Merry Meet I am Colleen Criswell and in today's
lecture we will be discussing the Sabbat with
the most difficult name....
Lughnassadh that is
loo nah sad , Many people gave up on trying
to pronounce it, so they use the name Lammas,
which is a Catholic celebration known as Loaf
Mass.... which is a very similar celebration
which just happens to fall on the same date
as Lunghnassadh, very convenient....
This celebration falls on August 1st in the
Northern Hemisphere and on February 1st in
the Southern Hemisphere.
During this time in the world we are seeing
the harvest of grains in the farming community.
As we know, the ancient Pagan people were
made up primarily of farmers.
All of the Sabbats mainly revolve around planting
or harvesting, and this celebration is just
that, a celebration of Harvest.
Now, as we discussed in a previous lecture,
the celebration of the Sabbat of Mabon is
a Wiccan holiday that was founded in the 1970's
and has been turned into the “Witches Thanksgiving”
however Lughnassadh is actually more to the
point of thanksgiving as this is seen as the
big harvest time.
During this time the focus of harvest is grain
and grain is the most important simply because
grains are the main food substance that will
get us through the winter months that are
coming up.
Where all the other foods have a short shelf
life, grains last and are filling and will
keep us alive.
A good grain harvest means that when the winter
comes, we will survive.
And that is very important.
Lughnasadh is named for the Celtic God Lugh.
Lugh is a Sun God and his name means The Bright
One.
And though the celebration is named for him,
it is actually more for his adopted mother
who was a Goddess associated with the harvest.
He created this time to celebrate her.
Lugh loved a good party.
He was the type to enjoy competition and sport
as well as a good drink.
So usually during this time we focus on enjoying
each other and celebrating and having fun.
Games, especially things such as sports and
games of skill and competition are important
for this time of year.
When we think of that, let's look at what
is happening in the world of sports during
this time.... we have the Olympic games, usually
football season is starting in the US, so
we see these sort of things going on around
us, the celebration of Lugh is felt throughout
the world.
During these events usually we have parties
going on, people cheer for favorite teams
and compete with each other.
Tailgating and bbq and gatherings of people
to celebrate happen and with this comes the
traditional drink
Beer.
Beer and Ale come from grain.
So these are very appropriate choices of beverages
for when we are celebrating this holiday.
Other grain alcohols are also very common
when we celebrate.
And this all goes along with the theme of
Lughnasadh very well.
Also, coming from grain, is bread.
So making bread or items with bread.... when
we talk about tailgating we have hot dogs
and hamburgers that go on buns, we have dips
that we spread on crackers or even dipping
bread into cheese and oils.
Bowls are even made out of bread to eat soup
and stew from.
You can even craft things from bread, such
as simple ornaments.
Wheat and corn husks are used for decorations
as well.
The idea of creating a doll from the husks
of corn or using stalks of wheat that are
braided to form a figure or symbol is placed
in the center of an altar and your wishes
and needs and prayers are sent into that figure.
You could even write your wishes on strips
of dried corn husk if you can't create a figure.
These are then burnt in a bonfire in the evening
and sent to the deities to help us get through
the coming days.
So there you have it, Lughnasadh is a harvest
celebration that focuses on the idea of the
harvest of the grain and the celebration of
the end of the Summer.
It is a lot of fun and should be celebrated
with friends and family with beer and bread
and playing games or watching the game and
cheering!
Thank you for listening to this lecture Thank
you again and Merry Part!
