Lughnasadh
Posted on: August 6, 2020
Lughnasadh
The Funeral Games + The First Harvest Festival
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Lughnasadh aka Lúnasa or Lammas is one of the 4 cross quarter fire festivals in the 8 festivals of the Wheel of the Year. Celebrated on varied dates: 1st-8th Aug: Calendric date 1st Aug/ August Eve, Lunar Lammas is the lunation closes to this time in early Aug; and the Astronomical date is when the Sun reaches 15° Leo ♌︎ (2024 7th Aug), which is the exact midpoint of Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox.
It is a time of Harvest, Celebration + a time of deep Gratitude. Preparation for the Dark. Reaping the bounty of your years’ efforts. Connecting to your Hopes + releasing Fears.
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Check out my free resource to learn about Cycling with the Wheel.
And for guidance and inspiration to celebrate in ceremony, enjoy this Lughnasadh + the Lion’s Gate Webinar
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This festival’s name is also the Irish word for the month of August. It is named after the renowned Celtic God King Lugh (Lú/Lug). The entire month of August was both a celebration + a mourning time.
Celebration of the abundant harvest from the Summer just gone, celebration of the congregation + strength of the tribe coming together to share their skills to reap the harvest in preparation for the dark winter ahead. The celebration to honour the abundant joy that is disseminated and required to fuel the courage needed to keep the metaphoric light (soul) burning into the upcoming dark half of the year.
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A mourning time that honours the sacrifices needed to be taken for sustenance + survival of life. Taking symbolism of the harvest time: culling of the crops + sweet fruits that cannot be eaten right away but must be prepared for the stark, darker times that are part of the Cycle of the Wheel of Life. Equally, Lugh mourned the Goddess Tailtiu, his foster mother, (an Earth Goddess, Mother Deity – akin to Danu, Gaia or Ceres) commemorating her death that gives land + harvest for Her people to continue to live.
The Lúnasa Festival by day saw the crops and fruits gathered, harvested and prepared for storage to sustain over the winter. Fires lit to scorch the crops and clear the land in preparation for winter and the following Spring’s planting of seeds.
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By evening, these fires served as part of the celebration of everyone’s efforts, feasting and trading, music and poetry lit by the glow of the fires. These fires are said to have also lit the torch for the games to commence…. These athletic games apparently predate the Olympics!
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The strong competed to show off their strength, horses raced, and the skilled swordsmen batted in honour of the flaming spear of Lugh – that is said to have won every battle and succeeded in every strike.
The sweetness of the ripest fruits were eaten at these funeral feasts to the delight of the young + old as they all danced around the fires in commemoration + celebration.
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As night fell, stories and poems were told and music filled the air to accompany the tales of the bountiful past + their successes. They also lamented and honoured the courageous warriors and mothers who gave their life for their kin’s protection + survival.
These tales told over the glow of embers, lit a spark in their hearts, but also heeded warnings of what they were to prepare for over the coming months.
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Check out my free resource to learn more about Cycling with the Wheel.
Enjoy online prerecorded class and guided meditation including discussion on this years astrology (2024), Lughnasadh + the Lion’s Gate
Fears + Hopes
The symbolism we can utilise for our own personal healing work now is to review the year so far. Take the positive and offer gratitude for what it has given us. Take the hardships and honour the value of these lessons.
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We can recognise and release our fears for the coming months, and refuel with hopes, courage and internal strength to carry us through these times to come.
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If anything, cycling with the Wheel offers us the understanding that nothing is permanent- everything is always changing and we are adaptable when we honour these patterns that can teach us quality of life connection.
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We can relinquish control, enlighten to joy, and be in the Sacred Heart of this time of the Souls Journey.
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Lugh is the renowned Warrior King / Celtic God – the multi skilled warrior, craftsman, poet + alchemical healer. Lug’s (or Lugh) celebration is called Lughnasadh – Lugh (his name) nasadh (assembly/festival)
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Tailtiu is the forgotten Sovereign Mother Goddess / Celtic Queen – from the Earth she came and to the earth she died for Her people. An old Irish Harvest Deity. She is said to be Lugh’s foster mother after Ethniu gave him up for his protection from his slaying father. Tailtiu is buried in the lands that she cleared. She died from exhaustion preparing the land for tilling so that Her people could reap the harvest. She is symbolic of the death of vegetation that fertilises the fields for the next year.
