Sometimes called LUGHNASADH
is the first harvest festival of three on the Wheel of the Year.
It’s a time of year when we recognize that hard work and sacrifice are part of life, and that they pay off.
The Sun God’s power is beginning to wane and we are fast approaching the dark half of the year.
marks the beginning of autumn (fall).
It is the beginning of the harvest season
It celebrates the decline of summer into winter
commonly celebrated on August 1st or 2nd in the Northeren Hemisphere
February 1st or 2nd in the Southern Hemisphere.
🌾WHAT TO DO DURING THIS TIME🌾
If you have set an intention earlier in the year and have been working with it through the seasons, now is the time to begin to reflect on how you have grown and what this work is bringing to you.
Take some time to write down the ways your seeds planted at Imbolc have become ripe and abundant
revel in the last of the warmth and the long days, and give thanks for the Earth’s bounty and beauty that surrounds us
Many honor the God Lugh, the “Shining One” or the “Many-Skilled God,” for whom this holiday was named.
It is said in legend that Lugh himself established this holiday in honor of his adoptive mother, who died clearing the fields of Ireland to make way for agriculture. In honor of her sacrifice, Lugh led people into feasting and contests with feats of strength.
Since Lughnasadh is rooted in Celtic festivals, obviously any Celtic deities would be appropriate on the altar.
Of course, not everyone resonates with Celtic influences. That’s okay—it doesn’t mean the sabbat is meaningless for you. You might instead invoke:
Hermes (Greek God of skill)
Demeter (Greek Goddess of agriculture)
Terra Mater (Roman Earth Goddess)
Baldr (Norse God of light)
Any God or Goddess that has to do with the sun, sacrifice, skills or harvest would be an excellent God or Goddess to honor at this time.
(click HERE for Greek Deities part I)
(click HERE for Greek Deities part II)
was traditionally celebrated on a hill or mountain top if you plan to celebrate outdoors, you might consider setting up on the highest ground you can find.(SAFLEY)
Turn your altar to the west, a direction associated with this season.
give your altar a touch of autumn, throw an altar cloth over it in a lovely fall color or print.
Place statues of your deities on the altar if you have any.
use candles to represent the solar and earth gods solar-colored candles for the Sun God, and green or brown candles for the Earth Goddess.
Decorate the altar with bits of the harvest. Or other symbols and corresponding herbs!
Add any symbols of Lugh, or solar Gods!
Celtic symbols would be appropriate as well.
(Click HERE for more correspondences)
Since this sabbat is also associated with skills, try to put symbols of your skills upon the altar. (We do this because at one point in our celebration we ask for blessings in our development and use of our skills)
a writer might put a pad and pencil;
a cook might put a whisk;
an artist might put a lump of clay;
a student might put a textbook;
a computer programmer might put a computer part;
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