Deaf Pagan Crossroads

Lughnasadh is the Feast of Lugh Lamhfada and a time for rekindling the sacred fires and offerings of thanksgiving for the bounty in our lives. Lughnasadh marks the Feast of the First Harvest. The fruits of the Mother Earth sparked from her unity with The Sun King are first gathered and brought in from the fields. During this time, we honor “Lugh” the Sun King as he drains the last of himself into the Earth. We celebrate one of the final unions between the Lord and Lady. Brigit, the Goddess of the Hearth and Fire, loves Him yet she knows, to be reborn of Her; he must be the sacrifice to life.

The Sun’s power is waning. Yet in this waning is the promise of rebirth and renewed life. The food we gather provides nourishment for today and seeds for tomorrow. The God is not gone forever, he will return in the cycle of seasons. And so the Wheel of the Year continues forever spinning to maintain the seasons and life abundant.

Lughnasadh is the festival of the first harvest. August 1 is the last day of Summer and the first of Autumn. It, like all the holidays of our wheel, is a threshold time that exists outside of time and space, neither one nor the other. This is the beginning of the three harvest season celebrations. At this time of year in Celtic Europe the farmers would harvest the first of the corn, wheat, oats, and barley.

The God is sacrificed (harvested) at this time in the form of bread. When we bake the wheat and corn to eat at this time we take in the gift of the union of God and Goddess. He gives of himself in abundance and fruitfulness. He follows his life cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth just as we all do.

Native berries and grapes are harvested now also. So this as you can see was a cause for great merriment. Lughnasadh falls opposite the holiday of Imbolc on the Wiccan Wheel of the year. Imbolc is seen as a holiday of the feminine principal in creation, as its counter part Lughnasadh is seen as a holiday of the masculine principal in creation.

This holiday as it was practiced by the Celtic people lasted three weeks. It is one of the most important holidays. Lugh is the God we honor at this time. He is the many-skilled inventor of all arts including magic and warfare. He is the guardian of roads, travelers, moneymaking, and commerce. He is the God who governs social contracts, as well as the God of brightness, possibly in reference to the sun’s rays which he represents.

The Celtic festival of Lughnasadh not only celebrates the harvest of the fields, it also is a time to celebrate athletics, and hold art festivals, as well as hold gatherings for political and legal debates. This is how the ancient Celtic people celebrated it. As we gather for this holiday let us celebrate our community as a Pagan people just as the ancient Celts strove to resolve differences and celebrate the blessings of their life as a people in sacred unity with the God and his Goddess consort.