LughnasadhLughnasadh (Loo-nahs-ah) occurs a quarter of a year after Beltane. It's true astrological point is 15 degrees Leo, but tradition has set August 1st as the day it is typically celebrated. Since the Ancients Celts passed their days from sundown to sundown, the celebration would usually begin the night before on July 31st. What's in a name? Lughnasadh marks the time of the first harvest, and takes its name from the Celtic Sun God Lugh. The word translates from the Gaelic to mean 'Mourning for Lugh', reflecting the shortening of days that is starting to become evident at this time of year In Old Irish the word "Lunasa" (a variant spelling) means "August". Other names for the Sabbat are First Harvest, August Eve, and Lammas. Lammas, probably the most popular version used, is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning "loaf-mass" arguably with Christian connotations. The Gods Lughnasadh marks the middle of summer and the beginning of the harvest. It is the first of three harvest festivals and is usually associated with ripening grain. The Goddess manifests as Demeter, Ceres, Corn Mother, and other agricultural Goddesses. The God manifests as Lugh, John Barleycorn, and vegetation Gods. Colours are Golden Yellow, Orange, Green, and Light Brown. It is a festival of plenty and prosperity. It is time to reap those things you have sown and celebrate the fruits of the mystery of Nature. According to one of his many legends, Lugh was the last great leader of the Tuatha de Dannan. In one of the Tuatha's victories, Lugh spared the life of Bres, a defeated enemy captain, in exchange for advice on ploughing, sowing, and reaping. He was seen as a multi-talented deity, being capable and quite good at all he undertook. The myths of Lugh include the prevalence of his many skills and the wedding of these skills to the potential or unrealised abundance of the land. According to the writing of Caesar, he was also regarded as the patron of all the arts, travelling, and influence in money and commerce. To the Romans, Lugh was seen as a counterpart to Mercury. Lugh is the son of Arianrhod, who is associated with sacred kingship and Three-fold Death. His wife's name is Blodeuwedd, also known as the Flower Maiden. The Past  This Sabbat is also known as the celebration of bread. As bread was one of the main staples of our ancestors, the ripening of the grain was the cause for great celebration. The reaping, threshing and preparation of these breads spawned great ritual and ceremony to ensure bounty for the following year.
Much lore surrounds the last grain to be cut from each field. Most Pagan cultures required that the last grain be left standing as an offering for the fae or other nature spirits. Sacrifice of the first fruit or grain cut is another old Lughnasadh tradition. Almost universally the first cut of the harvest was buried, burned, left in the fled, or placed at a ritual site for the harvest deities to enjoy while the rest of the field was harvested. Traditionally, on this day, couples could embark on trial marriages, which could be dissolved after a year and a day by the couple returning to the place of their marriage and walking away from each other to the North and South (Wiccan handfastings reflect this tradition). Lughnasadh was the traditional time for tribal gatherings, which combined horse racing, athletics, fencing and fire building competitions (which led to the name 'Kindling Night') with rituals to ensure a good harvest. These festivities would take place for 15 days either side of Lughnasadh itself. In some areas, a flaming wheel was rolled down a hillside on Lughnasadh night, to represent the descent of the year towards Winter. Traditionally, on the day following Lughnasadh, bilberries were collected, and their abundance (or otherwise) was thought to be a sign from the Gods indicating the success of the previous night's ritual, and hence predicting the success of the harvest. Native Americans celebrate early August as a grain festival in honour of the Corn Grandmother and call it the Festival of Green Corn. The ancient Romans also honoured their grain goddess, Ceres, at their annual August Ceresalia. The birth of the Egyptian sun goddess, Isis, was celebrated near the time of this Sabbat, as was a Roman festival in honour of Vulcan, god of the forge and guardian of its fire. In ancient Phoenicia this Sabbat honoured the grain god, Dagon, and a substantial portion of the harvest was sacrificed to him. Another version of corn personified is seen in the grain mother and grain maiden images of Ceres, Demeter and Persephone. In ancient Greece these grain goddesses were focused into the body of a bull (a male symbol that made them a complete fertility image) that was burned as a living sacrifice each August Eve. The Mystery With the grain and corn harvest so prevalent at Lughnasadh, 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 realised with the new growth in the spring. At Lughnasadh, the Goddess mates with the God of the Waning year (as she did with the God of the Waxing Year at Beltane). The God, who is now the Corn King, is then sacrificed to fertilize the land, leaving the Goddess alone, but with the knowledge that his seed is in her and he will be reborn. Vivianne Crowley gives the following excerpt from a Lughnasadh ritual....... "Behold I was tall and straight in my pride And was cut down Behold I died willingly for my people And found rest Behold I answered the call of the Goddess And was reborn." Having been cut down, the God rises again, not to return to his old life, but to journey to the realm of the Gods, where he becomes the Dark Lord. This is a time to sacrifice material success and open oneself to the Unconscious, to face the demons within. The God is sacrificed, willingly, at the time of greatest material abundance - the beginning of the harvest. Willing sacrifice is often the most difficult, but it is often necessary to give something up in order to develop. Lughnasadh represents the phase of life where we must turn from the material world, which obscures our vision, and walk the lonely path of our own minds in order to experience joy on a higher level. Reflecting this, Lughnasadh was the traditional time for the King to be sacrificed to the land. This originates from the belief that the king, like the God whose earthy vessel he was, must periodically die and spill his blood on the earth in order for human life to continue. Beginning in the early Middle Ages, many Western cultures began using scapegoats for this sacrifice, such as a minor prince whose blood had been mingled with the king's in a special ceremony. Later sacrifices were wholly symbolic with wine being used as a substitute for blood. In old times, it was the duty of the King to sacrifice himself for the land, an idea that has been seen in the many legends of cultures both new and old, throughout recorded history. The gathering of the first crops of the year is also used to symbolise the success and extent of the power raised from the Beltane rites when the Sacred Marriage of the Lord and Lady took place. The theme of sexuality and reproduction is carried over into Lughnasadh as well to ensure the remainder of a good harvest. Today It is common practice among witches to hold back a small portion of the corn harvest to make the Imbolg Corn Dolly. Other grains can be used, and the Dolly's exact name varies with each tradition, but corn is the most prevalent. Traditional Lughnasadh symbols include wheat stalks, loaves of bread, corn dollies, spears and scythes. Foods for this festival include grain breads, oatmeal, early corn, strawberries, poultry and dandelion wines, and flowers for a Lughnasadh altar would include cornflowers (to represent the Corn King), poppies (the red symbolizing the blood of the God's sacrifice), marigolds, dandelions and sunflowers (to represent the setting sun). This time of year is appropriate for consideration of what you would like to 'harvest' in your life, and ritual purification from the obstacles which you fear may be standing in the way of this harvest Some ideas for celebration: Have a magical picnic and break bread with friends. Do a meditation in which you visualise yourself completing a project you have already begun. Sacrifice bad habits and unwanted things from your life by throwing symbols of them into the Sabbat fire. Make a corn dolly charm out of the first grain you harvest or acquire. Bake a scared loaf in the shape of a man and sacrifice him in your ritual, but save a piece to offer the gods or Mother Earth with a prayer of appreciation. Make prayers for a good harvest season. Do prosperity magic. Harvest herbs in a sacred way for use in charms and rituals. Kindle a Lammas fire with sacred wood and dried herbs. If you live in or near a farming region, attend a public harvest festival, such as a corn or apple festival. Gather the tools of your trade and bless them in order to bring a richer harvest next year. Share your harvest with others who are less fortunate. And so the wheel of the year turns..... |
