Celebrate Lughnasadh

Celebrate! Today is Lughnasað.

The word Lugnasað is Gælic in origin and hearkens the Gælic god Lugh:¹

In Celtic mythology, the Lughnasadh festival is said to have been begun by the god Lugh, as a funeral feast and games commemorating his foster-mother, Tailtiu, who died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture.

The word is Gælic, but the time is universal. Every culture that noted the path of the sun knew this time, because it is the cross-quarter day, the midpoint between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. The Anglo-Saxon celebration is called Lammas, Loaf-Mass day, the first wheat harvest of the year.

This is the beginning of the harvest season, and Lughnasað is a time for celebration and thanks. The first fruits of the harvest are here, and the warmth of the late summer sun will begin to wane into the golden glow of autumn. In fact, this is autumn. Harvest season. The summer solstice denotes Midsummer.

Each day, we feel the warmest part of the day in the afternoon, yet the sun is at it’s most powerful at solar noon. Just as the warmth of the day falls after midday, so does the warmth of the season fall after Midsummer. In agrarian societies, this cross-quarter day marks autumn, the season of harvesting.

And the season of celebrating! For we are full with the fruits of Earth as well as the fruits of our family and friends, so greet them, share food and wine with them!

Celebrate Lughnasað!

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1. From Wikipedia [↩]