Lughnasad Celebration

Lughnasadh is the Gaelic word for August and clearly related to the Sun God Lugh – in Celtic mythology he was one of the most important Gods, because without sun there would be no life on earth; you may also be familiar with the medieval Christian word for this time of year, Lammas. This ancient celebration used to take place throughout the whole month of August.

At Lughnasadh we celebrate the marriage of Lugh to his Goddess and the gifts that they bring to earth. Lugh is one of the many names of the highest God who at this time of the year is seen as the God of the ripening corn, of the coming harvest. It is a time of fertility, the crops are ripening, the young of the animal world have been born and are thriving, and the flowers are beginning to become fruit on the trees.

There were great Lughnasadh gatherings where people sold their produce and relaxed and celebrated before the hard work of the harvest began. We can see the remnants of these in the fairs that still take place in various towns in the Celtic lands.

In Ireland Lughnasadh games were famous, they were held to commemorate the death of Lugh’s foster mother Taillte who died of exhaustion after clearing a large area of land so that the people could cultivate it. On her death bed she asked that games would be held in her honour each year, promising that song would remain in Ireland if this was done. Lugh is also associated with ploughing and sowing so we see the connection with the bringing of the knowledge of agriculture and the sacrifice of both the earth mother and the god for the continuing life of their children.

Probably more relevant to our time is that Lugh is known as the Samildánach – “the man of each and every art”; Lughnasadh is a gathering time for people of all the arts, crafts and professions; at this critical time for the earth such a gathering could be of immense value in terms of demonstrating new and old skills that would benefit the earth and all her children.

Lughnasadh is the last of the four fire festivals on the wheel of the year and the culmination of them, just as the summer solstice is the high point of the four astronomical celebrations of the solstices and equinoxes. At the summer solstice the sun reached its highest point and in that moment began his descent towards the autumn equinox. At Lughnasadh the sun is still high in the sky, at his brightest but already descending in fiery glory towards Autumn – this is the season of the most glorious sunsets.