Lughnasadh (or Lammas) isn’t the best known of Celtic festivals (compared to Yule, Samhain, or Bealtaine), but it holds a special place in my heart. When my husband and I first met, he was playing with a pagan folk band called Omnia, and the band was asked to play the first edition of the Dutch fantasy festival Castlefest, organised around the Celtic feast of Lughnasadh. The festival has since grown into one of Europe’s best, and Lughnasadh has become a permanent part of my life. In this blog post, I write about how to celebrate Lammas - another name for Lughnasadh - and share with you its themes and energies. My intention is that you get some ideas for how to mark this particular stop on the wheel of the year in a way that serves you best.

So is it Lammas or Lughnasadh?

Lammas and Lughnasadh are two names for the same holiday, celebrated on August 1st or 2nd in the Northern Hemisphere and February 1st or 2nd in the Southern Hemisphere.

Either name is fine, as both are still in use.

Lughnasadh is the old Irish name for the festival - and the old spelling too. You can also say Lunasadh and Lúnasa. Fun fact: Lúnasa is actually the Irish word for August!

Lammas is the Christianized name, what the Church called the holiday when it tried to get people to forget their pagan ways. Funnily, this word is still used by modern-day Wiccans and neo-pagans, which was surely not the Church’s intention!

I believe that Lammas is also used in Scotland, though I’m not sure what the history is there.

In any case, my preference is Lughnasadh. It’s how I first learned of this festival, and I find it strange to call it anything else. You can obviously call it whatever name resonates most with you!

What is Lughnasadh (or Lammas) all about?

Lughnasadh is named after the Celtic god Lugh, who was associated with the sun and the harvest. Interestingly, Lugh was a god of many skills, including craftsmanship, warfare, and agriculture. According to legend, he started the festival as a funeral feast to honor his foster mother, Tailtiu, who died after clearing the land for agriculture in Ireland. The festival was also a time to celebrate the first fruits of the harvest and to give thanks to the gods for the bounty of the earth.

In addition to being a harvest festival, Lughnasadh was also a time for games and competitions. According to tradition, Tailtiu had asked that her death not be mourned, but instead celebrated with games and festivities. As a result, Lughnasadh became a time for athletic and other competitions, as well as for feasting and celebration.

The Sun: what does it symbolize for you?

Lughnasadh is the feast of Lugh, the Celtic Sun God. If you have (or want to build) a relationship with Lugh (or another sun deity), this would be a good time to connect with them through meditation, or to leave them an offering.

I personally don’t work with any sun deities specifically, and prefer to address themes I personally associate with the Sun.

For me, the Sun is masculine, outward energy. It is the energy of being brave, shining your light in the world, being willing to be in the spotlight. If you’re into astrology like me, you may find the parallels with Leo season interesting as well.

Here are some questions I like to ask at this time:

• how am I doing with shining my light, sharing my work, being in the spotlight?
• am I being brave and allowing myself to be seen?
• is there anywhere I’m still hiding in the shadows?

If you run your own business or are the leader of a project of some kind, this energy may refer to how you show up for that. But it can also simply be about how you take space in the world, and whether you allow yourself to choose for what you really want or believe in.

Like with anything, take the Sun energy and make it your own.

Other themes I associate with the Sun and Lugh are:

• shadow vs light: what do you need to shine a light on right now? what have you been ignoring or procrastinating on addressing? what needs your attention? where are you being dishonest, including with yourself? where are you deluding yourself?
  
  
• self-care: sitting with the warmth of the sun on your skin can feel nourishing and loving (unless you overdo it!) - where can you allow yourself to be nourished in a gentle way?
  
  
• skills & talents: what are you really good at? which of your skills and talents deserve more attention? which could be more in the spotlight?

Take some time to ask yourself what YOU associate with Sun energy - and see how you can work with those themes at this time of the year.

Honoring the Earth and its bounty

Lughnasadh is a harvest festival so Earth themes are also appropriate. If you have (or want to develop) a relationship with an Earth deity, this is a good time to connect with them. Earth deities include Demeter, Danu and Gaia.

Or you can simply connect to the Earth wherever you live or happen to be at this time. My husband and son arranged some stones in a  circle for me in our backyard, and I will take some time to sit within it and ask the earth to support me.

You can also do something that makes you feel grateful for the food that the Earth gives us - for example, baking bread or making a salad with local produce.

Lughnasadh is a harvest festival - so what are we harvesting?

Traditionally, wheat and other grains were harvested at this time. Lughnasadh was the first of 3 harvests, meaning that supplies would have been low just before it, having had to last since the previous year. Understandably, it was a time of celebration and gratitude.

You’re probably not harvesting actual wheat though, and neither am I.

But we can still tap into the energies of the season, harvest the fruits of our labor and feel grateful for progress achieved so far - what does that mean to you specifically?

Take some time to journal about what’s going well and how far you’ve come already. We often tend to focus on what hasn’t happened yet, but usually there’s lots of things that DID happen, and it’s nice to notice them. Not to mention effective as part of a manifesting practice!

Don't forget to prepare for the future, too.

Yes, Lughnasadh is a time of harvesting, of noticing and appreciating the fruits of your labor. But remember that it's only the first of 3 harvest festivals, and only the beginning of the transition into Fall. Which means that it's also important to make some preparations for the coming months.

Ask yourself where you want to be by the end of September? How about November? What would you love to have created, achieved or experienced? How could you give yourself the best possible chance of success? 

For me, this is where the link to back-to-school season comes in... since I was a little girl, I have loved this time of year, and the beautiful Fall months stretching out before me. Still so much potential left in the year! So much time and space! It's the season of crisp blank notebooks and new glitter pens; of planning, dreaming and manifesting.

So how to celebrate Lughnasadh? 

I’m a big believer in living with the seasons. Certain energies are stronger at certain times of the year, and I think that tapping into them helps us stay in soul alignment and connected to the magic of the universe.

I’m also a big believer in marking the seasonal changes in ways that work for YOU, instead of following books or trying to recreate what your ancestors did.

So I invite you to start by asking yourself what you feel about this time of the year.

What’s typically happening in your life at this time? What’s happening in your life this particular year? What feels important?

When you think about the season that’s starting, what does that mean to you? For example, in the Northern Hemisphere we’re moving towards back-to-school season, which carries its own needs and traditions. If this is significant for you, you may want to mark it in some way.

Next, look outside where you live and notice what’s happening in nature. What part of the cycle are you observing? How could you honor the energy of what you’re seeing, and transfer it to your own life?

I live in Ireland, so Lughnasadh marks the beginning of the transition between Summer and Fall. Fall is my favorite season, so I will likely create a Fall Bucket List to make the most of it.

Finally, take any of the ideas and prompts in this blog post and add them to your ritual or celebration.

Keep things simple - all you really need is half an hour and a notebook!

The most important is to make any celebration your own.

It has to be meaningful for you, and it should help you connect with yourself and the world around you in some way. This connection is highly personal so your celebration will likely be different to mine. And that's ok! If you like the idea of living with the seasons, and of being more intentional, all that matters is that you make the time to slow down and reflect on where you are and where you're going. The points of the Wheel of the Year give you regular opportunities to do so, and so to me are worth following.

Happy Lughnasadh to you 💕

Love,