Post by Joanna on Jul 30, 2014 23:56:32 GMT -5
Lughnasadh August 1st
Lughnasach is an Irish Gaelic name for the feast held around August 1st, which 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 labors, and seeing the desires that we had at the start of the year unfold so rituals will be centered around this. Lammas is an early Christian festival, "lammas" means loaf mass and represented the first loaves baked from that year’s crop. These were taken to church and placed on the altar.
Lughnasadh 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. Colors associated with Lammas are golds, yellows and orange for the God and red for the Goddess as mother.
Lammas is traditionally the first harvest. Look around and you will see various trees, namely rowan, yielding bright red berries and brambles showing ripening fruits along with apple and pear trees. In this day and age when food is mass-produced and imported so we get fruits and vegetables, including corn, no matter the time of year, it is easy to lose touch with the natural cycle of things.
Suggested Activities: Creating and decorating ritual items such as a stang (popular ritual tool). Walking through the woods to meditate in beautiful surroundings. Making bread for the feast. Making a wicker man, placing all your bad habits inside him and tossing him onto the bonfire. Making corn dollies.
Source: The White Goddess.
See also “Dark Beings of Lughnasadh”: whatliesbeyond.boards.net/thread/5710/dark-beings-lughnasadh
“Deeper into Lughnasadh”: whatliesbeyond.boards.net/thread/2138/essence-lughnasadh
“How Neo-Pagans Celebrate Lughnasadh”: whatliesbeyond.boards.net/thread/7212/neo-pagans-celebrate-lughnasadh
“Lammas: Its Origins”: whatliesbeyond.boards.net/thread/4104/lammas-origins
“Lammas Ritual”: whatliesbeyond.boards.net/thread/2135/lammas-ritual
“The Night Sky of Lammas”: whatliesbeyond.boards.net/thread/4122/night-sky-lammas
“Standing Stones and Lughnasadh”: whatliesbeyond.boards.net/thread/4108/standing-stones-lughnasadh
