JULY 28, 2018 BY CYNDI BRANNEN
Whatever you call the midway point between the Summer Solstice and the Fall Equinox, it’s a time worthy of celebration. The First Harvest represents the bounty of the land and our lives. I take this time to reflect upo
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Lughnasadh / Lammas August 1st
Lughnasadh (pronounced “LOO-nahs-ah”) aka Lammas, is one of the Greater Wiccan Sabbats and is usually celebrated on August 1st or 2nd, although occasionally on July 31st. The Celtic festival held in honor of the Sun God Lugh (pronounced “Loo”) is traditionally held on August 7th. Some Pagans celebrate this holiday on the first Full Moon in Leo.
Other names for this Sabbat include the First Harvest Festival, the Sabbat of First Fruits, August Eve, Lammastide, Harvest Home, Ceresalia (Ancient Roman in honor of the Grain Goddess Ceres), Feast of Bread, Sabbat of First Fruits, Festival of Green Corn (Native American), Feast of Cardenas, Cornucopia (Strega), Thingtide and Elembiuos. Lughnassadh is named for the Irish Sun God Lugh (pronounced Loo), and variant spellings for the holiday are Lughnassadh, Lughnasad, Lughnassad, Lughnasa or Lunasa. The most commonly used name for this Sabbat is Lammas, an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “loaf-mass”.
Depending on your individual spiritual path, there are many different ways you can celebrate Lammas, but typically the focus is on either the early harvest aspect, or the celebration of the Celtic god Lugh. It’s the season when the first grains are ready to be harvested and threshed, when the apples and grapes are ripe for the plucking, and we’re grateful for the food we have on our tables.
Lammas is a time of excitement and magic.
Deities associated with Lughnassadh are: all Grain and Agriculture Deities, Sun Gods, Mother Goddesses and Father Gods. Particular emphasis is placed on Lugh, Demeter, Ceres, the Corn Mother and John Barleycorn (the personification of malt liquor).
Correspondences for Lughnasadh:
- Colors: red, orange, gold, and yellow. Also green, citrine and gray.
- Candles: golden yellow, orange, green, or light brown.
- Stones: yellow diamonds, aventurine, sardonyx, peridot and citrine.
- Animals: roosters and calves.
- Mythical creatures: phoenix, griffins, basilisks, centaurs and speaking skulls.
- Plants: corn, rice, wheat, rye, ginseng, ash tree.
- Herbs: vervain, acacia flowers, aloes, cornstalks, cyclamen, fenugreek, frankincense, heather, hollyhock, myrtle, oak leaves, sunflower, and wheat.
- Incense: aloes, rose, rose hips, rosemary, chamomile, passionflower, frankincense, and sandalwood.
Traditional Pagan Foods for the Lughnassadh Festival include: homemade breads (wheat, oat and especially cornbread), corn, potatoes, berry pies, barley cakes, nuts, wild berries, apples, rice, roasted lamb, acorns, crab apples, summer squash, turnips, oats, all grains and all First Harvest foods. Traditional drinks are elderberry wine, ale and meadowsweet tea.
It is also appropriate to plant the seeds from the fruit consumed in ritual. If the seeds sprout, grow the plant with love and as a symbol of your connection to the Divine. A cake is sometimes baked, and cider is used in place of wine.
Key actions associated with Lammas are: receiving and harvesting, honoring the Parent Deities, honoring the Sun Gods and Goddesses, as well as celebration of the First Harvest.
Activities appropriate for this time of the year are:
- Baking bread – especially bread baked in the form of a God-figure or Sun Wheel
- Wheat weaving – such as the making of Corn Dollies, or other God and Goddess symbols which may be used both as a fertility amulet and an altar centerpiece.
- Sand candles can be made to honor the Goddess and God of the sea.
- You may want to string Indian corn on black thread to make a necklace,
- Bake corn bread sticks shaped like little ears of corn
Other actions include the gathering of first fruits and the study of Astrology. Some Pagans symbolically throw pieces of bread into a fire during the Lammas ritual. Spellwork for prosperity, abundance and good fortune are especially appropriate now, as well as spells for connectedness, career, health and financial gain.
The celebration of Lammas is a pause to relax and open yourself to the change of the Season so that you may be one with its energies and accomplish what is intended. Visits to fields, orchards, lakes and wells are also traditional. It is considered taboo not to share your food with others.
From: PaganWiccan and other sources
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