Lughnasadh The First Harvest- Lore, Fun & Ritua
Also known as Lammas, or First Harvest, the name of this festival as Lughnasadh is Irish Gaelic for "Commemoration of Lugh". Some authors give the meaning as marriage, gathering or feast (in the name of) of Lugh. The meaning remains basically the same: Lugh is the Deity of Lughnasadh, and there is a feast.
Although Lugh gives his name to this festival, it is also associated with Lugh's foster mother Tailtiu, who is said to have cleared the way for the introduction of agriculture in Ireland, thus linking Lughnasadh to the land and the harvest.
The modern Irish Gaelic name for the month of August is Lúnasa. In Scottish Gaelic Lunasda means the 1st of August.
One of several historic sources for the four Celtic fire festivals Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh und Samhain is the early medieval Irish tale "Tochmarc Emire" (The Wooing of Emer), which is part of the Ulster Cycle. In the form we know it today it was written in the 10th or 11th century CE, but it is safe to assume that this tale - like so many others - contains a much older nucleus.
The tale narrates how the hero Cú Chulainn is courting Emer. He receives several tasks to fulfill, one of them being that he must go without sleep for one year. As Emer utters her challenge, she names the four major points of the Irish-Celtic year, as they are also mentioned in other Irish sources. Doing this, she does not use the solar festivals, nor Christian ones, which were certainly well known and established by the 10th century. Instead Emer choses the first days of each season.
One of these days is Lughnasadh, marking the beginning of fall. It takes place on the 1st of August, a date internationally agreed upon, or on the day of the full moon next to this date, if you want to celebrate when the ancient Celts probably did. Since the Celtic day started with sunset, the celebration takes place on the evening before the calendaric date.
Lughnasadh marks the beginning of the noticeable descent of the Sun into the darkness of winter. From the connection between the Earth (female principle) and the Sun (male principle), the marriage of the Sky Father (Sun God) with the Earth Mother we celebrated at Beltane, emerge the fruits of the first harvest of the year. Lughnasadh is a time of joy about the first fruits. It is also a time of tension, because the dark days of winter are coming nearer, and most of the harvest is not brought in and stored away yet.
The God of the harvest is the Green Man (also known as John Barleycorn). He sacrifices himself every year in order to enable human life on Earth. In some areas his death is mourned with wreaths decorated with poppies or cornflowers.
The grain is cut, part of it goes into bread and nutrition, another part is stored away and used as seeds next spring, to create new life. Looking at that, thoughts about sacrifice, transformation, death and rebirth are also part of Lughnasadh.
The celebration of Lughnasadh includes the ritual cutting of the first grain and an offering thereof, possibly the making of a first meal and the ritual eating of it, as well as dancing. Fires are mentioned, but fire or light do not play such a prominent role as with the other fire festivals. This is probably because August is a warm month in most of Europe, with still long daylight hours, where no fire is needed. Lughnasadh celebrations are reported from Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall.
Another name used for Lughnasadh is "Lammas", from the old-anglosaxon "hlaef-mass" (loaf mass, mass where the first loaf of bread is consecrated), which developed into the later medieval English and Scottish "Lammas". As such it is first mentioned in old anglo-saxon chronicles as early as 921 CE as "Feast of the First Fruits". In an agricultural society the begin of the harvest was a natural occasion to celebrate and to give thanks to the Divine for Its gifts.
The Deities of Lughnasadh are Danu (Anu), the Mother of Gods and Men, and Lugh, the patron of scholars, craftsmen, warriors and magicians. Lugh is also known as Lugh Samildánach (the Many Skilled) and Lugh Lámhfada (Lugh with the Long Arm). It is disputed among authors whether this refers to Lugh's magical spear or to the rays of the Sun. Lugh seems to have been worshipped, like his Greek and Roman correspondences Hermes and Mercury, mostly on elevations, hills or mountaintops.
The plant of Lughnasadh is any form of grain or corn, in a wider sense every fruit of field and garden.
The meaning of Lughnasadh on the inner planes is the start of the harvest of the fruits that we have sown in spring. Which things or projects are reaping in us in the moment? What would we like to finish, what to start anew? Do we have the insight that to every harvest there is a necessity of preparation?
The essence of Lughnasadh is the joy of life under the knowledge that darker times are moving in. We take in the warming rays of the Sun and store their power for the times coming. At the time we celebrate the next festival, Alban Elfed, it will be fall and the warm summer days will already be a memory.
Of course Lughnasadh is a very good time to express gratitude to the Gods and the Earth Spirits for their blessings and gifts that we are now receiving. In times of microwave and frozen pizza it may seem anachronistic to thank for the harvest. Many of our modern foodstuffs make it hard to still recognize the waving grain on the field in them. And yet there is a way to connect with nature via the food that we eat. This is especially valid for self-harvested fruits. But also conscious eating, eating with focus on the food and not on TV or newspaper, is one way of expressing our thanks for the harvest - all year round, but especially at Lughnasadh.
This is an Irish Gaelic name for the feast also commemorates the funeral games of Lugh, Celtic god of light, and son of the Sun. In the mythological story of the Wheel of the Year, the Sun God transfers his power into the grain, and is sacrificed when the grain is harvested. So we have a dying, self-sacrificing and resurrecting god of the harvest, who dies for his people so that they may live. Sound familiar? The power of the sun goes into the grain as it ripens. It is then harvested and made into the first new bread of the season. This is the Saxon hlaef-masse or loaf-mass, now lammas. Seed grain is also saved for planting for next year's crop, so the sun god may be seen to rise again in Spring with the new green shoots, as the sun also rises in the sky. There are many traditions and customs all over the country that are still carried on at harvest-time today.
Lammas is a festival celebrating the first fruits of harvest, the fruits of our labours, and seeing the desires that we had at the start of the year unfold so rituals will be centred around this. Lammas is an early Christian festival, "lammas" means loaf mass and represented the first loaves baked from that years crop. These were taken to church and laid on the altar. It's a time for bread-making and corn-dollies. Goddesses celebrated around this time include Demeter and Ceres. Trees associated with lammas are Hazel and Gorse and herbs are Sage and Meadowsweet. Colours associated with lammas are golds, yellows and orange for the God and red for the Goddess as mother.
FUN FOR ALL!
Corn Husk Dolls
Corn dollys bring health, wealth and general prosperity to the land or property owner. A simple ritual could include writing a special wish with a marker onto the dolly (good health for a friend?) and burn the dolly.
Items Needed: Corn husks Large bowl of water Twine or string Scissors Old pieces of fabric Watercolors or markers Glue
Soak the cornhusks in warm water for an hour, until they become pliable. Gather several of the damp husks and then tie them together with a piece of twine about ½ inch from one end. To make the head, hold the knotted end in one fist, then fold the husks down (as though you were peeling a banana) so that they cover the knotted end. Smooth out the husks to make a face, then secure them with a piece of twine around the doll's neck. To make the arms, roll up a single husk and tie it off at both ends. Position the arms up between the husks, under the doll's neck. Smooth the husks over the arms to form the chest and back then cinch in the waist with twine. For a skirt or legs, arrange several husks, inverted (like a skirt that has blown up over the doll's head) around the waist. Secure with twine, then fold the skirt down. For legs, divide the husks into two parts, tying each bunch at the knees and ankles To make clothes, hair, hats or other headpieces, glue on little pieces of fabric You can use markers and watercolors to give the illusion of facial features. Glitter can be added as well as any other decorations to the Corn Husk Doll.
Create and bury a Witch's Bottle. This is a glass jar with sharp pointy things inside to keep away harm. You can use needles, pins, thorns, thistles, nails, and bits of broken glass; it's a good way to dispose of broken crockery, old sewing equipment, and the pins that come in new clothes. Bury it near the entry to the house(like next to the driveway or the front door), or inside a large planter.
Lammas Bounty Spell
Lughnasadh; it is a celebration of plenty and optimism, and of nature's infinite bounty. It is the time of the first harvests, and it marks midsummer's joyous and fanciful energy. This spirit is celebrated, too, in Shakespeare's A Mid-Summer's Night Dream. To tap into this energy, gather a small bundle of long grass or reeds to braid, and light a white candle. Braid the grass as you speak this verse:
Fairies prancing in the meadow, Spirits in the corn; Green Man is flourishing everywhere On this Midsummer morn. Grains begin to ripen, All things bear fruit. Summer glistens with possibility, Blossoms take root. Fairies whisper secrets, Powerful blessings to see. Cycles move and all around, they share their gifts with me. Air to fire, Fire to water, Water to earth, Earth to air. Elements feed spirit, And the circle glows. At Lammas, day and night, We witness Nature's awesome might. Growing full And blessing all, 'Tis Earth's celebration Before the chill of fall. Now braiding this grass, I mark this day Protect my hearth, With the abundance of grain. The blessings of the Goddess come again; Place the braid above my door. Hunger be banished now and then. Blessings be drawn to this place, Summer's energy fill this space. Air, fire, water, earth unite, And bless us all this day.
SIMPLE RITUAL
Materials: chime loaf of bread candles The Chime is rung three times. Say: "I come to this space in celebration Within the Sacred Garden of the Gods. The Sun God, He gives forth light and the energy of life to all. Through the Goddess and from the Goddess All things grow and mature. It is She who is the bearer of life and rebirth of the Harvest to come. The land is full and must be tended. Let me now share Her bounty."
Break off a piece of bread and eat it. Prepare a candle for lighting, saying: "I must open myself to change. To do so, I must abandon my faults, Refresh and vitalize the body and spirit, And embrace growth as I prepare for what is to become; For what the future holds, Yet for me to grow it is necessary for a part of me to die."
Light the candle, declare any faults you would like to be cleansed of, and stick the candle in the ground before you. The Energy Circle is raised and at its climax blow out the candle. After a moment of meditation, say: "Out of the death of this small part of me, life begins anew." The ritual is complete and the circle is released.
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Text is by Rev. Thomas and from Triple Moons Divinwolff Tradition 1st Degree Course Images Via Google Copyright©2016 Triple Moon Ministries All rights reserved
