Lughnasad -An Ancient Pagan Festival

By David Urban

Lughnasad(Loo-na-sa), or Lammas, is an ancient Pagan festival celebrating the firstharvest of grain and corn. The name "Lammas" comes from Anglo-Saxonorigin and means "loaf mass", a celebration of the bread made fromthe first harvest of grain. The hard work in the fields has ended, and the timehas come to celebrate the harvest with games and feasting.

Lughnasad honorsthe Celtic God Lugh, whose name means "shining one". He is often equatedwith the Sun God. Lugh is credited with inventing certain Celtic skills andgames, such as ball games, horsemanship and fidehell (an ancient Celtic boardgame). Celebrants spend the day with sports and games of skill, and honor themeaning of the season with freshly baked bread and beer.

In ancienttimes, the success or failure of the harvest determined whether or not thewinter could be survived. Nowadays, most of us do not live off the land and nolonger need to fear that there will not be enough food to carry us through thewinter. Instead, we plant projects and ideas rather than crops. Lughnasad isthe time when we bring our projects to fruition and reap the rewards of ourefforts.

In Wiccantradition, the First Harvest starts the season of sacrifice, when the grain ofthe harvest must die in order to provide food. The last sheaf of corn may bekept and made into an effigy to represent the spirit of the corn and theharvest (sometimes called John Barleycorn). The effigy is placed in the centerof the feasting table, and then ploughed back into the soil the followingspring when the fields are prepared for the sowing of new crops, so that thespirit of the sun and the corn does not die.

After theharvest season the daylight is visibly waning, and the mature Lord of the Forest and Field becomes more the Wise Sage and his powerawareness begins to pass from without to within. The pregnant Mother Goddessrules beside Him as they both bask in the bounty of Nature in this, the harvestseason.

David Urban isan avid hiker, backpacker, and environmentalist who has traveled extensivelyacross the American Southwest. He is also the owner of Green Man T-Shirts,supplier of organic t-shirts featuring designs by artist Rob Juszak, whichdonates 25% of all profits to environmental groups. http://www.greenmantshirts.com

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