It’s time for another Sabbat on our Wheel of the Year! Because I was a total slacker and didn’t post in the middle of July, it feels as though we have back to back celebrations. You really notice how fast the year goes by when you celebrate the Sabbats and the Equinoxs, as they come about every other month.

Right along with the Full Moon on August 1st (click here to read more on that), we have a sort of double celebration with Lammas & Lughnasadh. Why two? First we had Lughnasadh but as it became outlawed to celebrate what was considered Pagan holidays, Lammas became a Christian version of the same. Now days, thankfully, many of us have the right to believe and celebrate as we wish, and thus we can include and incorporate both into our wheel of the year.

Lughnasadh has Pagan origins and is the Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. It’s considered one of the four Celtic Fire Festivals and was historically celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. It’s named for the Celtic God Lugh, the God of Sun and Light, and a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Lammas is the Christianized version of Lughnasadh. It’s named after the Old English word for “Loaf Mass” and celebrates the first harvests of wheat and grain which are made into bread. The loaves of bread would be ritually blessed in church mass, and would then be celebrated as a sort of Thanksgiving alongside rituals to ensure the fruitfulness of the next years crops. Communities who celebrated would make a ritual out of thinning out the crops for a more successful and healthy harvest before the winter months.

Lammas/Lughnasadh marks the midpoint between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox.

Here are some fun ways to celebrate Lammas/Lughnasadh on your own-

Symbols and Things Associated with Lammas/Lughnasadh

Herbs, plants and foods associated with Lammas/Lughnasadh include:

Sage, Hazel, Meadowsweet, Sunflower, Wheat, Corn, Barley, Oats, Rye, Blackberries, Potatoes, Breads, Turnips, Apples, Pears, Nuts, Rice, wild berries, Elderflower wine, Mead, Fruit Teas, Ale, Ginseng, Sandalwood, Heather, Frankincense, Oak, Vervain, Fenugreek, Calendula, and Aloe.

Gods associated with Lammas/Lughnasadh are:

Lugh, Demeter, Persephone, Loki, Thor, Odin, Innana, Ishtar, Ceradwin, Adonis, Attis, Baal, Ceres, Cronus, Danu, Dagon, Hestia, Mercury, Neper, Parvati, Pomona, Renenutet, Saturn, Sobek, Vesta, Tammuz, and Tailtiu.

Crystals associated with Lammas/Lughnasadh:

Sardonyx, Carnelian, Sunstone, Citrine, Fire Agate, Aventurine, Smoky Quartz, Citrine, Amber, and Yellow Diamonds.

Colors traditionally associated with Lammas/Lughnasadh:

Brown, Gold, Red, Orange and Green.

Lastly, I thought it would be fun to share a recipe for Irish soda bread, since it’s one of the more traditional and important ways this Sabbat was celebrated.

Enjoy this bread with some Blackberry jam! I shared a quick recipe for it here.

I hope you have a wonderful Lammas/Lughnasadh and that you feel blessed with abundance this year so far! Before we know it, it will be time to celebrate Mabon, and we will be moving into the Fall and Winter months. I can’t wait!

Bless you, and Blessed be!

xoxo Rey