Pages

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Happy Lammas/Lughnasadh...August 1st, 2012...

(Pagan/Wiccan Year Wheel)
Today is a seasonal “hump day” called, Lammas. (This day is also called Lugnasadh (Loo-NAS-ah), when the Celtic Sun god, Lugh, is honored.) The name Lammas is derived from the Old English phrase ‘hlaf-masse’, or ‘loaf mass’.  On the Pagan Year Wheel, it is a cross-quarter day, or mid-point between the Summer Solstice (Litha) and the Autumnal Equinox (Mabon). Every year, Lammas takes place on August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere, and February 1st in the Southern Hemisphere (when the N. Hemisphere is celebrating one Sabbat, the S. Hemisphere is celebrating the Sabbat straight across from it on the Year Wheel). It signals the beginning of the three autumnal harvests (the other two being Mabon, and Samhain). Acknowledging the end of summer and the approach of autumn, Lammas is a time to honor the Spirit of the Grain Harvest. To give thanks to the Earth for its bounty. It is the time to reap what has been sown by gathering the first harvest. In the early times of Ireland, on August 1st farmers would cut sheafs of their grain. Their wives would then bake Lammas bread, having the first loaves of the season ready before nightfall. They would then honor the Spirit of the Grain God by eating the bread, celebrating the harvest, and the yearly sacrifices made.

To everyone celebrating, I hope you have a wonderful Lammas day! 


(Picture: Deatharmonic)




No comments:

Post a Comment