Harvest Dollies for Modern Pagans

Historically, grain dollies were made from the last sheaf harvested, and either left in the field or placed wherever grains were stored. It was often tied or plaited to be roughly human shaped, but in some places shaped like an animal. It was representative of the Spirit of the Harvest, or the Corn Mother. In Ireland, the grain harvest is associated with Lúnasa. But the god Lúgh is not a grain god or earth god. He’s not John Barleycorn (who is English, and more about the production of beer). Lúgh isn’t a sun god either, but I’ll get to that later.

The grain dolly from the previous harvest would be ploughed into the first furrow of the new season in the spring, or else otherwise destroyed in some way to release the spirit of the previous year’s grain. Another tradition, the one that most Pagans follow (and I don’t know the origin), states that it is to be kept to insure a bountiful crop through the next harvest season and burned around the time that a new one is made from the last sheaf.

Since Neopagans have three harvest holidays (Lúnasa, Autumn Equinox, and Samhain) in the widely observed “wheel of the year”, there is some debate over which holiday to burn a grain dolly. I would think the answer would be to make it close to one’s local grain harvest date. Arkansas grows soft red winter wheat as a commercial crop. Harvest begins in May and ends as late as the first week of July. So, for our locality, if you want to burn your grain dolly at the end of harvest, it makes sense to do so at Lúnasa, rather than at any of the later harvest holidays. That, and because it’s the harvest holiday that has a strong grain theme.

Note that I’m calling them grain dollies instead of the more traditional “corn dolly”. This is because Americans have confused traditional use of the word corn to exclusively mean maize. To the Europeans, corn meant grain. Corn dollies were not corn husk dolls. They didn’t have maize back then. Corn dollies were made of whatever grain various European cultures predominantly ate, like wheat or oats.

But we do live in the modern western world, and many would say that we need to adapt traditions to where we are and the way we live now. Americans in general do eat a lot of corn, both as a vegetable and as a grain, and as a sweetener (although Arkansas doesn’t grow much maize commercially). Corn husk dolls are easier to make than wheat dolls, which is probably a big part of why most American Pagans make corn husk dolls instead of the more traditional grain dollies for harvest holidays. The materials are also easier to find. Not many people grow wheat in their backyard garden but plenty grow corn, or could get corn in the husk at any farmer’s market or grocery store. Maize harvest starts mid August in Arkansas and can last late into September or even October, so it would make sense to burn your cornhusk harvest dolls at the Autumnal Equinox or Samhain if you are so inclined.

Unless you are a farmer or a gardener who grows grains, your harvest doll is purely symbolic anyway, not made from the last sheaf of anything, but symbolic of the harvest for you personally. So make it of whatever materials represent the harvest for you (you’ll notice that one of the dollies in the picture below is made of both cornhusks and wheat), and burn or bury it at whichever of the harvest (or spring) holidays that you feel drawn to do so.

salt dough wheat plaque

With Lughnasadh/Lammas coming up in a couple of weeks, a fun project to work on is a wheat plaque to decorate the family altar, hearth, or nature table. I used ordinary salt dough for this project (1 cup salt, 2 cups flour, and around 1 cup water). You can add paint or food coloring to the dough if you like, or paint after the project is completely dry.

First, I rolled out my well-kneaded dough, thickly and evenly. I used a mixing bowl and pizza cutter to get a clean even arch at the top. Then I used a ruler to cut a straight bottom edge. I used a teardrop shaped clay tool to press in tall grasses, and a knife tool for the wheat stalks. I used a couple of methods for the wheat grains; one is to press in each grain with the teardrop shaped clay tool, and the other is to make little snippets up and down the stalk with the end of a pair of small scissors. The latter method is my favorite, because it adds interesting dimensions to the plaque. I added swirls and small holes for a finishing touch. The plaque can be hung on the wall when dry (don’t forget to poke a hole in the back with the blunt end of a tack when turning over to dry the back), or propped up on a shelf.

If you’re feeling adventurous, try curving the plaque around a foil-covered vase to dry, then attach salt dough rings to the back to hold candles. If you poke holes all the way through the plaque with a straw, you can add amber colored beads that would shine in the light of the candle.

Tailtiu Shrine

In Irish mythology, Tailtiu (pronounced tal-chuh) was the foster-mother of the god Lugh. Her name meant “The Great One of the Earth”. She died of exhaustion after clearing land for farming in what is now known as county Meath. Thereafter, every August, Lugh held funeral games in her honor. These funeral games (and fairs) became known as Lughnasadh; “the assembly of Lugh”. An older name for this holiday is Bron Trogain; “Lamentation of the Earth”.

“Great en the fair wood was cut down by her,
roots and all, out of the ground,
before the year’s end it became Bregmag,
it became a plain blossoming with clover.
Her heart burst in her body
from the strain beneath her royal vest;
not wholesome, truly, is a face like the coal,
for the sake of woods or pride of timber.

Long was the sorrow, long the weariness of Tailtiu,
in sickness after heavy toil;
the men of the island of Erin
to whom she was in bondage
came to receive her last behest.
She told them in her sickness
(feeble she was but not speechless)
that they should hold funeral games to lament her
– zealous the deed .”
-from the Metrical Dindshenchas

My Summer Thermstice (Lúnasa/Lammas) Playlist

• Call the Circle – Jenneth Graham

• The Berry Song – Linda Hirschhorn (Gather Round: Songs of Celebration and Renewal)

• John Barleycorn – Steeleye Span (Below the Salt)

• Reaphook and the Sickle – Waterson Carthy (Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man)

• Comin’ Thro The Rye – Honeychild Coleman (Bereket Window)

• Lughnasadh – Hymir’s Kettle (Journey to Utgard)

• Corn Rigs – Magnet (The Wicker Man Original Soundtrack Recording)

• Scarborough Fair – Simon & Garfunkel (Greatest Hits)

• Lughnasadh – Omnia (Pagan Folk)

• Harvest Moon – Neil Young (Harvest Moon)

• August – Anúna (Songs of the Whispering Things)

• Lammastide – from the musical “The Woman in White”

• The Wind That Shakes The Barley – Solas (Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers)

• The Hills of Connemara – Gaelic Storm (Gaelic Storm)

• Brigg Fair – Richard Grainger (War Horse)

• Heartbeat of Harvest – Cernunnos Rising (Wild Soul)

• Sonnenreigen – Faun (Midgard)

• The Coarncraik – Deaf Shepherd (Synergy)

• King Harvest – The Band (Greatest Hits)

• Fields of Gold – Tyler Ward & Lindsey Stirling & Peter Hollens

• Storm Comin’ – Wailin’ Jennys (Bright Morning Stars)

• The Scythe – Gaia Consort (Evolve)

• Fall Down as the Rain – Joe Crookston (Fall Down as the Rain)

You can listen to them all on one playlist here.