LUGHNASSADH, LAMMAS, 2008

The sun reaches 15 degrees of Leo on August 8th.  This is one of the lesser quarter days, when the veil between the worlds is thinner, and when feasting and celebration is called for.

In modern Pagan calendars this is celebrated as an agricultural festival: the Feast of First Harvest.  If it was marked at all by the Druids, it would most probably have been the last mating of the summer or the beginning of fattening the animals slated for slaughter at Samhain.  

The grain is strong, and Lugh the Long Arm, the sun god, roams among us. Celtic fire festivals are typically celebrated at dusk the night before, as the Celts believed that the old day died when the sun set, and the new day was born in darkness.  

Drinking beer, eating bread stuffed with summer vegetables, making offerings of canned goods to a local shelter, all of these are good things to do tomorrow night or on Friday.

You cannot plant in a field that is ripe and ready for harvest.  This is a night for thanksgiving and celebration of what you have.  For really appreciating all the blessings in your life.  A time not to dwell on what you don't have, but to really praise all that you do have.

The God Lugh loves gardeners.  Don't be surprised if he shows up at your Circle or ritual.

PRAISES, THANKS, & BLESSINGS!!!

conjurewoman1@yahoo.com

LAMMAS

If you want to celebrate the Feast of the god Lugh with the Catholic Church, today would be the day. August 1 has become the fixed date for Feast of Loaves, or the Feast of First Harvest, as I call it. Lughnassad, or Lammas, is a late, and probably Saxon, addition to what is considered the Celtic calendar by modern day pagans.

The actual date is when the sun reaches 15 degrees of Leo, this year on August 8th, so you would would want to do your ritual on the eve of the 7th. Bread and loaves stuffed with herbs and vegetables from the garden are particularly appropriate. Corn, wheat, and other grains are good offerings. Beer, instead of wine, is a good choice for libation and thirst.

This is the lesser of the two lesser quarter days. Now is the time to look ahead to Samhain and decide what needs to be done with the rest of the waxing half of the year.

Having passed through Monday's Mars/Saturn square the Doomsday Cycle (leading up to the Grand Cross in 2012) is really upon us. Having you been saying your mantra? ("Don't worry/be happy" or "Everything will be alright", etc.)

Can you say it a little louder?

Let's say it really loud this week and celebrate Lughnassadh with the Golden God of the Long Arm and perfect aim. Reap as much joy and faith and love as you can this week, and share it as much as possible.

The Sun is in the sky, the earth is beneath our feet, the rivers and the sea are in motion, and stars shine a blessing upon us from the Heavens.

All is right in the world. Let us not forget that.

PRAISES, THANKS, & BLESSINGS!!!