Lughnasadh (pronounced Loo-NAS-ah), is the first harvest festival. It has been celebrated by pagan cultures in England for thousands of years. Originally by the Celts (whom some people prefer to call Brythons), but also by the Saxons and the Romans. For ancient civilisations such as these, the harvest was very important. If the crops in the fields were not harvested in time, and not processed in time to preserve them, families could starve through the winter. The harvest was so crucial to them, that if anything went wrong, it could literally result in the whole community dying of starvation. They celebrated the harvest and the abundance of food available to them, giving thanks to the Grain Goddess / Earth Mother for such a good harvest. Often making a small offering of thanks to her with either the first loaf of bread they baked, or the last sheaf of grain they harvested.
Today, we notice Lughnasadh as a time when our gardens are overflowing with abundance, the berries are ripe for picking, the grass is tall and full of seed, many fruits and vegetables are ready to be harvested. Even though we don’t have to struggle to harvest our crops to keep us alive through winter, we can just pop to the local shop for another loaf of bread, it is still nice to honour our ancestors and respect them as we remember the hard work and difficulty they had to endure. We give thanks for the food on our tables, the bounty of the earth, and the knowledge that we will have enough to eat through the coming winter months.
Even on a personal level, this is a time for reaping what we have sown these past few months. What new skills have you learnt recently? What have you been working on that the hard work is now starting to pay off for? It is also a time for planning ahead to winter, but also planning our personal lives, as nature reflects our our own lives.
We celebrate the cycle of life, death and rebirth. As we remember the cycle of nature, plants go to seed and die back for winter, only to have the plants reborn as the seeds in the earth will begin new life in spring. The cycle goes round and round.
Where deities are concerned, we generally think of the Goddess as with child at this time, and the Horned God weakens, and in some traditions, he dies now with the harvesting of the grain. (He will later be reborn as the child of the Goddess, to later grow and become her consort, and the cycle goes round and round). Right now, some paths believe as the God dies, his body becomes food for us in the grain: bread his body, beer his blood. He gives us sustenance through the winter months.
Lughnasadh is also a day to honour Lugh, the Celtic God of Craftsmen. We acknowledge our own skills and abilities, and it is a great time to spend practicing that craft and producing something symbolic of the harvest and/or as an offering to Lugh. For example, I consider myself an artist, I am grateful for this skill, so will happily spend some time drawing in honour of Lugh, and recognising this skill I am blessed with. Thank you, Lugh!
How to celebrate Lughnasadh?
Lughnasadh has traditionally been celebrated in England with country fairs, the selling of livestock and grain, arts and crafts, and festivities in the forms of games, friendly competition, feasting, music, dancing and much merriment. It is a time to gather with friends, celebrate the abundance we have in our lives, not just the food, but crafts, skills, and all things in our lives. Thank the Goddess for our gifts of food and life (gifts from the earth), and thank Lugh (Patron God of the Arts and Crafts) for your many skills and abilities.
Decorate with signs of the season - sickles, wheat sheafs, harvest decorations - berries, grapes, vines, fruits and vegetables ripening at this time of year. Make Corn Dolls, Apple Candleholders, Berry Bracelets, Harvest Wreaths and any other nature based decorations you can think of! Sunflowers and any other plant associated with this time of year. The sun is strong and full - so use colours of the season. If you don’t have all these decorations, make them. If you can’t make them (perhaps due to lack of local materials or skill), then draw them, or cut out pictures and make a collage picture to focus on. Lughnasadh is about skill and craftwork - learning new skills or expressing one you already possess.
Make delicious food, great time for bread baking, jam making, anything to do with food that is being harvested at this time of year. Enjoy eating this kind of food now too - even enjoy a bowl of cereal! Make use of any artistic and crafty skill you have, make something or try something new and learn a new skill! Enjoy fun music, dancing, jolly merrymaking - Have Fun and remember to be thankful.
Today, we notice Lughnasadh as a time when our gardens are overflowing with abundance, the berries are ripe for picking, the grass is tall and full of seed, many fruits and vegetables are ready to be harvested. Even though we don’t have to struggle to harvest our crops to keep us alive through winter, we can just pop to the local shop for another loaf of bread, it is still nice to honour our ancestors and respect them as we remember the hard work and difficulty they had to endure. We give thanks for the food on our tables, the bounty of the earth, and the knowledge that we will have enough to eat through the coming winter months.
Even on a personal level, this is a time for reaping what we have sown these past few months. What new skills have you learnt recently? What have you been working on that the hard work is now starting to pay off for? It is also a time for planning ahead to winter, but also planning our personal lives, as nature reflects our our own lives.
We celebrate the cycle of life, death and rebirth. As we remember the cycle of nature, plants go to seed and die back for winter, only to have the plants reborn as the seeds in the earth will begin new life in spring. The cycle goes round and round.
Where deities are concerned, we generally think of the Goddess as with child at this time, and the Horned God weakens, and in some traditions, he dies now with the harvesting of the grain. (He will later be reborn as the child of the Goddess, to later grow and become her consort, and the cycle goes round and round). Right now, some paths believe as the God dies, his body becomes food for us in the grain: bread his body, beer his blood. He gives us sustenance through the winter months.
Lughnasadh is also a day to honour Lugh, the Celtic God of Craftsmen. We acknowledge our own skills and abilities, and it is a great time to spend practicing that craft and producing something symbolic of the harvest and/or as an offering to Lugh. For example, I consider myself an artist, I am grateful for this skill, so will happily spend some time drawing in honour of Lugh, and recognising this skill I am blessed with. Thank you, Lugh!
How to celebrate Lughnasadh?
Lughnasadh has traditionally been celebrated in England with country fairs, the selling of livestock and grain, arts and crafts, and festivities in the forms of games, friendly competition, feasting, music, dancing and much merriment. It is a time to gather with friends, celebrate the abundance we have in our lives, not just the food, but crafts, skills, and all things in our lives. Thank the Goddess for our gifts of food and life (gifts from the earth), and thank Lugh (Patron God of the Arts and Crafts) for your many skills and abilities.
Decorate with signs of the season - sickles, wheat sheafs, harvest decorations - berries, grapes, vines, fruits and vegetables ripening at this time of year. Make Corn Dolls, Apple Candleholders, Berry Bracelets, Harvest Wreaths and any other nature based decorations you can think of! Sunflowers and any other plant associated with this time of year. The sun is strong and full - so use colours of the season. If you don’t have all these decorations, make them. If you can’t make them (perhaps due to lack of local materials or skill), then draw them, or cut out pictures and make a collage picture to focus on. Lughnasadh is about skill and craftwork - learning new skills or expressing one you already possess.
Make delicious food, great time for bread baking, jam making, anything to do with food that is being harvested at this time of year. Enjoy eating this kind of food now too - even enjoy a bowl of cereal! Make use of any artistic and crafty skill you have, make something or try something new and learn a new skill! Enjoy fun music, dancing, jolly merrymaking - Have Fun and remember to be thankful.
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