A History of Lughnasadh
Disclaimer: This website uses affiliate links, meaning: at no additional cost to you, I earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate or other affiliate program participant, I earn from qualifying purchases. Mabon House only features products that I believe in and use myself. Thank you!
Tip: If you’d prefer to support local retailers in your area, independent booksellers can often order specific books for you and have them delivered to the store for pick up, for the same price as ordering online.
Lughnasadh is the first of three autumn celebrations in the Wheel of the Year. A cross-quarter day, Lughnasadh is celebrated on August 1 (though some celebrate on August 5th when the sun reaches 15 degrees Leo). Named for the Celtic God Lugh, Lughnasadh was later known as Lammas by early Christians. Many modern Lughnasadh traditions are rooted in the ancient customs associated with the first harvest of grain. Marking the midpoint of summer, Lughnasadh is a good time to slow down, reflect and think about the last turn in the Wheel of the Year.
Early Celtic Traditions
Lughnasadh is named for the ancient Celtic God Lugh, who is thought to be an older personification of the Celtic god Bel / Baal (for whom Beltane is named for). Both deities are associated with fire and the sun. In ancient Celtic culture Lughnasadh was a time to start preparing for winter, when the first harvest of grain was cut and vegetables and fruits preserved. Harvest festivals were popular during the period between Lughnasadh and Mabon. People would gather for celebration, games and to trade their produce and wares. In her book Modern Guide to Witchcraft, author Skye Alexander points out that the tradition of harvest festivals lives on through the many rural state and county agricultural fairs throughout the United States.
As Christianity spread into the British Isles beginning around the sixth century, Lughnasadh eventually became known as Lammas, which means loaf mass. This name referred to the first baking of bread of the new harvest, which would be brought to the local parish church to be blessed by the priest. Read more about the history of Lughnasadh & Lammas
Cross-Quarter Days
Lughnasadh is one of the cross-quarter days in the Celtic calendar. A cross-quarter day marks the mid-point between the summer and winter solstices and the spring and autumn equinoxes (also called Quarter Days). Lughnasadh falls on August 1, which is the midpoint between the summer solstice (Litha) and the Autumn Equinox (Mabon). While there is historical debate about whether the Celtic calendar included both quarter and cross-quarter days, the cross-quarter days mark the Celtic beginning of Spring (Imbolc), Summer (Beltane), Autumn (Lughnasadh) and Winter (Samhain). These dates reflect the agrarian cycle of the northern hemisphere, when daily life revolved largey around the harvesting and preserving of food ahead of the long winter months.
Modern Lughnasadh Traditions
Today Lughnasadh is celebrated by pagans and wiccans as one of the eight Wheel of the Year sabbats. Common celebrations include baking bread, making beer, hosting bonfires and decorating your home with seasonal flowers and cornstalks and early gourds.
Lughnasadh as a Time for Reflection
Lughnasadh marks the seventh turn of the Wheel of the Year. The year is 3/4th over and it’s a good time to pause and reflect on how your year has been so far. What are you happy about? What disappointments did you experience? What do you want to focus on between now and Samhain? If you journal, write down what you would like to be, do and have in the coming months. See my favorite journals
Summer days are half over, and so now is a good time to slow down and savor the beautiful weather, if you haven’t done so already. Make a date with friends to go on a picnic or a hike; host a potluck dinner followed by a bonfire; or celebrate solo with a glass of seasonal blackberry wine and some fresh bread.
How are you celebrating Lughnasadh this year? Share in the comments below!
Follow the Mabon House Adventures
More About Lughnasadh
Moonlight Meditation and New Grimoire Pages
The full Meadow Moon (AKA Buck Moon) is happening this week. I’m hoping the skies stay clear so I can have a clear view of it tonight. I’ve been feeling the winds of change tugging at my soul and I want to do some moon meditations to help me focus. I am not a good meditator, so when I do want to practice I prefer late nights, when there is minimal noise and distractions. If the weather is good and the mosquitoes minimal, I’ll sit outside. In colder weather I’ll just plop down on the floor, wherever there is a chunk of moonlight shining in, close my eyes and let my thoughts run. Do you do anything special when you meditate?
New Grimoire Series
This week’s printable is the first in a series I’m planning. I’ve been wanting to create a more formal Wheel of the Year grimoire/journal for myself. I have notes about alchemy, lunar phases, the Wheel of the Year, goddesses, and cultural history scattered throughout several notebooks, binders, planners, post-it notes, ect...
Even though I literally create a yearly Wheel of the Year planner to help folks organize their own spiritual practice, I’m like the carpenter with the half-finished house, never using the planner to its full capacity. As I’ve been researching and writing for my book outline and upcoming printables, I thought wouldn’t it be great if I took ALL my notes and created some printables that I can then just pop into my planner and reference when needed, rather than tearing my office apart trying to remember random notes about which goddess is associated with thunderstorms (It’s Inanna, btw, more on her in a future newsletter).
So first up is a simple series of reference charts and since it is high summer, it seemed natural to start with flowers.
Obviously this is not an exhaustive list of every flower available, but I figured these are all pretty common for most readers. If there are flowers you think should go on the list please let me know either by email or over on Instagram.
If you’d like to do more of your own Wheel of the Year research, be sure to check out the Bookshelf for recommended reading and the books I use when writing for Mabon House and my list of favorite Witchcraft Books Here.
Follow the Mabon House Adventures
Popular Posts
The Joy of Missing Out
This past week the pinks and purples of irises, roses and lupin bid their farewells in my gardens. Now my hillside is in bloom with the tiger lilies and black eyed susan’s, their beautiful orange and gold colors signaling the most subtle shift toward autumn. Even though the heat and humidity of high summer is just now arriving in Maine, there is a sense of urgency to hurry up and enjoy the nice weather while we have it. The Wheel of the Year always seems to turn the fastest in the space between Litha and Lughnasadh.
I love summer, but often wonder if I am not doing it correctly. All my friends - online and IRL - seem to be enjoying an endless array of barbeques and camping trips and summer concerts. Meanwhile, I’m happy to be home, alone, writing, reading or puttering in the garden. I often wonder if I need more friends or need to make more of an effort to be social? I realize that what we see on social media is just a highlight reel of someone’s life, but every summer I still experience a twinge of FOMO. But at the same time, I’ve come to realize that I need a hefty dose of solitude to recharge, and summertime is no exception.
So, imagine my delight when I stumbled across the term JOMO this past weekend. JOMO stands for the Joy of Missing Out and Dictionary.com defines it as:
pleasure derived from living in a quiet or independent way without feeling anxious that one is missing out on exciting or interesting events that may be happening elsewhere
I liked the term so much, I wanted to share it as this week’s printable. I hope you like it!
Just to be clear, I am not a total hermit in the summer. Next week all my chicks are returning to the nest and I am very excited to have us all together again. We will have barbeques and campfires and there may be some singing involved. I’ll also visit the coast again later this month. But the rest of my summer is delightfully plan-less. And that is just fine by me.
Latest Blog Posts
