Let It Ripen, Let It Go
A Lughnasadh Soul Assignment for Midlife Magic & First Harvest Truths
Introduction: Welcome to the First Harvest
Lughnasadh is the first harvest festival. It arrives like a golden pause button in early August. The fields are heavy with ripened grain. The air smells sun-warmed and bittersweet. Something is ready to be gathered, and something else is ready to go.
This week’s soul assignment invites you to step into your own metaphorical field.
What has ripened? What is ready to be cut down, composted, or celebrated?
This is the beauty of Lughnasadh: it reminds us that we don’t have to hold on to everything forever. Even abundance requires discernment. Even joy needs pruning.
Your Soul Assignment: Let It Ripen, Let It Go
Over the next five days, you’ll reflect, harvest, release, and create with intention. Each mini-assignment includes a journaling prompt, a creative or sensory ritual, and suggestions to deepen your experience through art, nature, or altar work.
Day 1:
The Field
You Planted
Journal Prompt:
"What did I plant with hope this year, and how have those seeds taken shape?"
Creative Reinforcement:
Draw or collage a simple garden plot or field.
Label it with dreams, habits, or efforts you began in spring.
Add symbols or colors to represent growth, stagnation, or surprises.
Sensory Ritual:
Light a yellow candle and whisper your intentions aloud. It’s like naming your crops to the wind.
Altar Item:
A sprig of rosemary (for remembrance) or a small seed packet.
Day 2:
The Harvest
You Hold
Journal Prompt:
"What am I harvesting right now? What blessings, growth, or truths are ripe in my life?"
Creative Reinforcement:
Create a “harvest basket” journal spread. Draw or collage items that represent the fruits of your effort—big or small.
Include words like clarity, boundaries, courage, love, or anything you've earned.
Ritual Option:
Slice a piece of seasonal fruit (like a peach or a plum). Eat it slowly while acknowledging what feels deliciously complete in your life.
Altar Item:
Sunflower or marigold (facing the light, symbolizing abundance).
Day 3:
What No Longer Nourishes
Journal Prompt:
"What am I still tending that no longer bears fruit?"
Creative Reinforcement:
Draw withered vines or dying leaves to represent what is stealing your energy.
Use brown, gray, or muted tones. Let it be messy or incomplete, symbolizing how you’re ready to stop.
Simple Release Ritual:
Cut a piece of string while naming what you’re letting go and say, “This no longer grows with me.”
Altar Item:
A dried or wilted flower (to represent release and cycles).
Day 4:
The Sacred Reaping
Journal Prompt:
"What truth do I need to face to move forward lighter?"
Creative Reinforcement:
Write a Release Letter to whatever you're letting go. Be honest. Be dramatic. Be free.
Seal it in an envelope and decorate it with images of fire or a scythe.
Ritual:
Burn the letter or bury it in the earth with intention. Say: "Thank you for your season. I no longer carry you into mine."
Altar Item:
Ashes, torn pieces of your release letter, or black paper with your intention written in white pencil.
Day 5:
Build a Lughnasadh Altar or Art Page
Final Reflection Prompt:
What do I want to carry forward from this season?
What am I making sacred space for?"
Build An Altar
Suggested Elements:
∙Wheat or Corn Husk: Symbolizes sustenance and spiritual nourishment
∙Sunflower or Yellow Flower: Your truth stands tall
∙Jar of Seeds or Grain: What you’ll replant for your future
∙Gold, Yellow, or Orange Candle: Radiance & completion
∙Crystal: Citrine (for joy + abundance) or smoky quartz (for release + grounding)
∙Tarot Cards: Seven of Pentacles (harvest, assessment) or Death (transformation and release)
∙Natural Element: A leaf turning, a feather, or a small stone.
This is your moment of sacred integration. Build something beautiful to honor the journey.
Create a "Harvest & Release" Collage
Recommended Supplies:
∙A blank journal page or cardstock ∙Old magazines, newspapers, or printed images ∙Glue stick or Mod Podge ∙Scissors ∙Pen or marker
Purpose:
Capture what you’re proud of and what you’re done with, on one simple, symbolic page.
Simple Directions:
Step 1: Divide the Page
Draw a diagonal slash across the page, or a curved line resembling a hill that is symbolic of Lughnasadh. One side is your harvest, the other your release.
Step 2: Collage It
On the harvest side, glue down:
Symbols of what’s working: golds, ripe fruit, strong women, sunny skies, wheat, abundance
Optional words: “Yes,” “It’s working,” “Growth,” “Joy,” “Peace,” etc.
On the release side, glue down:
Visuals that show what’s outgrown: tangled roots, withered plants, broken clocks, dark skies, crowded spaces
Optional words: “Done,” “Let go,” “Release,” “Not mine,” “Expired,” etc.
Optional Magic Touches:
∙ Outline the harvest side in gold pen and the release side in black or brown.
∙ Add a pressed flower or wheat stalk for extra texture.
∙ Mist the page with an essential oil when finished (lavender + orange is lovely for this season).
Step 3: Write One Sentence
Somewhere on the page, at the center, along the curved line, or hidden under a flap, write a sentence. I have provided some examples, or write something personal to you.
∙ I bless what has bloomed, and I cut away what has run its course.
∙ I trust the timing of my harvest, and I honor the letting go.
∙ I keep what feels true, and release what’s become heavy.
Closing Words
Not everything we grow is meant to last. Some things are seasonal. Some things were meant to teach us, not stay with us.
Lughnasadh offers us both the gratitude of harvest and the courage of the scythe.
Take what’s sweet. Let the rest go.
And trust, you will plant again.
With midsummer warmth and whispering wheat,
♡ Dwyn