Lammas, or Lughnasad, occurs on 1st August. It is marks the middle of Summer and the beginning of the harvest. It is the first of three harvest festivals and is usually associated with ripening grain and heralds the coming of Autumn.
The Goddess manifests as Demeter, Ceres, Corn Mother, and other agricultural Goddesses. The God manifests as Lugh, John Barleycorn, and vegetation Gods. Colours are Golden Yellow, Orange, Green, and Light Brown. It is a festival of plenty and prosperity.
The Druids celebrated Lughnasadh, to pay homage to their Celtic Sun God, Lugh. In other Pagan cultures, Lammas was celebrated as a day to honour the death of the sacred King and as a festival of bread. Bread cakes and wine were traditionally made and drunk and eaten to celebrate a successful harvest and new corn dolls were made, the old were burnt on the fire as an offering for good luck for the next year.
Have a magical picnic and break bread with friends, do a meditation in which you visualise yourself completing a project you have already begun. Make a corn dolly, Lavender doll or charm out of the first grain or flowers you harvest or acquire. Bake a sacred loaf bread and give a portion of it to Mother Earth with a prayer of appreciation. Make prayers for a good harvest season. Do prosperity magic. Kindle a Lammas fire with sacred wood and dried herbs. If you live in or near a farming region, attend a public harvest festival, such as a corn or apple festival.
Also called: Lughnasad
Dates: August 1st, early August
Colours: orange, yellow, brown, green
Tools: sacred loaf of bread, harvested herbs, bonfires, harvest wine
Energy: fruitfulness, reaping prosperity
Goddesses: Demeter, Ceres, Corn Mother
Gods: Grain God, Lugh, John Barleycorn
Rituals: prosperity, generosity, continued success
Customs: offering of first fruits/grains, games, country fairs, Wiccan wines