Lughnasadh (Old Irish: Lugnasad; Irish: Lúnasa; Scottish Gaelic: Lùnastal; Manx: Luanistyn; Kymric: Calan Awst; Gaulish: Lugunassatis), is a traditional Gaelic holiday one of the four Celtic annual festival celebrated on 1 August. It is in origin a harvest festival, corresponding to the Welsh Calan Awst and the English Lammas. A harvest festival in honor of the Celtic sun god, Lugh (the greatest warrior among the Celts, since beat the Giants who demanded human sacrifices). Already the name Lammas means "Mission: Bread (Loaf Mass)," which represents the food (usually bread or cake or any other body) made with grains, representing the harvest, and spread (as sacred food) among the members of coven or family or between friends. This name comes from the medieval custom of taking the first loaves (cakes, etc.) for a celebration.
The Lughnasadh festival begun by Lugh, as a funeral feast and games commemorating his foster-mother, Tailtiu, who died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture. The first location of the Áenach Tailteann gathering was at Telltown, located between Navan and Kells. Historically, the Áenach Tailteann was a time for contests of strength and skill and a favored time for contracting marriages and winter lodgings. A peace was declared at the festival, and religious celebrations were also held. The festival survived as the Taillten Fair, and was revived for a period in the twentieth century as the Telltown Games.
A similar Lughnasadh festival was held at Carmun (whose exact location is under dispute). Carmun is also believed to have been a goddess of the Celts, perhaps one with a similar story as Tailtiu.
Besides the traditional "Mass of Lugh," according to the tradition of Wicca, this time dolls are made of straw (corn or wheat) representing the gods, called Lord and Lady of the Corn. These figures are taken as amulets of protection throughout the year until next Lammas, which are burned at the stake or caldron.
At stake, the dolls of corn last year, along with papers containing thanks to the gods, are burned, this occurs as a way to remind that Wiccans should burn the past and use it as fuel for our future.
The nights have started to get longer, since the Summer Solstice; approaching the time of departure from God to the earth in summer, leaving their own seed in the womb of the Goddess, where reborn (keeping the eternal cycle of birth -death-rebirth).
Lughnasadh or Lammas is also the name used for one of the eight sabbats in the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. It is the first of the three autumn harvest festivals, the other two being the Autumn equinox (also called Mabon by Wiccans) and Samhain. It is seen as one of the two most auspicious times for handfasting, the other being at Beltane. Some Wiccans mark the holiday by baking a figure of the "corn god" in bread, and then symbolically sacrificing and eating it.
Plants and fruits: acacia flowers, aloes, frankincense, nuts, cherries, rice, barley, heather, myrtle, sunflower, corn, oats, wheat, blueberries, apples, and whole grains and ripe fruits of the season.
Typical foods: Homemade bread, barley cakes, roast lamb, and pies and other dishes made from the fruits of the season.
Typical Beverages: Wines, beers, ciders and teas, and juices and other beverages prepared from the fruits of the season.
Incense: acacia, aloes, frankincense, rose and sandalwood.
Colors: orange and yellow.
Stones: aventurine, citrine, peridot and sardonyx.
Addition of Lugh, other gods of harvest and abundance are honored, like Danu and Brighid, also non-celtic gods depending on the culture of the partaker.
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