Lughnasadh {loo-na-sa}, also known as, Lammas, August Eve, and the First Festival of Harvest, is normally celebrated on August 1st. It marks the beginning of the harvest time, which used to be a very important time of year for people. Children would take time off from school to help the family bring in the crops. This is the time when your great aunt so-and-so starts making her infamous jellies and pickled things. I’ve still got a couple who do. I know here on the farm things are going crazy, we’re trying to get in all the hay before we have to start on the corn.
Thanks to supermarkets and cars the need for people to grow their own food is no longer a necessity, though most pagans try to have some kind of a garden, even if it’s just a window box of herbs. There’s nothing like growing things!
The sun, which has been waxing since Midsummer, is growing noticeably weaker and weaker. The God is dying, slowing moving off only to be reborn again at Yule. The Goddess has moved from the Maiden to the Mother, giving birth to the great harvests.
Traditional Colors: golden yellow, orange, green, light brown
Traditional Herbs: acacia flowers, aloes, cornstalks, cyclamen, fenugreek, frankincense, heater, hollyhock, myrtle, oak leaves, sunflower, wheat
Traditional Incense: aloes, rose, sandalwood
Traditional Gemstones: aventurine, citrine, perodot, sardonyx
Traditional Foods: homemade breads (wheat, oat, corn), barley cakes, nuts, wild berries, apples, rice, roasted lamb, berry pies, elderberry wine, ale, medowsweet tea
