Celebrate Lughnasadh
How do we celebrate Lughnasadh in modern times?
The festival is in honour of the great Lugh, Lord of Light and the first of the three harvest Sabbats which celebrate the ripening grains and corn.
Lammas, or Lughnasadh, celebrates the early harvest. It’s a time to honour the spirit of the grain harvest. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is always celebrated on August 1. In the Southern Hemisphere it’s celebrated on February 1. Unlike solstice and equinox celebrations, this date does not change from year to year.
Although named for Lugh, the theme of the Sacrificed God emerges at this time. He is the Spirit of Vegetation, known in many guises such as The Green Man, and his essence begins to merge with the harvested crops. So Lugh represents the sacrificial king at his prime about to be cut down in the autumn before he is reborn in the deep of winter, ready to start the cycle anew.
What we can do
In Ireland it was considered inauspicious to begin to reap the fruits before Lughnasadh, so feasting aplenty was the order of the celebration. It’s also the time to bring inside your own spiritual harvest, the fruits you have reaped for yourself and to give thanks for the many gifts the earth has to offer you.
Lughnasadh is a time of personal reflection and harvest, of our actions and deeds, events and experiences, our gains and losses, a time when we begin the cycle of reflection of that which is our life.
• Prepare a feast for family and friends with all the seasonal grains and fruits found in your regional area
• Organise Games for your guests, with either physical or mental challenges. Draughts, Chess and other Board games, or why not enjoy the challenge of a bardic contest and enjoy the skills of musicians and storytellers
• Take a personal inventory. What are your strong points? Take stock of what habits you can throw away, what negative feelings and memories of old hurts you can sacrifice, to ensure yourself a good future spiritual harvest
• This is the time to rid yourself of unnecessary encumbrances, clothes which no longer fit and old household goods
• A traditional part of the celebrations surrounding Lughnasadh have been the formation of oaths. Write out some vows for yourself to give to your loved ones, stating your intentions toward them for the coming season
• Build a small fire as the day turns to night. If this isn’t possible, use candles. Ask your friends to join you or contemplate alone, it makes no matter as long as you watch the light fade from the skies.