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| Lughnasadh |
| Lughnasadh on or about August 1st or when the Sun is 15 degrees Leo in the old days it was celebrated August 6th. In the UK some covens still celebrate on August 6th known as Old Lughnasadh. Also known as: Lugnasad, Lammas, Cornucopia, Thingtide, Lammastide, Lughomass, Festival of Light, Latha Lunasdal. Lammas (Lah-Mass) from the Saxon Loaf Mass, also known as Lughnassadh (Loo-Nas-Ah), Celtic feast of Lugh, (the Irish/Celtic God of Fire) and Cornucopia (Stregeria, Italian) marks the beginning of the First Harvest, when the fruits of the Earth are cut and stored for the forthcoming Winter months. This is a time of thanksgiving, a time when we should reap the rewards of what we have sown and look to consolidate upon our position before the coming dark half of the year. This Sabbat is known as first harvest, Mabon and Samhain being the other two, which celebrates the ripening grains and corn. With the harvest so prevalent, Pagans see the theme of the sacrificed god motif emerge. His death is necessary for rebirth of the land to take place. Called by many names, “Green Man,” “Wicker Man,” “Corn Man” or just the “Spirit of Vegetation,” his essence begins to merge with the harvested crops, a sacrifice that will be realized with the new growth in the spring. It is customary to bake bread or better yet bake it in the form of a man, and after everyone has eaten some put out the rest for a sacrifice. On page two there will be Lammas bread recipes. Now is the time when the powerful gods of the grain harvests are honored. They are in their prime, sometimes generous, sometimes quixotic, and always aware with a bittersweet pleasure that their time will wane, as it always does, and they will die, as they always do, and yet nevertheless they will return to another delicious summer next year, as they always do, and have, and will, for this is the endlessly circling Wheel of the Year, and they ride it proudly. Lughnasadh is named for Lugh, the Celtic deity who presides over the arts and sciences. According to Celtic legend, Lugh decreed that a commemorative feast be held each year at the beginning of the harvest season to honor his foster mother, Tailtiu. Tailtiu was the royal Lady of the Fir Bolg. After the defeat of her people by the Tuatha De Dannan, she was obliged by them to clear a vast forest for the purpose of planting grain. She died of exhaustion in the attempt. The legend states that she was buried beneath a great mound named for her, at the spot where the first feast of Lughnasadh was held in Ireland, the hill of Tailte. At this gathering were held games and contests of skill as well as a great feast made up of the first fruits of the summer harvest. As years passed, traditions surrounding the feast at Tailte began to solidify into events and ceremonial activities designed to celebrate not only Tailtiu and the bounty of the harvest that her original sacrifice provided but also to honor the work and sacrifice of human beings as they strove to provide sustenance for their families and community. Lugh dedicated this festival to his foster-mother, Tailtiu, the last queen of the Fir Bolg, who died from exhaustion after clearing a great forest so that the land could be cultivated. When the men of Ireland gathered at her death-bed, she told them to hold funeral games in her honor. As long as they were held, she prophesied Ireland would not be without song. Tailtiu’s name is from Old Celtic Talantiu, "The Great One of the Earth", suggesting she may originally have been a personification of the land itself, like so many Irish goddesses. In fact, Lughnasadh has an older name, Brón Trogain, which refers to the painful labor of childbirth. For at this time of year, the earth gives birth to her first fruits so that her children might live. |
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Lammas correspondences foods in tune with Lammas are: homemade breads (wheat, oat & especially corn bread), barley cakes, potatoes, first harvest foods, apples, rice, roasted lamb, berry pies, elderberry wine and ale. The plants & herbs associated with Lammas are: corn, rice, wheat, ginseng, rye, acacia flowers, aloes, cyclamen, fenugreek, frankincense, heather, hollyhock, myrtle, oak leaves, sunflower for Lammas incense and oil you can use any of the following scents, either blended together or alone: eucalyptus, corn, safflower, aloes, rose, sandalwood. Colors associated with Lammas are: gold, yellow, orange, red, citrine, light brown. Stones associated with Lammas are: yellow diamond, aventurine, citrine, peridot, and sardonyx. Animals and mythical beasts associated with Lammas are: roosters, calves, pigs, phoenix, griffins, basilisk, centaurs. Lammas Goddesses are all Grain Deities, Livestock Goddesses, Mother Goddesses. Some Lammas Goddesses are: Alphito (Irish) Morgay (English), Selu (Cherokee), Demeter (Greek), Marcia (Italian), Mama Alpa (Incan) Appropriate Lammas Gods are all Father Gods, Livestock Gods, Grain Deities. Some Lammas Gods are: Liber (Roman), Llew (Welsh), Nepher (Egyptian), Xochipilli (Aztec) , Lugh (Irish), Odin (Norse), Lono (Polynesian), Dagon (Phoenician) Altar decorations can consist of: Sunflowers, woven sheaves of wheat, corn,baked bread, Moonstones, Agates, Corn Husk Dollies, Fruits of the Season. |
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