Lughnasadh
February 1st
This festival is named for the Celtic god Lugh, and is also known as Lammas, though as a Celt to the bone I prefer Lughnasadh. It is a harvest festival and really marks the winding down of the year. I know I have called it a festival but it is sad in many ways as it reflects the impending death of the god and the approach of winter, though anyone who's spent time in Auckland in February certainly won't be thinking of the cold!
Lughnasadh is a time of thanksgiving as we begin to reap the benefits of the spring planting and the summer fertility festivals we perform. In other words, it's a harvest festival and one that celebrates abundance. It's another holiday that's been adopted by Christian Churches everywhere - as a child I remember having to go to Harvest Festivals in Anglican churches (even though I was raised as a Roman Catholic) because I was in the Brownies!
As with all the other Sabbats and Esbats there are certain foods, drinks and incenses associated with Lughnasadh, such as loaves of bread, wheat sheafs, corn dollies (a very pagan thing!), flower wines, sunflowers etc. Rituals that occur on this day are those (along with Mabon and Samhain) that help us to shed negative habits and attitudes ready for the new year at Samhain itself. This sacrifice we make in order to better ourselves is a reflection of the symbolic sacrifice of the God at this time of year, who dies in order to be reborn through the Goddess at Yule, when we return to the light half of the year.
I wasn't going to put rituals on here but I was shown one written by Epona at Celtic Cauldron for Lughnasadh and I thought I'd put it here. I've adapted it slightly for a solitary practitioner, though I'd like to do it (someday, she says, sighing wistfully) with a group of people.
A Celtic Reconstructionalist Lughnasadh Ritual
Epona Perry (modified by Heather O'Connor)
Things to have - an effigy/corn dolly, bread and mead or wine (or juice), a small (about 6") broom, incense, candles, bowl or cup of salt water.
Have a fire or brazier at the centre of a ritual space (circle) and an altar near it with the above tools on it (keep the food and drink separate). Have three candles in a triangle around the space with the point of the triangle at the North. The altar should also be facing North.
Invoke the Three Realms:
"Our world is made of the sacred Three, I invoke you Sky and Land and Sea. I stand at the centre of the realm this night, and may I be purified by fire's sacred light. Withing the cauldron of the Gods am I, connected and made whole by Sea and Land and Sky."
Honour the ancestors.
"Ancestors, Father and Mothers of us all, draw close and hallow and hold this hall. What I have been given I have prepared and return to you. Accept my offerings this night."
Place the food and drink offering on the altar. Invoke the Sky and light the incense (this may be a joss-stick or on a charcoal burner - if so be careful of the heat). Walk clockwise around the circle once with the incense to signify the creation of the atmosphere. Light a candle at the North. Place the incense into the fire, or put it at the centre of the circle to be burned later.
"Sky Spirits, draw close and hallow and hold this hall. What I have been given I have prepared and return to you. Accept my offering this night."
Invoke the Land: take the 'broom' and walk clockwise around the circle once making a sweeping motion, to signify the cleansing of the land. Light a candle at the Southeast. Place the broom in the fire or at the centre of the cirlce to be burned later.
"Land Spirits, draw close and hallow and hold this hall. What I have been given I have prepared and return to you. Accept my offering this night."
Invoke the Sea: walk clockwise once around the circle sprinkling the salt water to signify the distribution of the waters. Light a candle at the Southwest and pour the remaining salt water from the bowl/cup on the ground near the fire.
"Sea Spirits draw close and hallow and hold this hall. What I have been given I have prepared and return to you. Accept my offering this night."
Kneel or squat where you stand. Inhale and exhale deeply. "I am at the centre of the world." Exhale, move to one knee with with your palms on the ground before you. "I stand firmly upon the land." Inhale and rise to your feet, moving your hands up behind at hip height, palms up, cupping. Exhale and move the hands in an arc until they meet in front. "The sea always surrounds me." Inhale, move your hands to your sides, spread the fingers wide, palms forward. Exhale and raise the arms, bringing the hands together above the head, thumb and forefinger meeting to create a triangle. "The sky spreads itself above me." Inhale, lowering your hands to your heart again. "I am at the centre of the Three Realms."
Exhale and lower your hands to you sides and perform the body of the ritual (below).
Meditate upon the sacrifices that have been made for us. Place your paper or corn effigies into the fire. Invoke your personal Gods/Goddesses at this time with any personal wishes (optional). This is a time of year to affirm or dissolve engagements made last year, or to ask the Gods to bless unions which may be made at this time (although this is hard to do if you are doing this ritual alone!).
Sing or chant about appropriate topics such as plenitude of the coming harvest, good weather for the bringing in of the crops and the continued good health and prosperity of the tribe (community, coven, group).
Close the ritual by asking the Gods/Goddesses to continue to watch over all, and say the entreaty to the Three Realms:
"Thank you Gods and Goddesses of the Land, Sea and Sky for attending my rite and for being in my life. I ask that you stay as you desire, or to return to your realms on wings of fire. May the Land not rise up to swallow us, may the Sea not burst its bounds, and may the Sky not fall upon us!"
Bring on the Feasting and Festivities! Any thing left over should be burned (broom, incense etc.) and food left over should be scattered in the woods for the animals, fairy folk or any other hungry spirits. (If this can't be done scatter a few crumbs and splash a few drops of wine or juice outside the ritual/festival area.)
See Epona Perry's site at
Mabon
Midsummer