Luhgnasa

Lughnasa (loo-na-sa) is a Celtic festival celebrated in early August, usually August 1st. It's called a cross-quarter day because it falls approximately midway between summer solstice and autumn equinox, marking the end of summer in the Celtic tradition, and the beginning of the harvesting season.

The name Lughnasa comes from Lugh, the Celtic God of harvests, crafts, and the lightening flash, and nasad, which was an assembly or gathering. The Lughnasad was a gathering to honor and appease Lugh, so he would hopefully not throw a summer storm temper-tantrum, and ruin the harvest.

Agenda Today:

1. Journal Queries
2. Make gingerbread

3. Sewing project

4. Take a pause to enjoy the season

6. Nasad (gathering)

1. Journal Queries:

All of the cross-quarter days are times of transition from one focus to another. At Lughnasa the shift is from growth to harvest. 

August is a time of transformation and abundance - but it's rich with both the sweet and the sour. We often have our smokiest and hottest days in August, days to be endured with stoic calm. 

Lugh is the trickster face of God-- chaotic, disorderly, operating outside the framework of right and wrong-- sending lightning at inconvenient moments. This isn't a comfortable image, but I have to face the fact that my spiritual life isn't always comfortable; sometimes what I harvest is tough to chew.

What has been growing in my life that is ready for harvest now?

How is my harvest proceeding? 
Is the Trickster in charge? If so, how am I handling that?

2. Make gingerbread:

The Anglo-Saxons called this cross-quarter day Lammas, or "loaf-mass", for the blessing of bread made from the first harvest of grain. In ancient tradition, the grains of the Earth are the body of the God, sacrificed at the harvest, ground to flour, baked into bread and then consumed to keep the circle of life turning.

I usually make bread today, in some form: Biscuits, muffins, corn bread; I plan to make a gingerbread man!

3. Arts and crafts: 

Lugh is a master of all crafts, and is known for sharing his knowledge with humans. I feel a connection to Lugh-- he is the image of God as an Arts and Crafts Teacher! 

Since Lugh is the god of all crafts, all of us craftspeople, artists, and entertainers get to show off our talents today. 

I've got lots of projects started (and unfinished), and today I will take a tiny ceremonial step forward on each of them.

4. Take a pause to enjoy the season:

Just as we celebrate Imbolc as the 'beginning of the end of winter,' so we celebrate Lughnasa as the beginning of the end of summer. This is generally a busy time in the garden! So many delicious things are ready to harvest; it's a time of joy for the first fruits, typically the start of the grain harvest, or potatoes, or blueberries, or really whatever you have a lot of!

(My harvest this week is all of my bolted onions - they need to be peeled, cored, quartered, and frozen....)

But today is a time to take a pause, to acknowledge all the work we've done - all the attention we've give to our garden and to our lives - and pray that we will have the strength to continue to care for everything that is growing. Also, this pause allows us to remember the cycle of the seasons; that we are rolling onwards towards autumn, and now is the time to honor and enjoy the sun and the summer.

Today I will take some time to sit in the garden and just BE. 

5. Nasad (gathering):

The Celtic gathering at this time of year was an early thanksgiving - the first of several times to give thanks for the harvest. They celebrated for two or more weeks, beginning with a climb to the tops of mountains to present the first grain to the creator. They also held the Tailteann Games, with horse races, chariot races, footraces, and swimming races, followed by dancing, singing, story-telling, and great readings of the law. And a feast.

This weekend my family will gather for a shared meal, and we will have a time to share our feelings of thanksgiving.