A Good Lughnasadh To You!

Today is the Celtic harvest festival of Lughnasadh. Called L?nasa in modern Irish and corresponding with the Anglo-Saxon festival Lammas Day (first fruits). Modern Asatru celebrate a similar holiday called Freyfaxi (sometimes on the same day, sometimes later in the month). Lughnasadh/Lammas is also one of the main Sabbats of modern Witchcraft. The name Lughnasadh means “Lugh’s Assembly” and honors the pan-Celtic diety Lugh / Lug / Lugus / Llew Llaw Gyffes who was known as the “many skilled” and is (in the words of scholar Alexei Kondratiev) “trickster, psychopomp, experimenter, mover between worlds, granter of success and wealth through intelligent manipulation, and granter of continuity through change”

Here are some recent media quotes about the holiday along with some insights from modern Pagans:

“This is 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.” – Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.

“Tomorrow marks the Lughnasadh, or First Harvest. To properly conduct the ritual, according to pagan custom, you will need things like corn cupcakes, a sun symbol, candles, apples, incense and a cauldron. I suspect most of us will not be doing that.” – Bobbie Siegle, The News-Times

“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, Br?n 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.” – Mara Freeman

“Today is Lammas or “Loaf Mass,” a cross-quarter day marking the midpoint between the summer solstice and fall equinox.” – Bangor Daily News

“This observer is looking toward the beginning of autumn which ? in some circles ? starts on Aug. 1, the Celtic feast of Lammas. It may seem hard to believe, but autumn is waiting in the wings, ready to step onto the stage and do its thing. Or, if you prefer a summer sports analogy, autumn is on deck waiting to step into the batter?s box and up to the plate.” – Richard Moeschl, Mail Tribune

“The village of Adamstown will once again come alive in spectacular fashion this weekend for the annual Festival of Lughnasa. Now in its fourth year, Lughnasa will once again feature a host of live music, entertainment, great food and craic, with something for the whole family over the two days.” – New Ross Standard

“Lughnasadh (pronouced ?loo?nass?ah?) comes at the beginning of August. It is one of the Pagan festivals of Celtic origin which split the year into four. Celts held the festival of the Irish god Lugh at this time and later, the Anglo-Saxons marked the festival of hlaefmass, loaf mass or Lammas at this time. For these agricultural communities this was the first day of the harvest, when the fields would be glowing with corn and reaping would begin. The harvest period would continue until Samhain when the last stores for the winter months would be put away. Although farming is not an important part of modern life, Lughnasadh is still seen as a harvest festival by Pagans and symbols connected with the reaping of corn predominate in its rites.” – BBC Religion and Ethics

Happy harvest! Hail to the many-gifted!

Tags: Neopaganism