High Days - Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh, or the festival of the god Lugh, falls on the first of August, a time when the first fruits of the harvest are being brought back from the fields¹. As the feast of Lugh, Lughnasadh is the only Irish feast named after a deity², however, the festival also carries the name 'Bron Trogain' in the Tochmarc Emire and is referred to as 'earth's sorrowing in autumn'³.

Many traditions around Lughnasadh (both ancient and modern) involve rituals such as cutting the first corn and offering it to the deity by burying it in a high place, sacrificing a bull, ritual plays telling stories of Lugh, ritual battles in which a person representing Lugh wins⁴, and games in honour of Lugh's foster-mother, Tailtiu⁵.

In stark contrast with the other Celtic festivals, most notably Beltane, Lughnasadh is comparatively devoid of ritual fires as part of its festivities⁶.

Also taking place on the first day of August is the Old English festival of hlæf-mass, from which the word 'Lammas' is derived⁷. While Lammas focuses on the first fruits of the harvest, the argument can be made that it was potentially taken from Lughnasadh as no parallels to Lammas exist among the Germanic tribes on the continent⁸.

In some traditions of modern Paganism, Lughnasadh is the time of year when the god is sacrificed as 'Corn King' in order to feed the children of the goddess. For those that follow these traditions, this is a time of year to remember that sacrifice, to bake bread, and give thanks for what you have⁹.



Words - 277

1Hutton, R. (1996). 32 First Fruits. In The stations of the sun: A history of the ritual year in Britain (p. 327). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2Ibid.

3Ibid.

4Hutton, R. (1996). 32 First Fruits. In The stations of the sun: A history of the ritual year in Britain (pp. 327-328). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

5Part 6. The Very Basics of Ritual. (2009). In Our Own Druidry: An Introduction to Ar nDraiocht Fein and the Druid Path (p. 62). Tucson, Arizona: ADF Publishing.

6Hutton, R. (1996). 32 First Fruits. In The stations of the sun: A history of the ritual year in Britain (p. 329). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

7Hutton, R. (1996). 32 First Fruits. In The stations of the sun: A history of the ritual year in Britain (p. 330). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

8

9McColman, C. (2002). Chapter 13 - The Wheel of the Year. In The complete idiot's guide to paganism. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha.