This is probably
my least favorite time of year. It’s too hot and sticky outside, but
summer is drawing to a close and everyone is obsessing over “back to school.”
It’s apparently time to get serious about dismal autumn workloads, but delightful
autumn weather is still months away. I get the August blues, and this year they
struck extra hard: on July 23, I broke my foot and sprained my ankle,
drastically reducing my mobility and locking me into a recovery process that
won’t be complete until at least the end of October. I was prepared to
challenge my August antipathy this year, but it turns out that’s extra hard to
do on crutches.
Here are the
Lughnasadh facts. It’s the first of three Neopagan harvest festivals; the other
two are Mabon on September 23 and Samhain on October 31. According to the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle and many modern Pagans, it’s the feast or harvest of first
fruits. It’s held around August 1 in the northern hemisphere, although it’s
sometimes celebrated closer to the midpoint between the summer solstice and the
autumn equinox, or August 6-7. In the southern hemisphere, it’s held around
February 1. Like other Pagan holidays, it’s typically observed from sundown to
sundown.
The name
Lughnasadh is Old Irish and the holiday is so named because it historically
honored the God Lugh: king, hero, warrior, master craftsman, and ruler of the
arts, truth, and law. Irish mythology asserts that Lugh began the tradition of holding
a festival at this time of year to honor his foster-mother Tailtiu, who died of
exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture. Historically, Lughnasadh
was a time for athletic contests, horseracing, storytelling, music, feasting, visiting
holy wells, climbing mountains, trading, proclaiming laws, and settling legal
disputes. One of the earliest sources to document Lughnasadh festivities is a
15th-century version of the Tochmarc Emire. An August harvest
festival was celebrated into Christian times, and sometimes observed on the nearest
Sunday to August 1 so as not to take up a workday during the critical harvest
season. Harvest festivals and fairs derived from Lughnasadh still occur in some
places in modern Ireland.
In England
and Scotland, a similar holiday was celebrated as Lammas. What we know of
Lammas comes from Christian times, but the premise is similar to the Irish
Lughnasadh: it marks the wheat harvest or the final hay harvest. In Romeo
and Juliet, Juliet’s birthday is Lammas Eve.
In modern
Paganism, Lughnasadh is a time to acknowledge literal and figurative harvests.
Those of us who planted gardens might start enjoying the fruits of our labor
around this time of year; that’s true for me and my tomatoes. Whatever’s ripe
in the garden, the fields, or the wild is the customary food of the Lughnasadh
feast. Some Pagans donate to food pantries at this time of year to help ensure
that everyone has enough to eat.
Some Pagans
honor Lugh at Lughnasadh. They celebrate their own skills and abilities and
make offerings to Lugh. One suggestion I saw, which I love, is to hold
Lughnasadh games and sporting events in remembrance of the funeral games Lugh
arranged in honor of his foster-mother. I can’t think of a better excuse to
invite friends over for a few rounds of cornhole! Many festivals and fairs
happen at this time of year, and some Pagans attend them in the spirit of
long-ago Lughnasadh and Lammas celebrations. In Wicca, Lughnasadh is an
auspicious time of year for handfastings. Suggested colors for Lughnasadh
decoration include green, yellow, gold, orange, red, and brown. In my climate,
it’s far too early to start incorporating fall colors into holiday décor,
though; this is strictly a green time of year, perhaps with a touch of gold.
Symbolically,
Lughnasadh is the time to consider what we sowed at Imbolc and what we’re
reaping now as a result. It’s time to take stock of our projects and
relationships and consider what we’d like to complete, what we’d like to
abandon, and what we’d like to start anew. The work we’ve put in since Imbolc
is manifesting tangible results, and it’s time to evaluate them and express
gratitude for what we’ve achieved, received, and learned. Lughnasadh is a time
for continued hard work as the harvest season progresses, but it’s also time to
start enjoying the rewards of that work.
As a result
of my injury, accomplishing even basic things is physically difficult. My necessary
period of rest is also emotionally difficult, accustomed as I am to being
outside and active. One activity that’s sustained me through last few weeks is
blogging. I started this blog at Imbolc along with three others: one about my
doll hobby, one about my craft projects (in collaboration with a friend), and
one about baseball. At times I’ve been dissatisfied with my progress, but
Lughnasadh marks the first time I can really see how far I’ve come. I’m
proficient with Blogger, I’m a faster researcher, the tone of my writing is
more natural, I’m a bolder draft-writer who doesn’t get bogged down in editing
too early, I’ve written a satisfying number of posts on each blog, and I’ve
learned a lot about the subjects I cover. Although travel and physical
limitations prevented me from having a “proper” Lughnasadh celebration, I think
these facts—and my continued hard work—are a fitting testament to the season.
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