The First Harvest

Over the years, Lughnasadh has become one of my favorite Sabbats; I love it nearly as much as I love Samhain. I could go in to the mythology behind the Sabbat, tell you all about Lugh and his mother and why this festival was founded, but there are many other writers that do a very good job of that.

Instead, I'd like to share what this festival means to me. Sabbats, as with holidays both secular and of other faiths, hold different meanings to each person. While for the most part we start out in the same place when it comes to celebrating (learning the Mythology, associations, traditional rituals, etc.) as we become more in tune with our individual spiritual path, forge our own unique connections with deity and become comfortable with the cycles of Earth and Heavens in our own geographical location; our ways of observing and celebrating as well as our reasons why, may change. Evolving, if you will, into something more personal and therefore, more meaningful for the individual practitioner.

The harvest season here in the South starts a bit earlier than it does further North, typically with the first harvest happening closer to the Summer Solstice. When I lived in the Northern states, I celebrated Lughnasadh as an agricultural holiday, as well as a day dedicated to the god Lugh. You can imagine then, that my first harvest here was a bit of an adjustment; I'd already been pulling in the bounty for weeks - now what was I supposed to celebrate? Did I just go on with harvesting things as a way to celebrate?

Sure, but there was more than just pulling in goodies from the gardens to this Sabbat. The First Harvest Festival marks the start of the darker half of the year for me; heralding the start of the dying season. I've always been much more comfortable and content, on both physical and spiritual levels, with the part of the year that falls between August and March. This is the time of the year that I really get in to my element and get things done, this is the time of the year where my creativity typically peaks.

As a Harvest Festival, it is also a time of abundance - a time to reap what we have sown in the Spring time. Every Spring I do a cleaning and abundance ritual and so it is that I repeat that ritual once more at Lughnasadh. I clean house, clear out the energies, recharge wards and most importantly, evaluate where I am and how far I've come since Spring. If there's something holding me back or ties that no longer serve me, I use the powerful energy of this day to cut away the cords with an emotional scythe. Reaping and Harvesting isn't all just about bringing in the good stuff, after all. As I'm one to work with balance in mind, I realize that a cutting and burning like this leaves a gap that needs to be filled and so my final act, aside from the card pull I do at every Sabbat and Esbat, is to make an offering up to Lugh - in the form of art that I burn in my cauldron - and ask him to bless my creative practice and call forth what I need in my life.

Today I will celebrate the aspect of the God; Lughnasadh has always been a very masculine day for me - much like Imbolc is a very feminine one. For me, this isn't just a time to celebrate Lugh, but to also honor the Horned One and the God of the Wildwoods. There will be good ale in cold pints, fresh bread and hearty laughter. I will take offers to the edge of the property, where the trees and brambles grow thick between our yard and the next obscuring view and sheltering critters of both fur and feather.

May your Lughnasadh be merry, your blessings bountiful. May you reap that which you most desire and your creative fires be abundant. Happy Sabbat!

P.S. Edited to add photos. Feeling under the weather so celebrated and observed far earlier than usual.

A Merry Lughnasadh

We've spent the Spring and Summer celebrating life and birth, now though, the wheel spins into the darker times and the harvest season is upon us. The fields, gardens and orchards have grown from the things we had sown in the spring - the bounty has come in and it is the reaping time. Now, as the nights grow cooler and the days grow ever shorter, we begin the season of dying and eventually, rebirth.

At this harvest, I honor the God as I honored the Goddess at Imbolc. Not just Lugh, though he is a patron of mine, but the lord of the forests and wild things as well. As we move into the darkness, it is his strength that I seek solace in. It is his wild, unruly nature that kindles the spark of restlessness and excitement that ignites come Autumn each year.

And it's already starting; a buzzing in my brain and a restlessness in my heart and body. The urge to just run, to meander the forests, to splash in the rocky rivers and climb mountains. A craving for ale and meat that leaves me during the hot summer months. Then too, comes the longing for crisp starlit nights and crunchy leaves underfoot, for pumpkins and bonfires surrounded by friends.

But for now, Autumn is only just beginning to creep in with the harvest. And while my own harvest is quite meager this year, due to the massive heat and a bad bought of worms infesting the cucumbers and squashes, I am appreciative all the same. I give thanks to the Earth and the sun, the wind and the rains for the harvest that I have managed to gather. I'm reflecting on the things I planted and started when the first vestiges of Spring appeared and taking stock of the things that have flourished or that simply continued to bloom this summer. In both the literal and figurative gardens of my life.

I wish you all a very merry Lughnasadh. May your harvest be plentiful and your home and table filled with abundance, joy, friendship and love.

Lughnasadh Blessings

The Harvest God - Oil Pastel

Marking the beginning of the end of Summer, Lughnasadh is one of my favorite sabbats. The earth is near bursting with ripe grains and vegetables, the summer fruit season begins to ebb making way for the apples of Autumn. While the days will remain hot and humid for a while longer, the sun will set sooner giving more time to the darkness. Autumn is creeping in and the old woman of Winter, the Cailleach, begins to stir. Lughnasadh is the sabbat on which I take stock of how the things I began in Spring are coming along, to begin to see the benefits of the seeds I've sewn whether they be physical or metaphorical.

This time of the year, as the harvest comes on and the year wanes I focus on the Horned God, that primal masculine force of nature, as he prepares for his descent into the Underworld. Today, my attentions are on he and my bright patron, Lugh. The Goddess is not forgotten and is given offerings and recognition alongside the Gods, but just as her altar shines brightest at Imbolc, Lughnasadh is a day that I focus on them.

A fresh harvest of cucumbers, the first three tomatoes to ripen this year as well as several sunflowers, fragrant sprigs of rosemary and sage and corn muffins straight from the oven are offered up at the thicket on the edges of my yard. Nourishment to the spirits and critters of nature, brought forth by the fertility of the Lord and Lady with help from my two hands.

A bright and cheerful day, filled with a buzz of activity from the drawing of the Harvest God above, several loads of laundry, baking and the fashioning of a new necklace will be followed by an evening of relaxation, thankfulness, fresh chili and a few cold pints.

Merry Lughnasadh to you, my lovelies. May the harvest's blessings be plenty, whatever the seeds you've sewn.

A Blessed Lughnasadh!

It's cloudy, raining and far from a hot sunny summer day, but I'm thankful for the break in the heat. It won't be dampening my spirits as I celebrate the return of the harvest season and honor my patron god, Lugh.

The days will continue to grow shorter and the nights longer from here. Fields swelling with crops will be harvested and I will give thanks to the sun and the earth for not only the bounty of food they have provided, but for all of the wonderful things that abound in my life. At this point each summer I'm worn out and grouchy from the heat so I spend Lughnasadh reflecting on the things I am thankful for and offer up thanks to Lugh for all of the skills that I am blessed with. I take this time to remind me to cut myself some slack when it comes to my art and to take a break from being my biggest critic.

I'm also completely, overly, ridiculously elated that Autumn is approaching. The signs of it are beginning to creep up around my home in the form of sunflowers, harvest colored altar cloths, grinning scarecrows and pumpkins... I am craving warm apple cider and the scent of musty dead leaves. Visions of pumpkin pies and caramel apples are dancing through my head. I am tempted to wear my Autumn jacket, but know that it will be nearly 100° everyday for quite a while still. For now, I'll settle for some salad with pumpkin seeds and some savory cheddar scones.

A very blessed Lughnasadh to you all!

Painting and Lugh

While setting up my art nook, I created a photo collage of some of my favourite places I've visited and times with friends. In the dead center, I wanted a square black frame, but had no idea what to put in it. It sat empty for two weeks, until a certain tricky god poked me in the ribs and declared he deserved the spot.

That god my lovelies, is none other than the Celtic god, Lugh.

Lugh is a Celtic solar diety and the master of all skills, from smithing to healing to art. He is a warrior whose weapon of choice is a spear that is said to be so thirsty for blood that it often tries to join battles without it's master.

Lugh is also a god of the harvest. Lughnasadh, the first of the three Pagan harvest Sabbats, was dedicated by Lugh to his foster mother, Tailtiu. She had exhausted herself clearing great forests to be cultivated and upon her death Lugh declared the people celebrate her life and honor her sacrifice with feasting, dancing and games.

Lugh is associated with the raven, the sun, sunflowers, cornflowers, sandalwood, citrine, peridot, aventurine and the colours of the harvest.

My painting of Lugh depicts him as I see him, a youthful celtic warrior of fair skin and sunny hair, some of which is in large plaits, accompanied by a raven. As was traditional with celtic warriors he wears blue tribal tattoos and a silver torc.

Details: raven and celtic sun tattoo.

This painting is 6"x6" and was rendered in watercolour on thick paper. Watercolour is a fairly new medium for me and I'm really enjoying it so far. I also don't draw or paint men very often, so this was a bit of a challenge for me. I have a bad habit of making men appear very feminine and I think I managed to bulk Lugh up a bit.