Lughnasad

It occurs around August 1 and celebrates the birthday of the god Lugh. Lugh is the Celtic pychopomp. The pyschopomp is a god or energy or force that bridges between light and darkness; it is the energy that leads those who have died from the world of living into the world of darkness. It is a bridging energy of light that can enter darkness. Lughnassadh is a time of celebration of first harvest. It was a time to celebrate achievement, heroism, artistic abilities. It was a time of Olympic game and performances and events, harvest festivals. Lugh is also a god of the arts and artistic abilities. It is a good time to focus on one's creative skills, prowess, performance and abilities. It is time of the grain goddess. Time of sacrificial king in which sacrifices were made to propitiate the fecundity of the earth and give thanks to the harvest.

It is a time of birth and beginning of the underworld earth god. We would also celebrate our talents and ego by boasting our qualities and attributes and performing poems, dance, or any other artistic expressions within the circle. This practice is called Eistedfodd in the Welsh laguage and tradtion. This is the time of bardic contest involving poetry, music, and art. While Esitenfodd maybe a part of all other celtic festivals, it is especially associated with Lughnassadh. First harvest of grain food products would be shared, like corn bread. In many Catholic traditions, the same festival is known as Lammas. In some Catholic folk tradtions, loaves of bread are offered as symbolic sacrifice as the first grain of the harvest.

Ritual for Lughnasad

The ritual is celebrated in the Monarch Bear Grove in the solar Celtic cross circle. Primary focus is giving thanks to the first harvest. Second is the focus upon sacrifices: what we need to sacrifice in our lives in order to create the life we want to have. We might write down things we want to give up, like addictions, bad relationships, and burn them in the cauldron in the center. We also do some rituals to symbolize the sacrifice of the solar king, which could include pouring of wine on the earth, spreading corn seeds around the sacred grove, representing the sacrifice of the corn king/god. Lughnassadh is the time when the solar king, who achieves his most powerful energy at the time of summer solstice, begins to wane and lose his power.