Lammas, Lugnasad or Lughnasadh 2017 + Tale

Lammas, Lugnasad or Lughnasadh 2017 + Tale

Lugnasad, also called Lughnasadh or Lammas, is the name given to the time of the harvest, celebrated between the full moon of summer and winter. It reminds us that the sunny days of the summer are coming to an end. It also marks the time to meet friends and family.

Lughnasadh was started by the god Lugh (the long-haired poet, head of the Tuatha De Danann, a people of the goddess Dana, who taught them techniques for plowing, sowing and gathering wheat), as a funeral party and games commemorating His adoptive mother, Tailtiu, who died of exhaustion before clearing the Irish plains for agriculture.

During the reign of Caesar Augustus, the Romans instituted a celebration on August 1 to the emperor's genius at Lyons, a place believed to have been named after the Celtic god Lugh. Curiously, Lyon (lion) is not just a coincidence. In ancient religions, God was seen under two aspects of light and darkness, although in Lammas he was seen as two gods, one god of light and one God of darkness. These two aspects represent the two halves of light and darkness of the year.

At this time the god is losing his strength, for soon he will die. It is a moment of important reflection, as it teaches us the importance of balance in nature and in personal life. In fact, everything that is alive grows, knows decadence and prepares for death, and then reborn, completing a great cycle.

The God is born in Yule, is a boy in Imbolc, passing to adolescence in Ostara, to finish being an adult in Beltane, where it will be united again to the goddess. Litha marks the maximum splendor of the God, from that moment ira losing forces in Lammas and Mabon to finally die in Samhain.

That is why on this Sabbath, we reap the fruits of the seeds we have planted in Ostara, and from them, we will collect the seeds that will wait for the winter to be planted.

In Celtic tradition, Lugnasad is one of the most outstanding celebrations next to Imbolc (February), Beltane (March), and Samhain (October).

Druids saw in the cereal cycle not only the natural germination of a seed, but the reflection of the life cycle: birth, growth/development, and death. Engravings have been found representing straw and cereals in the Celtic necropolis, whose index of significance is both spiritual and material. It was to invoke the spirit of wheat and lure it back into the fields. The mysterious spirit of wheat and plenty were attracted and captured by a straw doll. She had an important symbolic role in the celebration of Lugnasad. "

Today it is difficult for us to understand the importance of the crops in those times since it is normal that we have necessary food, but they depended completely on the food reserves of the previous year. It is in Lugnasad the moment to remember the conservation and the good distribution of the harvest.

Tailtiu, Lugh's nurse and goddess of agriculture

According to the Book of Invasions, Tailtiu was the daughter of the King of Spain and the wife of Eochaid Mac Eirc, High King of Ireland. She survived the invasion of the Tuatha Dé Danann and became the adoptive mother of Lugh.

It is said that Tailtiu died of fatigue after clearing the fields of Ireland for agriculture. Lugh established a harvest and funerary festival (Aachen Tailteann) in his honor, which continued to be held on 1 August as Lugnasad.

Handfasting, the union of hands

For the Irish, Lugnasad was the best time to carry out the Celtic marriage. Its name was the handfasting, or union of hands, and has its origin in an old ritual in which the hands of the contracting parties are sealed thus the contract. There was also another tradition, in which they looked into each other's eyes as they took their right hands and left them forming the symbol of infinity, and surrounding them with a ribbon they were tied in a knot.

The union of hands comes from more Indo-European ancestral symbolism, in which it represents the harmonious union between man and woman since the infinity symbolizes from the antiquity two circles representing the sun (feminine symbol) and the moon (masculine symbol).

The duration of these marriages was one year and one day. At the end of this time, the contracting parties decided whether they wanted to stay together or not. It is the union between two loving beings who freely want to be together and celebrate it in a sacred ritual based on commitment and respect.

As a curiosity, it is said that this ritual of union remained in force in Scotland until 1939, as a public celebration of the union (one year and one day) before the wedding.

Elhoim Leafar

A little Tale

Based on many different elements of pagan folklore, I wrote a story long ago called "the grandfather, the mother and the god of light", which was originally published in Spanish as a collaboration on another blog.

To celebrate this year that has been so positive in many ways, I have created a short (very short) version that you can find and read in my Instagram CLICK HERE.