Releasing
This is the time of the killing of the Corn King-John Barleycorn. This festival is Lughnasadh in honor of the God Lugh. Lughnasadh celebrates the harvesting of crops. The sickle and the scythe are symbolically used at this time represent the Goddess because they are in the shape of the Lunar crescent. The pitch fork represents the Horned Lord. The combination of the pitchfork and the sickle/scythe bring about the harvest. At this time the energies of the Earth begin to decline. Growth ebbs to completion; life loosens its passionate hold and prepares to yield up its fruits. The Goddess begins to show signs of weariness from the planting and growing season. The Earth Mother is beginning the process of letting go, moving unavoidably toward darkness and Winter.
Corn and grains are of particular significance at this holiday. Traditionally, the newly harvested grain is made into loaves of bread and shared with all in celebration.
It is traditional to fashion a corn dollie from the last stalks of grain 
to be harvested. It was believed that these stalks contained the ‘Spirit of the Corn’. The bundle of grain is formed in the shape of a woman, the Harvest or Corn Mother. Traditionally, the corn dollie was hung first in the barn to preside over the threshing of the grain, and then in the farmhouse until the planting of the new grain in Spring. Today, the dollie is placed on the altar for the Mabon celebration and then hung in the house or on the front door until Imbolc when it is burned to release the “Spirit of the Corn” to bring life and growth once more.
Lughnasadh is a holiday sacred to the Irish God Lugh. Lugh is associated with the power of sun and light, and so fires were burned in honor of him on this day. In addition to his associations with light, Lugh is a God of Skill and Craft, a 
master of all human skills. On this his feast day, it is particularly appropriate that we celebrate our own abilities, skills and accomplishments. Whatever our talents or abilities, this is a time to recognize them and honor them, and to share our recognition of the talents and abilities of others around us. By offering the fruits of our labors back to the Universe we enrich both ourselves and our world.
After the harvest, tribes would begin to prepare for fall by storing vegetables and canning. Saving and storing your vegetable harvests was the only way to sustain your family through the long, harsh winter. Use the wonderful harvest energy to gather your magical and culinary herbs and empower them as part of your winter stores.
