Lughnasadh

🌾 Lughnasadh & Lammas: The First Harvest

As the golden fields ripple in the summer wind and the first grains are gathered, we arrive at Lughnasadh (pronounced Loo-nah-sah)—the first of the three harvest festivals on the Wheel of the Year. It is a celebration of ripening crops, the fruits of our labour, and the turning toward autumn.

Many modern pagans also recognise Lammas, an Anglo-Saxon festival that falls at the same time. Though often used interchangeably today, Lughnasadh and Lammas have different cultural roots and symbolism.

🌿 Lughnasadh: Celtic Origins

Lughnasadh is an ancient Gaelic festival named after the god Lugh, a warrior, poet, and master of many skills. According to legend, Lugh created the festival to honour his foster mother, Tailtiu, who died clearing the land for farming.

It was a time of games, fairs, handfastings, and feasts—celebrations that brought communities together before the hard work of the full harvest. Offerings of the first grain, bread, and berries were made to ensure blessings for the months ahead.

🌾 Lammas: Anglo-Saxon Roots

Lammas (from “loaf-mass”) comes from the Old English hlāfmæsse. In early medieval England, it was a Christianised harvest thanksgiving where the first loaf baked from the new wheat crop was blessed in church.

While Lughnasadh holds mythic ties to Lugh and Gaelic tradition, Lammas is rooted in early English agrarian life and church ritual. Today, many practitioners blend the two into one celebration of gratitude for the first harvest.

🍯 Symbols & Correspondences

Colours: Gold, yellow, green, brown, russet

Herbs & Plants: Wheat, barley, corn, sunflower, heather, blackberry

Crystals: Citrine, carnelian, peridot, amber

Foods: Fresh bread, berries, corn, honey, cider, beer

Deities: Lugh, Tailtiu, Demeter, Ceres, John Barleycorn

🔮 Ways to Celebrate

1. Bake Bread – Honour the grain harvest by baking and blessing a loaf.

2. Berry Magic – Use seasonal berries in offerings, feasts, or kitchen witchery.

3. Harvest Altar – Decorate with wheat, sunflowers, and harvest fruits.

4. Games & Feasting – Recreate the festive spirit of ancient fairs.

5. Gratitude Ritual – Write down blessings received so far this year, and give thanks.

🌻 Spiritual Themes

• Gratitude – Recognising the fruits of hard work.

• Sacrifice – Honouring the cycles of giving and receiving.

• Community – Celebrating together before the harder months.

• Preparation – Gathering resources for the coming autumn and winter.

Lughnasadh and Lammas remind us that the first fruits of our labour are worth celebrating, and that gratitude for the present moment sustains us through the turning seasons.

🌙 Closing Blessing

As the first grain is cut and the first loaf broken, may your harvest be plentiful, your heart be light, and your blessings continue to grow. Blessed Lughnasadh and Lammas.