Lughnasadh, also known as Lúnasa or Lammas, is celebrated on August 1st which is halfway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox.
Lughnasadh is an ancient Gaelic celebration that honors the God of light and craftmanship, Lugh, in a gathering of people, or assembly referred to as nasad. Today, Lughnasadh is a harvest festival marking the time when the first crops would have been traditionally reaped. Grain is the center of the festival as it is threshed and milled after the first harvest.
Video Ritual
Corn, bread, and baskets filled with fruit adorn the altars during this festival. Bright harvest colors of gold, orange, and yellow are used for candles, ribbons to tie ears of corn, and other decorations. 🎉 Lughnasadh celebrates the cycle of rebirth as it recognizes the abundance and thriving of the world around us while at the same time acknowledging that everything will soon die.
Lughnasadh Solitary Ritual Celebration
Celebrate Lughnasadh/Lammas as a solitary Witch or with other pagans. This simple ritual can be performed by Wiccans or anyone else really.
What you’ll need
1 candle (red, orange, yellow, or gold)
Stones (in harvest colors)
1 small plate
Paper and pen
Lighter or matches
How to perform the ritual
- Place the small plate and stones upon the altar. This ritual can be performed inside or outside.
- Relax and visualize a white light in the center of your body. As you breathe, expand the light throughout your belly and limbs knowing that it is cleansing your body of any tension and frustrations.
- Light the candle and say:
- Take a moment to focus on the talents and skills that you possess. Write them down.
- When you’re ready, take a stone and hold it up to the candle. Think of one of your talents or skills, and say:
- Place the stone on the plate. Repeat this as many times as skills you want to honor. Take a moment to honor yourself by gazing upon all of the stones on the plate.
- Say a prayer for Lugh on this sabbat:
- Extinguish the candle, or keep it lit while you exercise one of your many skills.
Notes
- 🖨️ Scroll down to find a printable Lammas celebration page.
You can place the stones on your altar or in a space where you can see them. In this way, you can gain energy throughout the year for your crafts and talents.
Lughnasadh Correspondences & Ritual
These PDF pages come with a transparent background so you can print it on any kind of printer-friendly parchment paper.
More Ways to Celebrate Lughnasadh! 🌽
There are many activities Wiccans and Pagans can do to tune in with the energies of Lughnasadh:
Lughnasadh is a great time to be thankful, enjoy a loaf of bread and offer a piece to your deities on your altar, welcoming the prosperity and abundance of the harvest. 🍞 This bread represents everything that you have managed to harvest in your life: work, relationships, family, career achievements.
- Decorate your altar with yellow flowers 🌻, seasonal fruits, vegetables and especially cereals such as corn and wheat (but also oats, chickpeas, lentils, beans or rice).
- Scroll down to find a coloring page to celebrate Lugh! 🖨️
- Enjoy a fruit that contains seeds, realizing that this fruit does not die when you eat it because its seed will return to the earth and give life again, to sprout and be reborn.
- Choose colors that remind you of the abundance of the earth and the fields: green, golden, brown, yellow.
- Make a doll with straw or corn leaves that will represent the Sun God. He will keep you company during the year and protect your home or your altar. The next Lughnasadh, burn your doll as a sign that a cycle is complete, his death is a sign that a new one is about to be born.
Click here to Discover More Ways to Celebrate Lughnasadh/Lammas
Who is Lugh?
Lugh or Lug is an Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past.
He is known by the epithets:
- Lámhfhada (meaning “long arm” or “long hand”), for his skill with a spear or sling,
- Ildánach (“skilled in many arts”),
- Samhildánach (“Equally skilled in many arts”),
- Lonnbeimnech (“fierce striker” or perhaps “sword-shouter”)
Words containing Lu, as in the word Lugh itself, have appeared for millennia always meaning light or sun or sun god. Luwian Apaliunas, Hurrian Aplu, Etruscan Apulu, Latin Apollo.
Lugh’s mastery of all arts has led many to link him with the unnamed Gaulish god Julius Caesar identifies with Mercury, whom he describes as the “inventor of all the arts”. 🎨
It is also worth noting that parallels exist between the Irish Lugh, Gaulish Lugus, German Wotan, the English Woden, and Norse Odin. Odin was worshipped by the Norse as a god of war among other things, including poetry and the arts.
🧡🌾Love this Lughnasadh ritual!!
I think, for me at least, it’s important to take the time to remind myself of my gifts, as I am definitely my own worst critic. What a refreshing way to connect to them, see them laid out before me, and be reminded of these unique abilities. In doing so, I am also evoking grateful for my gifts, and furthermore, am encouraged to honor them daily.
Thank you Francisco!! 🪞👀