all the spirits—benevolent and otherwise—walked the earth. 

🪄 Folk Magic & Witchcraft Connections

1. Ancestor Feeding:  
   • Set out a dish of bread, honey, and milk for your ancestors on the hearth or altar. Whisper their names to call them home and acknowledge their place in your bloodline. 
2. Protection & Boundary Setting:  
   • Burn rosemary or juniper at the thresholds while saying a charm to welcome only the blessed dead and keep out wandering spirits. 
   • Sprinkle a line of salt mixed with black beans across the doorway as a traditional Roman spirit ward. 
3. Silent Candle Rite:  
   • Light a single white candle and sit in silence, listening for the presence of your ancestors. This was not a day for asking favors, but for showing respect. 

Christian Syncretism

After Christianization, the Nemesea’s theme of quiet remembrance blended into local customs of All Souls’ style prayers and household blessings before St. Bartholomew’s Day. In some folk-Catholic traditions, the 23rd became a night for praying the rosary for the family dead, ensuring their guidance and protection over the coming harvest. 

 

August 24th - The Mania: Festival of the Dead

In ancient Rome, August 24th marked a chthonic day dedicated to the Manes, the deified ancestral spirits. It was tied to the opening of the Mundus Cereris—a sacred underground pit considered the gateway to the Underworld. The mundus was opened only three times a year (August 24, October 5, and November 8), when the dead were believed to walk among the living. People offered grains, honey, and salt into the mundus to appease the Manes and ensure the living would be protected. These were days of taboo: no marriages, no military action, and no state business. It was a liminal time when the veil was thin, and the dead listened. 

Christian Overlay – St. Bartholomew’s Day

With Christianization, the day became associated with St. Bartholomew, whose feast replaced the Mania. Folk Catholic tradition often recast old festivals: the “dangerous” spirits of the Mania became “wandering souls” or “restless dead” needing prayers. In parts of rural Europe, August 24th became a day to pray for ancestors, bless graves, and light candles to keep away hauntings or misfortune. 

🪄 Folk Magic & Witchcraft Practices

1. Ancestor Veneration:  
   • Leave offerings of bread, honey, or wine on the hearth or threshold for the Manes or family dead. 
   • Light a black or white candle and call your ancestors to protect the home for the coming harvest season. 
2. Protective Charms:  
   • The day was seen as a time to strengthen wards and protective talismans since the dead were active. 
   • In folk witchcraft, iron keys or nails were set in the doorway on August 24 to lock out malicious spirits while inviting benevolent ancestors in. 
3. Divination:  
   • With the mundus open, people sought visions from the dead. A bowl of water or mirror scrying on this night was said to reveal ancestral guidance or warnings for the dark half of the year. 
4. Salt & Grain Magic:  
   • Throwing salt and grain at the thresholds was a way to honor the Manes and keep harmony between the living and dead. 
   • A pinch of salt mixed with grain and buried under the hearthstone was said to protect the household for the year. 

Bridging Pagan & Folk Catholic Practice

A piece of Lammas bread from earlier in the month could be offered to the ancestors on this day to link the harvest to the blessings of the dead. Lighting a candle to St. Bartholomew while leaving food for the spirits blends the old and new traditions, protecting both the home and the soul.  

 

August 23–24: The Dead Walk, the Saint Guards

August 23 – The Nemesea

• Folkloric Base: Ancient Roman festival to honor the dead with food offerings. 
• Syncretic Layer: Becomes a “feeding of the ancestors” night in the Christianized folk calendar, even if not officially recognized. 
• Modern Practice:  
  • Set out bread, milk, honey, or cornbread with a candle for your ancestors. 
  • Knock on the table three times to call your dead kin. 
  • Say: “Blood of my blood, bone of my bone, Take this food and bless my home. Guard the living, rest the dead, As we share this holy bread.” 

August 24 – Mania & St. Bartholomew’s Day

• Folkloric Base: Mania honored the spirits of the dead and household protectors. St. Bartholomew in folk Catholicism became a “spirit-keeper” and exorcist. 
• Syncretic Layer: Protection of the home and family through both saint and ancestor. 
• Modern Practice:  
  • Light a white candle for St. Bartholomew and a black or red candle for the ancestors. 
  • Bless your doorways with holy water or salted water, saying: “By saint and spirit, door be sealed, By bone and blood, this house is healed. No bane or ill may pass through here, The living stand, the dead draw near.” 

The Two Nights Together

• August 23: Feeding and honoring. 
• August 24: Sealing and protecting. 
• This creates a rhythm: open to the ancestors, then close the gates and set wards. 

A Simple Combined Ritual

1. Night 1: Offer food to ancestors, speak their names, invite blessings. 
2. Night 2: Take some of the food remnants, bury them at the edge of your property or a crossroads as a “spirit payment.” Then bless and ward your home with St. Bartholomew’s aid. 

 

August New Moon – Seeds in the Dark

The August new moon is traditionally seen as a crossroads moon in folk witchcraft. It sits at the turning of the agricultural year. Between Lammas and the harvest moons of September, and is tied to seeding what must grow in the dark. 

Folk Lore:

• Planting Spells: Old European farmers believed planting root crops under the August new moon ensured strong, hidden growth. Witches extended this to hidden intentions and secret workings. 
• Baneful Herbs: In traditional wortcunning, this was when belladonna and henbane were harvested under strict silence, believed to be most potent as the moon disappeared. 
• Spirit Gates: The dark moon of August was said to open the “hollow roads,” when the dead and wandering spirits moved closer to the living ahead of the autumn thinning of the veil. 

Folk Witchcraft Uses:

• New Moon Charm-Burying: Write petitions or charms, bury them in a jar of earth until the harvest moon to “grow” their power. 
• Protection & Hiding: Spells to cloak your home, spirit, or plans from enemies are especially strong now. 
• Ancestor Petitioning: Offer bread and milk at crossroads or your hearth to invite your ancestors to walk with you into harvest season. 

August Full Moon – The Grain or Corn Moon

The full moon of August is often called the Grain Moon, Corn Moon, or Barley Moon, tied to the first fruits of harvest. In folk witchcraft, it is a moon of gathering, preservation, and blessing the work of your hands. 

Folk Lore:

• Bread & Moonlight: In rural Europe, bread baked under the August full moon was blessed for the year to come. Some Pennsylvania Dutch witches baked “moon loaves” for protection and prosperity. 
• Corn Dolls & Spirits: This moon was when the “corn spirit” was captured in the first cut sheaf and fashioned into a doll for protection through the winter. 
• Moon Dew: Dew gathered on the morning after the August full moon was saved for beauty, love charms, and healing potions. 

Folk Witchcraft Uses:

• Harvest Blessing Spell: Place any tools of your trade under the moonlight to draw success and abundance into your work. 
• Money & Prosperity: Workings to “gather in” wealth are powerful now. Hoodoo rootworkers often pair lodestone or cinnamon prosperity workings with this moon. 
• Love & Fertility: Folk charms to ensure a fertile garden, livestock, or home were done under this moon, blending practical magic with love-drawing energy.

August is a liminal month for the folk witch. A hinge between the blazing vitality of summer and the shadowed descent into autumn. It is a time of gathering and preparing, of sowing in secret while reaping in the open. The festivals, moons, and holy days of this month remind us that magic lives in the fields and the hearth, in the hands of ancestors and the whispers of spirits walking closer with every shortening day. To work folk witchcraft in August is to weave life, death, and harvest together: blessing bread under the Grain Moon, calling to the Mighty Dead at the Mania, petitioning saints like St. Bartholomew for protection and power, or honoring the Great Mother in all her faces during the Assumption. Whether you stand in a field, a city apartment, or at a kitchen altar, August invites you to root your magic in the bones of tradition. Every charm and prayer cast now carries the weight of transition and the promise of what you will carry into the darkening half of the year.