The words âLughnasadhâ (pronounced LOO-nah-sah) and âLammasâ are often used interchangeably, but they are actually two different festivals of different origin (well, sort of! youâll see!)
History of Lughnasadh
Lughnasadh, also known as âThe Festival of Breadâ, âThe First Harvestâ, âLughâs Feastâ, or âFestival of First Fruitsâ is in reference to the Celtic harvest holiday typically held on August 1st (Sometimes August 2nd!)
âNasadhâ means âto give in marriageâ, So Lughnasadh translates as âto give in marriage to Lughâ; Lugh being the Celtic God of artistry, known for his many skills, including craftsmanship, and warrior ability. Heâs also known as the Sun King, Storm, Light, and Harvest God.
Lughnasadh is one of the four Celtic holidays, along with Samhain, Imbolc, and Beltane. Wiccans celebrate Lughnasadh as one of eight sabbats that make up the wheel of the year calendar. In Dianic traditions, the Goddess takes the place of Lugh. (**Note: You can celebrate the year of the wheel calendar, and not be Wiccan, and still be a witch! or not use the calendar at all, and still be a witch! depends on your practice, which holidays you chose to celebrate! You donât have to be Wiccan to use the wheel of the year. Everyoneâs practice is different!)
In legend, Lughnasadh began when the God Lugh held a harvest festival to commemorate his foster mother, Tailtiu, (Said to be responsible for introducing agriculture to Ireland), who died of exhaustion attempting to harvest all of the crops in Ireland (Iâve also read it as, âdied of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agricultureâ little different depending on version you read.)
Lughâs original festival was made up of feasting, hill/mountain climbing, giving/burying offerings on top of hills, games and athletic contests. Marriages and trial marriages (handfastings) were conducted, where couples would join hands through a hole in wooden door, and if the marriage lasted âa year and a dayâ the marriage could be made permanent or annulled without consequence (Ancient Celtic engagement period!)
At Lughnasadh, we give thanks for what the summer has grown, and the harvest has brought us. We begin to gather and prep food to survive the winter. We celebrate and give thanks for the abundance of not just food in our lives, but love, happiness, and safety. Lughnasadh is the time to look at our lives from an agricultural perspective. What have we planted? What are we reaping? What needs to be picked, watered, or preserved? We harvest our lives, as we do our fields and plants, so that we may live in abundance.
History of Lammas
âLammasâ translates to âloaf massâ (from âhlaf-masâ in Anglo Saxon) and itâs a Christian holiday from medieval England that celebrated the wheat harvest, itâ s also called âThe Feast of Breadâ.
(Yes this is another one of those âPagans had the holiday first and Christianity put something similar on top of it to convert heathensâ history lessons! Thatâs why I said sort of! Same concept, different names, different beliefs and people)
Early Christians celebrated this holiday as a way to thank God for the harvest. On this day it was custom to bring the church the first loaf of bread baked from the harvest, to have it blessed, and then broken into four pieces, one to place in each corner of your barn to protect your grain. (sounds witchy doesnât it?)
August 1st in Christian/Catholic tradition is also the holy-day of âSt. Peter in Chainsâ
To summarize...
So as you can see, both holidays have the same meaning really; (grain holiday, harvest holiday, abundance, offer the first of your bounty for protection and wishes, thankfulness) just with different Gods and beliefs! Of course Lughnasadh came first, then as with all our holidays, Christianity came in and âwanted to âconvert the heathensâ so we were given new holidays on top of ours that look very similar, but I suppose the âlong list of stolen holidaysâ post is for another time! haha!
Catch my next Lughnasadh blog post for more information and how to celebrate! Iâve split this into two posts for easier reading! ;)
Iâm also making a âLughnasadhâ Instagram story highlight before the 1st so I can add even more info and activities to do! Come say hello! @selfcarewitchxo
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Imbolc blessings! This Mantra is part of my Fashion Therapy course which has a Mantra to support each week of focus. Today happened to be the day a Client experienced this Mantra and she told me all about Imbolc and how appropriate this Mantra is for the celebration of todayâs #CelticHoliday for which both seeds and fire are powerful symbols. This is the Mantra to support the week of designing Rituals for #FashionTherapy Clients - also quite aligned! Today represents the halfway point between Winter and Spring for the #Gaelic tradition, a time when Mother Natureâs seeds begin to stir and this new beginning is often celebrated with a fire - it is also known as #BrigidsDay who is among other things known as the #GoddessOfFire. I love learning from my Clients and I love how magnetic and activating this powerful work is. There are no coincidences! If youâre ready to sow your own seeds of self care and step into your iconic and aligned #SpiritStyle show this post some love and letâs chat! Itâs the ultimate #LifeHack because it empowers you to communicate your important messages through your personal style. Feeding your own fire with your thoughts and actions is easier said than done, but when you work with me as your #SpiritStyleGuide Iâve got the #SpiritedStyleSupport to help you develop new, healthy #SelfCare practices that actually heal you. You deserve it beautifull! #Youaretheuniverse #imbolcmantra #ritualmantra #selfcaremantra #bethemostimportantpersoninyourlife #youmatter #yourenumberone #imbolcblessings #youareanaltar #ritual #youarenature #humannaturemantra #inbolc #confidencestylist #stylecoach #stitchwitch #styleguide #youdoyou (at Themis and Thread) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoI1c2BpXSC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Happy Beltane! #beltane #beltaneblessings To celebrate the May Day holiday yesterday, I went to the craft store and bought cool paper and frames for the prints I bought of New Orleans local art. Then I hung those three pieces, along with an original piece of #nolaart in the northern corner of my bedroom. I call it my Divine Feminine Shrine and I will have more details about it tomorrow on the Arts & Culture Culture Blog linked with this IG account, Vintage-Bridge.com It was an excellent way to mark this #pagan #celticholiday âŻïžđ„đ
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