Lughnasadh = Autumn's Bounty
The grain stands tall in the fields, the days are misty and hot as we gather the harvest of the year.
Lughnasadh sees three harvests: the grain harvest of August, the fruit harvest of September, the meat harvest of October.
November when beasts are slaughtered for winter eating, there is plenty in the larder and a feeling of unaccustomed richness.
As Autumn progresses, animals make their own harvest of the year's plenty against the dark days of Winter, gathering fruits and nuts.
The season of Lugnasadh is one of transition when we adjust to the lessening of heat and of assimilation as we asess the harvest of our work while the leaves fall.
Lugnasadh opens the last quarter of the Celtic year. The festival derives from the funeral games held by the Irish god, Lugh, in honour of his foter mother Tailtiu, and its name means 'the binding duty of Lugh'.
Tailtiu was an ancient goddess of agriculture who is said to have died from having cleared the plains of trees ready for planting, since this clearing of the Irish forests took place in earliest times, we may conclude that Tailtiu is a Gaelic name for an even more ancient goddes.
Lugh, son of Ethniu, is also called Samildanach, or 'he of the many gifts' since there was no skill or art to which he was a stranger. It is fitting that his name should be given to this feast which celebrates the harvest of all the fruits of the earth.
Two great fairs were held at this time in ancient Ireland, one of which, the Oenach Tailtren survivied until the late eighteenth century at Teltown, County Meath. One of the customs of this fair was that of the Teltown marriage, whereby a wall was erected in which was a hole big enough to admit a hand. Men and women stood on either side of the hole and whoever grasped the other's hand through it were considered married for nine months, if either party were dissatisfied at the end of which time, the trial marriage was cancelled.
Marriages were common after harvest time, since small holders could establish whether they could afford to get married in the coming year, although in Rural Ireland, getting wed during the harvest was generally avoided as unlucky.
The sacrifice of a bull seems associated with this festival, possibly to feed the assemblies which gathered to celebrate the harvest.
Many games and contests were part of these celebrations including the swimming of horses across lakes, contests of strength, dancing and skill.
This festival marks a deeper awareness of the marriage between the land and its people. Lugh frequently appears in vision to aid and assist candidate kings in their quest for kingship, in his hall sits the Goddess of Sovereignty who dispenses the red drink of lordship to the worthy candidate.
The grain stands tall in the fields, the days are misty and hot as we gather the harvest of the year.
Lughnasadh sees three harvests: the grain harvest of August, the fruit harvest of September, the meat harvest of October.
November when beasts are slaughtered for winter eating, there is plenty in the larder and a feeling of unaccustomed richness.
As Autumn progresses, animals make their own harvest of the year's plenty against the dark days of Winter, gathering fruits and nuts.
The season of Lugnasadh is one of transition when we adjust to the lessening of heat and of assimilation as we asess the harvest of our work while the leaves fall.
Lugnasadh opens the last quarter of the Celtic year. The festival derives from the funeral games held by the Irish god, Lugh, in honour of his foter mother Tailtiu, and its name means 'the binding duty of Lugh'.
Tailtiu was an ancient goddess of agriculture who is said to have died from having cleared the plains of trees ready for planting, since this clearing of the Irish forests took place in earliest times, we may conclude that Tailtiu is a Gaelic name for an even more ancient goddes.
Lugh, son of Ethniu, is also called Samildanach, or 'he of the many gifts' since there was no skill or art to which he was a stranger. It is fitting that his name should be given to this feast which celebrates the harvest of all the fruits of the earth.
Two great fairs were held at this time in ancient Ireland, one of which, the Oenach Tailtren survivied until the late eighteenth century at Teltown, County Meath. One of the customs of this fair was that of the Teltown marriage, whereby a wall was erected in which was a hole big enough to admit a hand. Men and women stood on either side of the hole and whoever grasped the other's hand through it were considered married for nine months, if either party were dissatisfied at the end of which time, the trial marriage was cancelled.
Marriages were common after harvest time, since small holders could establish whether they could afford to get married in the coming year, although in Rural Ireland, getting wed during the harvest was generally avoided as unlucky.
The sacrifice of a bull seems associated with this festival, possibly to feed the assemblies which gathered to celebrate the harvest.
Many games and contests were part of these celebrations including the swimming of horses across lakes, contests of strength, dancing and skill.
This festival marks a deeper awareness of the marriage between the land and its people. Lugh frequently appears in vision to aid and assist candidate kings in their quest for kingship, in his hall sits the Goddess of Sovereignty who dispenses the red drink of lordship to the worthy candidate.