24/08/2023
LGBTQIA Pagans and followers of earth based religions are sending their greetings as the wheel of the year turns to the festival of the first harvest, known in Celtic countries as Lughnsasadh and in English traditions as Lammas, or "loaf mass". Scholars agree that celebrations, fairs and markets at this time of year, go deep into prehistory, and that the festival of the first harvest was absorbed into the folk traditions of many countries. The Glastonbury based pagan bookstore, The Goddess and the Green Man, notes "It is now high summer and the union of Sun and Earth, of God and Goddess, has produced the First Harvest. Lammas is the celebration of this first, Grain Harvest, a time for gathering in and giving thanks for abundance..... It is also the great festival of Lugh, or Lug, the great Celtic Sun King and God of Light. August is His sacred month when He initiated great festivities in honour of His mother, Tailtiu. Feasting, market fairs, games and bonfire celebrations were the order of the day. Circle dancing, reflecting the movement of the sun in sympathetic magic, was popular, as were all community gatherings. August was considered an auspicious month for handfastings and weddings. But underlying this is the knowledge that the bounty and energy of Lugh, of the Sun, is now beginning to wane. It is a time of change and shift. Active growth is slowing down and the darker days of winter and reflection are beckoning..."
For more ideas and thoughts on these celebrations, you can visit:
https://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/blog/lammas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lughnasadh
https://www.paganfed.org/pf-london-lammas-ritual-2023/
Some pagan media:
https://wyldwood.torontocast.stream/
