Lughnasadh is the first of the three harvest festivals. The grain is ripe, the first loaf is baked from the new crop, and the long work of bringing in the harvest begins. Summer is still warm, but the year has turned toward autumn.
Lughnasadh at a glance
- Northern Hemisphere
- August 1 to 2
- Southern Hemisphere
- February 1 to 2
- Pronounced
- LOO-nuh-suh
- Also called
- Lammas
- Kind of festival
- Cross-quarter fire festival, of Gaelic origin
- Themes
- First harvest, gratitude, skill, sacrifice, community
- Colors
- Gold, yellow, orange, brown, green
- Symbols
- Wheat, bread, the sickle, corn dollies, sunflowers, berries
- Foods
- Bread, grains, corn, berries, early apples
Where Lughnasadh comes from
Lughnasadh is the Gaelic festival of the beginning of the harvest, and it is named for the god Lugh, who is skilled in every art. According to Irish tradition, Lugh founded the festival as funeral games in honor of his foster mother Tailtiu, who died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for farming.
The historical festival was a great gathering. There were athletic contests, horse races, trading, music, and matchmaking. In later centuries people climbed hills, picked the first bilberries, and held fairs at the start of August, and some of these customs survive in Ireland today.
The other name, Lammas, comes from the Old English for loaf mass. It was a Christian feast of early medieval England at which bread baked from the first grain was blessed. Wiccans use both names, and the two festivals share one meaning: thanks for the first fruits of the harvest.
What Lughnasadh means on the Wheel
In the Wiccan story, the God is the spirit of the grain. At Lughnasadh the grain is cut, and the God begins to give his strength to feed the people. It is a festival of willing sacrifice: something has to end so that life can continue.
It is also a celebration of skill and effort. The seeds planted at Ostara have become something that you can hold. Lughnasadh asks what you have made this year and what it cost you.
Ways to celebrate
- Bake bread. This is the central act of the festival. Any loaf will do, and a simple one made by hand is best. See kitchen witchcraft for how to bake with intention.
- Share a meal. Break the bread with family or friends, and set a piece aside as an offering.
- Make a corn dolly. Weave a small figure or a simple braid from wheat stalks or corn husks, and keep it on your altar until spring.
- Practice a skill. In honor of Lugh, work at a craft, play a game, or learn something new.
- Take stock. Look back at the intentions you set in spring. What has ripened? What needs more time? What should be let go?
- Give. Harvest is for sharing. Donate food or time to people in your community who need it.
A simple ritual
Blessing the first loaf
You will need
- A loaf of bread, baked by you if possible
- A candle in a safe holder
- A cup of water, juice, or ale
What to do
- Set the bread, the candle, and the cup on the table and light the candle.
- Place your hands on the loaf. Think of everything that went into it: sun, rain, soil, and the work of many hands.
- Say: "For the seed, the sun, the rain, and the hands that worked, I give thanks."
- Break off the first piece and set it aside as an offering.
- Eat a piece slowly and drink from the cup. Name one thing you have harvested in your own life this year.
- Put the candle out safely. Leave the offering outside, crumbled for the birds.
If you do not farm
Most of us are a long way from a wheat field. The festival still applies. Your harvest may be a finished course, a healed friendship, a paid debt, or a garden pot of tomatoes. Count it, be grateful for it, and share some of it.
In the Southern Hemisphere, Lughnasadh falls at the beginning of February. On August 1, Southern Hemisphere witches are keeping Imbolc.