All you need to know about Lughnasadh
Lughnasadh (which is typically pronounced LOO-nah-sah) is also known as Lammas, Frey Fest, August Eve, The Festival of Bread, or Loaf Mass Day. Lammas is named after the God, Lugh. Nasagh means "to give in marriage". Lughnasadh is the Feast of the Bread. It is usually celebrated around August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a pagan holiday and one of the eight Wiccan sabbats during the year. Each sabbat marks a seasonal turning point.
By celebrating Lughnasadh,
we honor our ancestors and the hard work they must have had to do in order to
survive. This is a good time to give thanks for the abundance we have in our
lives and to be grateful for the food on our tables. Lughnasadh is a time of
transformation, rebirth, and new beginnings. It is the beginning of the
harvest season, the first true autumn harvest festival of the year. Lughnasadh
is not just any harvest festival; it is literally a wheat harvest. It is the
midpoint celebration between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. Lammas
is most associated with the first of the harvest celebration encompassing hay,
grain, and cereal yields, and is best known for temporary hand-fasting (lasting
one year and a day). Fruits and vegetables which ripen in the late summer are
also a part of the traditional feast.
In the southern hemisphere, the festivals in the Wheel of the Year
are reversed so while Lammas takes place in February, the opposite festival in
the year, Imbolc, takes place in August. Where Lammas is a harbinger of fall,
Imbolc is a harbinger of spring, both heralding a time of greater balance and
reflection.
At Lughnasadh, the Goddess is in her aspect as Grain Mother,
Harvest Mother, Harvest Queen, Earth Mother, Ceres, and Demeter. Demeter, as
Corn Mother, represents the ripe corn of this year's harvest and her daughter,
Kore/Persephone represents the grain - the seed which drops back deep into the
dark earth, hidden throughout the winter, and reappears in the spring as new growth.
In Ireland, the festival is centered all around the god, Lugh. He
is the great Celtic Sun King and God of Light. Lugh is the god of
craftsmanship; he is skilled in many things, including blacksmithing, wheel
making, and fighting. There is some discrepancy as to why Lugh is honored on
this day. Some tales say that this is the date of Lugh’s wedding feat. Other
stories say it is because he held a harvest fair in honor of his foster mother,
Tailtiu, on this date. Feasting, market fairs, games, bonfire celebrations,
circle dancing, reflecting the movement of the sun in sympathetic magic, and
community gatherings are all the ways people celebrated today.
Crystals associated with Lammas are aventurine,
citrine, carnelian, malachite, Shiva lingams, Peridot, and tourmaline. You can
set these on your altar, carry them with you, use them in a crystal grid, or
place them in the kitchen while baking some amazing bread to bring in some
Lammas energies.
Herbs, Flowers, and Incenses you can use to cleanse or bake with
or even just decorate your space are thyme, rosemary, sage, mugwort, basil,
marigolds, sunflowers, ivy, and frankincense. Heather, acacia, hollyhock,
myrtle, oak leaves, milkweed, and rose are also included. If you want to smoke
cleanse, you can use common garden sage, wheat, and lemongrass.
Colors normally associated with Lammas are yellow,
gold, brown, red, and orange. You can wear these colors to bring in some color
magic or use them to decorate.
Animals associated with today are roosters, deer,
cows, sheep, crows, pigs, and salmon.
Symbols associated with today are sickles and scythes, grapes, vines, sea shells, dried grain, corn dolls, late summer
fruits, sunflowers, and sun wheels. You can decorate with these around your home
or just an altar.
Deities often associated with Lammas are Lugh,
Dagon, Demeter, Ceres, Isis, Taranis, Dummuzi, Luna, and Dana.
Food that you can make or just enjoy during this
time are wheat, grains, cereals, bread, cakes, corn, ale or mead, beer, cider,
honey, berries (especially blackberries), pears, or anything you harvested from
your own garden! I've gotten a lot of tomatoes recently and will be cooking
with them! Wheat and honey are also meant to welcome prosperity to the
hearth and home as well if you would like to add a little of that while you are
celebrating!
Some activities you can do include:
· 1. Baking bread and cakes to celebrate the
historical grain harvest. You can even just make muffins, rolls, or fruit pies.
Blackberry pie is a common one that is made.
· 2. Have a harvest ritual. This ritual typically
involves decorating an altar with symbols of the season. Some of these rituals
involve casting a circle and saying some words that symbolize their thanks to
the earth for the harvest. After the ritual, everyone there eats some bread
together, and may also drink wine to wash it down.
· 3. You can make crafts and decorations for your
house, such as sun wheels or corn dolls. You can try wheat weaving; make bird
feeders, sand candles, or a wreath out of grain.
· 4. You can go out and enjoy some sunflowers. This
is the time when most are either starting to bloom or have been blooming. I
actually planted a lot this year with the help of my husband and nephew. They
have been blooming for about two weeks now and are so beautiful! I'm very
excited about them!
· 5. You can have a bonfire, safely, in a fire pit
or if you can't do that, light some yellow or orange candles.
· 6. You can give an offering to the Earth as
thanks for the harvest. Just make sure that it is safely done. You don't want
to leave plastics, glass, or anything unsafe to animals around. Make sure
everything is biodegradable. You can leave crystals, sunflower seeds, nuts, a
bouquet of flowers and herbs, or even just bird seeds.
· 7. This is also a great time to clean up space
in nature. Pick up trash or do some weeding around your place, your
neighborhood, or a park. You will feel great and the Earth will thank you for
your efforts.
· 8. You can celebrate today just by spending some
extra time tending to your garden as well. This will also help you connect to
the Earth and ground you, especially if you are able to enjoy some time in the
grass barefoot.
· 9. Just spend some time outside. Visit fields,
orchards, lakes, ponds, or parks. Enjoy a walk outside, go camping, or have an
outdoor picnic.
· 10. You can enjoy some late summer fruit. As an
added bonus, you can plant the seed from the fruit you enjoyed. If they sprout,
grow the plant with love as a symbol of your connection with Earth.
· 11. August was also considered the best month for
handfastings and weddings, so maybe that's an option for you too
· 12. This is also a great time for some prosperity
or success spells or even just the repayment of debts.
· 13. You can decorate your space, home, or even
just an altar. You can use bread or grains, apples, pinecones, sunflowers,
crystals, herbs, or seasonal colors. You can use seasonal flowers, such as
Black-Eye Susan or Cone Flowers, or even just herbs from your own garden.
· 14. As with most Sabbaths, there is feasting. This
feast usually is prepared with your own harvested crops at this time (if you
have your own garden). You can have a potluck at this time with your friends or
family or enjoy a simple dinner alone. The possibilities are endless!
·
Lughnasadh is also a time for reflection so it
is a perfect time for Journaling. It allows you to get a clear idea of things. What
intentions did you set at the very beginning of this year or anytime before or
around the spring equinox in March? Think about resolutions you made, intentions
you set, and even just ideals you wanted to embody this year. How’s it going so
far? Have you stuck with it and/or manifested what you wanted? Have you decided
that goal is no longer for you? This is the time to reflect on these past few
months and consider how far you've come and what still needs to be done. It is
the last opportunity to really picot and make adjustments to your plans.
A simple Solitary Ritual Celebration:
Light a yellow or gold candle. Meditate over it for a few moments
to calm yourself and get in the right headspace. Think of all the things that have been given to you in the past season. Write them down on a small sheet of
paper.
"I give thanks to the Gods/Goddesses/Earth/Universe/Whatever
you use for ....(list your items here).
...Thank you/Blessed Be/ Anything that
gives thanks at the end"
When you are finished, burn the sheet of paper in a fire-safety
container. End the ritual with: "I give thanks to the Gods/Goddesses/Earth/Universe/Whatever you use who bring life and
light, death and rebirth, rest and renewal. Thank
you/Blessed Be/ Anything that gives thanks at the end"
Leave an offering if you can and meditate as long as you wish.
A simple Lammas crystal grid:
You will need:
·
1 large citrine for the center. This can be a
tower, sphere, tumble, rough, or any other shape. It just needs to be larger
than the rest of the crystals.
·
4 carnelians. They can be rough or tumbled.
·
8 rose petals, but you can also use any other
petal from a seasonal flower, or seasonal herb. It is what calls to you and
makes sense to you the most.
·
4 clear quartz Points. These should be points
so that they can direct the energy outwards. They can be rough or tumbled but
should have one pointed end.
·
8 black tourmaline. These can be rough or
tumbled.
·
Plus you will need one crystal point to act as
a wand to connect everything. This one will not be used in a grid. You can use
a wand you already have and use, a clear quartz point, or selenite point.
Whatever you use, you should use something with a point on the end so that it
can direct your energy.
When picking these crystals, it is what calls to you. You always
want to follow your intuition or gut feelings when making a crystal grid.
Instructions:
The first thing you need to do is cleanse your crystals, yourself,
and your space. Once everything is cleansed, take time to ground yourself.
If you are using a crystal grid cloth or board, you would make
sure it is placed where you want your grid. You can also just make the grid on
a photo, a picture you painted or printed, an advertisement for something you
want to attract this season, or just the table. It can be as fancy or as plain
as you want it to be.
Most places tell you to work outward to in when placing the
crystals, but you build it how it feels right to you. This is your crystal
grid. No one else's. You make it how it feels right to you. I normally start
with my centerpiece and work out. So I would place my Citrine in the middle
first, right in the center of where you want your grid to be. Next, I would
place the carnelian, then the petals or herbs, then the black tourmaline,
leaving the clear points last. Again, you place these how it feels best to you.
You also have the choice to follow a grid you found online, copy the one I have
pictured, or just place them how you feel it needs to be placed.
After you have your grid all set up, you will take your wand or
point, and "connect" all the crystals like you are playing an
invisible game of connect the dots, and all your crystals and herbs are the
dots. Make sure you go over each one at least once, connecting them all back to
your center point. While you are connecting them, you will speak your intention
of the crystal grid out loud. Such as, this Lammas crystal grid is to attract
the energies of this season into your home, bringing prosperity, abundance of a
great harvest, creativity, and protection. Whatever your intention is with this
grid, make sure that when you are done "connecting the dots", give
thanks to the universe.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Then your grid is all set and can be left up for at least one month, before needing to be cleansed and reset.
A simple bread recipe found at Butter With a Side of Bread.
Ingredients
·
2 cups warm water
·
½ cup white sugar
·
1 ½ TBSP active dry yeast
·
1 ½ tsp salt
·
¼ cup vegetable oil
·
5-6 cups flour
all-purpose flour OR bread flour
Instructions
In a large bowl, or a stand mixer, dissolve 2 TBSP of the sugar in
the warm water. I just combine the two and whisk slightly to dissolve the
sugar. Stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam, about
5 minutes.
Add in remaining sugar, salt and oil. Begin to mix, using a rubber
scraper or the dough hook on your stand mixer. Add the flour one cup at a time,
reserving the last cup of flour to see if you need it. You might not use all of
the flour. The dough should pull away and clean the bowl, sticking on the bottom
in a small circle about the size of a quarter. If your dough does this with
just 5 cups of flour, do not add more. However, if your dough still sticks to
the bowl, add more a couple tablespoons at a time until it cleans the bowl,
sticking in just a small circle on the bottom.
Now knead dough for 7 minutes. Set a timer as a full knead is
important! Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a
damp cloth. Allow to rise in a warm area until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Knead for 1 minute and divide dough in half.
Shape into loaves and place into two greased 9×5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise
for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
Bake at 350° F (175° C) for 30-40 minutes. Cool, brush with butter
and enjoy!
