Happy Holiday! The holiday is on August 1st and represents a celtic summmer harvest. Here is some more info about the holiday...
Lughnasadh is the first in the trilogy of harvest festivals. It marks the beginning of the harvest season, and the decline of Summer into Winter.
Also known as:Lunasa (meaning August), Lughnasaad, Lughnasa(Celtic),First Harvest, August Eve, Feast of Cardenas, Feast of Bread, Tailltean Games(Irish), Teltain Cornucopia(Strega), Ceresalia(Ancient Roman) Harvest Home, Thingtide(Teutonic), Lammas(Christian). Laa Luanys, Elembious, Festival of Green Corn (Native American). It is the turning point of the earth's life cycle. Festivities and rituals typically center around the assurance of a bountiful harvest season and the celebration of the harvest cycle. A bountiful harvest insured the safe passage of the tribe through the upcoming winter months. The gathering of bilberries is an ancient ritual symbolizing the success of the Lughnasadh rituals.. If the bilberries were bountiful the crops would be, also.
Lughnasadh is the festival in honor of
Lugh, the Irish God. Lugh, God of All Skills, is known as the "Bright or Shining One", He is associated with both the Sun and agricultural fertility. Lleu, Lugh's equivalent in Britain and Wales, is the son of Arianrhod, Goddess of the Stars and Reincarnation.Games of athletic prowess are played in honor of Lugh. The games are said to be funeral games for Lugh and, in some traditions, his foster mother, who is honored at this festival because she died while preparing the fields for planting. More about the games below, under 'customs'.
Many grains, seeds, herbs and fruits can be harvested and dried at this time for later use through the remaining year. Corn is one of the vital crops harvested now, and in some areas the sacrifice of the corn king is performed. Death and rebirth are apart of the cycle Lugh journeys through in his mating with the Goddess, during the waning year. The Goddess oversees the festival in her Triple guise as Macha. She presides in her warrior aspect, the crow who sits on the battlefields awaiting the dead. She is the Crone, Maiden and Mother,
Anu,
Banba, and
Macha, who conveys the dead into the realm of the deceased. Macha is forced, while heavy with child, to race against the King of Ulster's horses. She wins the race and gives birth to twins, and cursed the men of Ulster with the pain of labor when they most need their strength. She becomes the Queen of Ulster through battle for seven years. Her fortress in Ulster is known as the Emain Macha and its otherworldly form known as Emania, the moon Goddess' realm of death.
Lughnasadh is a time of bounty, celebration, and hopes for an abundant harvest season. We celebrate the bounty of our own life's harvest, the work we have done in and within our own lives as well as in our community. We understand and acknowledge the need for successes in both the physical and spiritual realms. For without success and a fruitful harvest we will not have the staples we need to continue our work on all levels. Our religion is one of service, not sacrifice. For there is no service in sacrifice, and no sacrifice in service. We need to fill our own cups and when our cups runneth over, we can't help but splash those around us with the life giving waters.For we as members of the Universe and children of the Mother expect to share in the benevolence of Her Love. For ours is the Mother, who nurtures and Loves Her children, sharing her bounty. Prosperity is not amassing and hoarding a great profusion of assets. Prosperity is having more than what is essential and never having less than we desire. We understand the abundance and magnanimity of the Universe and celebrate, recognize, and honor this.
Above Article: Resources: © Copyright 1996, Christina Aubin; used by permission
