Lughnasadh (Lammas)
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
This festival occurs on August 1 and marks the ending of the Celtic summer. Lughnasadh (pronounced loo-nah-suh) is the time for the first harvests, particularly of wheat and corn. It is named after an Irish God “Lugh” and translates to “Lugh’s Festival.” Again, balefires are lit to honor the life-giving spirit of the earth. In some cultures this festival has a somber facet in that sacrifice is the theme. They are “killing” the grains for harvest and the Corn God is laying down his life so that we can be fed and continue to live. This demonstrates how we rely on the bounty of nature. During the corn harvest the Druids always left outdoors a supply of seed corn as an offering to the gods of the harvest. In other regions the last cutting of a sheaf of corn was made into elaborate corn dollies, which were used as an offering. In ancient Ireland, this festival lasted a whole month and included competitive sporting events as part of the celebration of the beginning of harvest.
The Christian version of Lughnasadh is known as Lammas. Some believe this is derived from an Old English word for loaf mass, while others maintain that Lammas is a combination of lamb and mass, echoing a time when lambs were offered as a tribute to feudal lords. During medieval times loaves of bread were baked from the first grains of the harvest and blessed in a church ceremony known as loaf mass.
Both of these festivals honor the fruits of the harvest with contests, games and a bountiful feast. Symbols connected with these celebrations are grains, breads, threshing tools and blackberries. If using a smudge-stick for purifying the air, one would burn cornstalks, heather, frankincense or wheat.