Lughnasadh & Lammas
Lughnasadh and Lammas are different names for the same festival, which is typically celebrated on August 1st. It marks the beginning of the harvest season. It's a Gaelic festival named after the Celtic god Lugh, or Lammas in Anglo-Saxon tradition. Both names refer to the celebration of the first grain harvest. While Lughnasadh has deeper Celtic roots, Lammas is a more Christianized version. Wiccans and modern pagans often use both names, blending elements from both traditions. Ultimately, both names are used interchangeably, and typically refer to the same sabbat celebration. The name used is a matter of personal preference or tradition. In essence, both Lughnasadh and Lammas represent the same festival, but with different cultural and linguistic origins.
Lughnasadh & Lammas: Basic Differences
Origins:
Lughnasadh is rooted in Celtic traditions, specifically Irish and Scottish, and named after the Celtic god Lugh.
Lammas is an Anglo-Saxon term, derived from "loaf-mass," referring to the Christian custom of blessing the first loaves of bread from the harvest.
Focus:
Lughnasadh celebrates the god Lugh and the beginning of the harvest season, often involving athletic games, skills, craftsmanship, feasts. skills, and community spirit.
Lammas primarily focuses on the grain harvest and the blessing of bread, often with church ceremonies.
Traditions:
Lughnasadh traditions include crafting corn dollies, baking bread, holding feasts, and games of skill.
Lammas traditions include blessing of bread, and then sharing that bread with the community.
Both a harvest and fire festival, Lughnasadh is a time to honor spirit and give thanks for the beginning of the harvest season. It celebrates abundance, humility, and the recognition that all growth comes with effort, and all rewards come with responsibility. It is a time to give thanks, honor hard work, and prepare for the waning half of the year. It represents prosperity, fruitfulness, reverence, reaping, reverence, purification, transformation, change.
When it comes to celebrating Lughnasadh, I always recommend doing what feels right for you. For me it varies with just about every sabbat. Sometimes I feel like celebrating with friends and family, and other times I feel like doing something on my own. How I do this changes as well. If I don’t bake bread myself, I will visit the local farmer’s market and purchase fresh produce and homemade bread. I typically set up my altar or table with items that represent Lughnasadh. I almost always light a candle, then write down what I am thankful for and what my goals are for the rest of the year. Again this varies, depending on how I feel. I give blessings, speaking from the heart. I may also give baked goods and or seasonal fruits and vegetables to friends.
Celebrating Lughnasadh
Activities: Traditionally includes breaking bread with friends and loved ones, celebrating with harvest feasts, picnics, harvesting herbs, bonfires, gathering flowers, flower crowns, making corn dollies, athletic contests, games of skill, spear tossing, fencing, horseshoes, matchmaking, ritual ceremonies, hand-fasting, trial marriages, dancing, and storytelling.
Herbs: Rosemary, fenugreek, myrtle, ginseng, sunflower, oak leaf, thyme, sage, meadowsweet, and basil.
Flowers & Plants: Sunflowers, poppies, gladiolus, heather, ivy, grain, wheat, cornstalks, calendula, and dahlias.
Incense & Oils: Frankincense, rose, sandalwood, rosemary, and patchouli.
Colors: Colors of the first harvest, such as gold, yellow, red, orange, brown, deep greens and purples.
Symbols & Decorations: Sunflowers, corn, cornucopias, floral arrangements, flower petals, red, yellow, white, and orange flowers, sheaves of grain (wheat, barley, oats), first fruits/vegetables of garden labor, corn dollies, baskets of bread, spear, cauldron, sickle, scythe, threshing tools, sacred loaf of bread, harvested herbs, bilberries.
Food: Loaves of bread (wheat, oat, corn bread, etc.), barley cakes, seasonal fruits & vegetables, corn, tomato, summer squash, potatoes, rice, nuts, berries, apples, pears, grapes, berry pies, oats, chickpeas, lentils, beans, elderberry wine, mead, cider, bear, and meadowsweet tea. If you eat meat, lamb or mutton can be a traditional choice.
Attire: Clothing can range from comfortable, everyday clothing to more ritualistic garments. Most people choose to wear natural fibers and colors associated with the harvest, such as greens, yellows, golds, and oranges. Some people might incorporate symbols of the season like corn, wheat, or sunflowers into their clothing or accessories. For ritual settings, robes or cloaks made of natural fabrics are also common.
