Lughnasadh
What is Lughnasadh?
The beginning of August marks the halfway point between the Summer Solstice (Litha) and the Autumn Equinox (Mabon) and is honored with a festival called Lughnasadh! This is a name we find in several ancient texts from agrarian societies in ~Ireland, in reference to the Celtic Sun god Lugh. Symbolism of the Sun was super important to these festivities, which was celebrated as a big party & harvest festival.
Around August 1st, the Sun’s strength and length in the sky is fading, but there is still so much abundance obviously around. While some early herbs & fruits may be past their peak, more hardy crops like wheat, corn, potatoes, peppers, squash, & watermelon are yet to look forward to in the Lughnasadh & coming harvest festivals. The success of this round of harvest also assured there would be food for the impending cold months, as these are the type of crops that can be preserved & stored for eating later in diverse ways. This called for celebration, community & giving thanks.
How was it celebrated?
To ancient pagans, gathering with community to give thanks almost always looked like a feast and a bonfire, rooted in ritual & nature. People were getting their drink on, now that the hops were ready for harvest. At this time of leisure from working, it was custom to engage in different games & sports, or arts & crafts. Probably not entirely different from a little fair or festival at an orchard/farm today! This was also seen as another way to honor and connect to Lugh, as the Sun god was also the god of craftsmanship and skill.
Like most ancient pagan holidays, Lughnasadh was assimilated into Lammas post-Christianity. Lammas translates to “loaf-mass,” combining the pagan intention of celebrating the grain harvest, and the traditional Catholic worship service mass. It became common for loaves of bread to be brought to church for the Sunday mass on Lammas in order to be blessed and shared with the community. The assimilation & lack of historical records makes it unclear which one is the prevailing holiday today in & around the UK, as the two names are often used interchangeably.
Perhaps stemming in part from the sharing of loaves, gift giving was popular at this time. In many communities, the act of gifting & charity was more popular now than at Yule/ Christmas time. This was also due to practical reasons- a harvest means there’s enough to be shared with friends & family.
Lughnasadh Symbolism
This harvest sabbat is almost always represented by the sacred foods, & color magick with hues of brown, gold, & yellow. These were all included in the feast and celebrations throughout the day. Wheat held a particular significance, but corn, bread, cakes & pastries, apples, and grapes are also connected, too. Other symbolism includes knowledge & wisdom, competition & sport, gratitude & prosperity, and the scythe for cutting wheat.
Several different Lughnasadh rituals seem to have evolved from the significance of wheat in expanding many of the first large scale civilizations. Wheat is a crop that could feed many people & livestock for months to come, as long as it was cut & dried at the right time/conditions. One popular example of these rituals is when the first and last stalks are ceremoniously harvested at the crack of dawn, then baked into the community bread and made into a corn dolly, respectively. Sharing the loaf of bread made from the first cut stalk symbolized continued prosperity and blessings for the whole community, scarcity for none. The creation of the last stalk into a doll who is then buried and given to the Earth symbolizes continued abundance for the Earth, an offering to the divine.
Modern ways to celebrate:
Bake ceremonial enchanted bread: we may not be able to harvest the wheat ourselves but the act of making something from scratch, especially very physical like bread, connects us much more closely to the food & its source than buying a loaf of bread wrapped in plastic at the store. Plus, you can use kitchen magick and enchant the bread with blessings & protection
Complete solar infusions: now is the time for any workings that rely on the Sun’s energy while it is still abundant
Harvest from your garden: (especially seeds, which are popping up from many herbs & flowers rn), forage wild berries (safely), or go to an orchard to pick fresh fruit. You can even use your pickings to bake something yummy, or preserve some jams & jellies from them!
Share a feast & bonfire: join friends & family outside, maybe using food that’s seasonal to you
Have a ceremonial drink: go to a winery or craft brewery where you can actually see where the alcohol is being made and feel that sense of connection with it. You could also make your own beer (I only know this because my bf has subjected our fridge to it multiple times…) Sangria, or even a solar infused tea holds this same essence if you wanna skip the alcohol!
Make any sort of craft or art: with your hands. This could be a traditional corn dolly, drying some summer flowers & herbs, or whatever project you’re already working on!
Give gifts: even better if this is homemade bread, crafts, or another food/goods you’ve created yourself that excites you to share with your loved ones!
Sports, games, or any movement outdoors: you could go a tailgate, play corn hole in your backyard, go for a hike, or just a skate around the block
How I’m Celebrating (2024):
Divine Pine Gathering
I am super grateful to have taught a yoga class where we created a nature altar and made so much other nature art at a beautiful festival held the weekend before Lammas, in rural Michigan.
Buck Moon
The full Buck Moon came around a week before Lammas and began my preparations for the first harvest festival, taking this time to revisit my goals till Mabon.
Garden Harvest
The time has come to harvest a lot of the flowers that I am using in my friend’s wedding bouquet this September. I also grew a lot of wedding flowers last year and learned the hard way that it is best to cut flowers for preservation right at their peak abundance and growth, or sometimes even a day or so before. So while many of the flowers still look hearty and could maybe grow a tad bigger, I’m taking this time to bring them inside in hopes that they will stay brighter, longer and continue to remind us of summers’ abundance.
How I’m Celebrating (2023):
Camping
Going camping at this time of year has quickly become a tradition- staying up all night around the bonfire, watching the sunrise, playing frisbee and beach games and enjoying summer’s rewards.
Floral essence
In celebration of our anniversary, we made a floral essence during our picnic date, infusing our intentions for our future. Today on the 1st, I used it to water some our garden!
Lammas Loaf
We also did this a week or so ago on our anniversary, kicking off the Lammas celebrations early! It was my first attempt at a 6 strand braid and it actually came out pretty well! I dressed it with coreopsis and rosemary- an herb often associated with lammas/litha.
How I’m Celebrating (2022):
Full Moon Flow
I’m so excited that I’ll be at Divine Pine Gathering the weekend heading into the sabbat, which is a conscious, community-based camping event. I’ll be teaching a yoga class curated from the Full Buck Moon & Lammas energy! I host a virtual version of the class the week of the Full Moon, where I’ll be seeding my collective intention for the sabbat. At DPG I’ll also have the chance to participate in a ton of nature offerings, art, music, and movement skill shares & workshops, while spending time connecting with loved ones.
Nature Art
At this time of year I have so much abundance in the garden, that I’m always spending a lot of time around Lammas preserving their beauty so I can later make it into art. Part of my practice of working with the Earth & Nature spirits is identifying & remembering the plants & flowers I meet around the country and sometimes use in my art. I always make time around Lammas to catch up with any flower pressing or labeling to be done yet!
Solar workings
I have a few miscenllaneous workings that I want to do under the Sun’s abundant energy. One thing is reconnecting back to my crystal practice. They’re my first spiritual tool & over the years I’ve gotten so used to them that lately they haven’t gotten the time & energy they deserve! One of my favorite ways to connect to crystals is to cleanse them in salt or water, and then charge them with in the sunlight or moonlight. This time of year is perfect to refresh my collection and use the Sun’s peaking power to power my intention in working with them
How I’m celebrating (2021):
baking bread:
I’ll probably use some Rosemary from my garden to do some kitchen witchery with a fresh Lammas loaf! Here’s roughly the recipe I always use for bread. Its super simple & vegan!
Refreshing my altar:
This is something I do almost every sabbat, usually a few weeks before it begins, and sometimes I leave it up untill the next one’s almost here! I used some sunflower & hydrangea petals, and crystals like sunstone, clear quartz, red carnelian, & strawberry quartz. In the high days of Summer into the Fall, I also love to use my red & white buffalo check altar cloth that’s really a table cloth/picnic blanket that’s been passed down through the family for 3 generation!
Playing outside
This is something I try to do every sabbat, but will definitely be making a point out of it for as many of the harvest festivals as I can! The sabbat is on a weekend this year so I will probably be outside, hooping, dancing, slack lining, & possibly skating at the new outdoor roller rink outside downtown!
Journal Prompts:
what are some of my favorite moments so far this Summer?
do I feel connected to my food? do I know where it comes from or how its made?
what is an energy I want to bring more of into my life for the remainder of the summer? what are some ways I can do so?
