Lughnasadh / Lammas

Upcoming Lughnasadh class: 7.26.2023

A Lughnasadh Prayer

Hoof and Horn
Hoof and Horn
All that dies will be reborn!
Corn and Grain
Corn and Grain
All that falls shall rise again!

Traditional Pagan round

Harvest Season is here!

Summer will not last forever. No matter how we try to deny or ignore it, this fact persists in the back of our sun-addled minds. However, by recognizing the fleeting nature of this superior season one can embrace the fullness of the Earth’s bounty at its highest point. This is the thinking behind Lughnasadh, also called Lammas. Currently, modern Pagans observe this Sabbat on August 1 & 2. It is celebrated by Witches, Pagans, and other Heathens all over the Northern Hemisphere.

The Sabbat is named after Lugh. He is an Irish Storm and Sun God with skills like crafting, fighting, musical artistry, and sorcery. Markedly, He wins the gift of agriculture for the Tuatha Dé Danann in battle.

At Beltane, The God rises. At Lughnasadh, He Falls.

This is the first of three harvests of the year, the moment when we gather the very best of our year’s efforts. This celebration was a multi day festival for some cultures.

And we see this miracle of abundance in our modern world right now. Here in the Americas, the grain harvest has begun. The harvest starts in the South and will continue up the continent until it arrives in Canada in mid-August. Green Corn Ceremony will be held by Indigenous tribes all over the country. For modern Witches and Pagans, this is a time to step into our power and begin harvesting and sharing the gold in our lives (hint: it starts with knowing how to identify it!)

But nearly all ancient celebrations culminated in the sacrifice of the regent or Sovereign.

And this regent or Leader was the living symbol of the Sun God. Sometimes a proxy like a bull or another animal was brought in. Sometimes it was prisoners of war who were sacrificed. And sometimes these sacrifices were only symbolic. Past and prospective leaders held a mock battle where the old King “died” and the new King bested him.

Depending on the culture and era, it may be the Goddess who kills him, or his successor. Or he may sacrifice himself. Regardless, the metaphor represents the process of this light-bearing deity pumping themselves up to their final form. Then, they are harvested at that pinnacle moment for the ultimate benefit of the people and the land. It is this intense power shift that kicks off a series of events that lead to the Solar God’s upcoming journey through the Underworld that is fall and winter.

One of the Greater Cross-Quarter Sabbats, Lughnasadh is also known as Lammas which translates loosely to “loaf mass.”

Pagans of old would have observed Lammas in several ways.

The most common was baking a loaf of bread with grains from the literal first armful of the first harvest. As well as simply enjoying some bread, this loaf was treated differently by various Pagan groups. Some split up the bread, and everyone working the harvest got a small bite. Another tradition was to break up the loaf and sprinkle the crumbs in the fields. This returned the energy back to the land. Yet another practice was to cut the loaf into quarters and place them in the corners of the grain storage, to protect the harvest as it came in. Another nearly universal custom was to leave the last stalk of grain standing in the filed. To cut it was to signify a lack of faith that more grain would rise.

“Corn Dollies” are another long-standing Lughnasadh tradition (we see them at other Sabbats as well.)

Woven from reeds and husks, corn dollies could represent the Goddess or the God, or both. Further, depending on the Pagan tradition, they may be burned, buried in the soil after harvest, or saved and worked with through Winter and Spring. In all regards, the corn dollies are an embodiment of the “old” energy cycle, and are seen by Pagans are carrying the old energy into the new cycle, connecting past, present, and future harvests.

Pagans didn’t focus solely on the land, and its capacity to produce. They also honored sources of water. Moreover, ancient peoples would have gone out to the local well, river or pond and “dressed” it with garlands, flowers, and art, honoring all the sources of abundance in their world.

Other Lughnasadh or Lammas traditions

• purifying and warding the home
• reaffirmed commitments to friends and loved ones
• trying to wrap up unfinished projects and deals
• and looking at what could be sacrificed in our lives

Ritual sacrifice plays a key role at Lughnasadh, and has been a part of cultures around the world throughout time. Those who think that we no longer partake in such barbaric traditions unfortunately need only look at our modern propensity toward war. This is surely a form of sacrifice—August has historically seen more wars than any other month.

A sacrifice does not always entail blood, however. It is just as appropriate to the season to offer our “sins” or our “shadow” to be sacrificed. Our prejudices, our unhealthy habits, our lazy ways of thinking, our fear, our insecurities, our shame—the “dross” in us that holds us back from being a “light-bringer.”

Many of the deities and heroes worshiped at this time of year are warriors, leaders, and light-bringers, such as the Irish Lugh, Egyptian Hatshepsut, and Greek Prometheus.

We each carry a sacred fire in us that could light up the world if we could share it, but it is often buried under doubt, insecurities, and fear. What is holding you back from being a source of light to your community? What’s holding back the people around you?

Above all, there’s one other element to this holiday: Death. This is the last six weeks of the Sun’s full power, and after this, the days get shorter and colder. Crom Dubh, the “Dark Crooked One” of Irish myth, has his holy day at this time too. Like the dark spot on the bright side of the Yin-Yang symbol, Crom arrives in the heart of the heat and Sun to remind you, this is finite.

The Wheel turns.
I encourage you to drink deeply of the golden summer while we have it.

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LUGHNASADH
WITCH’S WORK
Power, Maturation, Leadership, Production

PLANT HELPERS
Mugwort, Rowan, Heather, Honeysuckle, Poppy, Oakmoss

STONE HELPERS
Sunstone, Gold, Pyrite, Kunzite, Moss Agate, Geodes

THEMES FOR MEDITATION
What have you sown this year?
What loose ends or toxic people are draining you?
Finally, can you anticipate what is in the upcoming Harvest?

Lughnasadh Season Work

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