Lughnasad
The modern Irish spelling, L�nasa, is the name of the month of August in Irish Gaelic. Lughnasadh, an older spelling, is often used to designate the name of the seasonal festival that surrounds the first day of the month of August. In Scots Gaelic the day is known as Lunasda or Lunasdal. This is the time that marks a rest from labor, a time to take stock of what the summer sun has yielded. It is a time to celebrate and enjoy the outcome of our daily toil.
Lughnasadh is named for Lugh, the Celtic deity who presides over the arts and sciences. According to Celtic legend, Lugh decreed that a commemorative feast be held each year at the beginning of the harvest season to honor his foster mother, Tailtiu. Tailtiu was the royal Lady of the Fir Bolg. After the defeat of her people by the Tuatha De Dannan, she was obliged by them to clear a vast forest for the purpose of planting grain. She died of exhaustion in the attempt. The legend states that she was buried beneath a great mound named for her, at the spot where the first feast of Lughnasadh was held in Ireland, the hill of Tailte. At this gathering were held games and contests of skill as well as a great feast made up of the first fruits of the summer harvest.
The name of Lugh is derived from the old Celtic word "lugio", meaning "an oath". A traditional part of the celebrations surrounding Lughnasadh have been the formation of oaths. From before recorded history into the twentieth century marriages, employment contracts and other bargains of a mundane nature were formed and renewed at this time of year. Since the agricultural year had its culmination in the harvest and the harvest festivals, oaths and contracts that had to wait until after the corps were in could be focused on at this time. Marriages, hiring for the upcoming season and financial arrangements were often a part of the Lughnasadh activities and in many areas fairs were held specifically for the purpose of hiring or matchmaking.
In the Celtic nations of Europe traditions surrounding Lughnasadh still continue from pre-Christian times. Most often, celebration of the holiday occurs on the first Sunday of August or the Sunday just before the first day of August. In modern Ireland the tradition still continues that on the last Sunday of July families ascend into the hills of the countryside to pick bilberries. The bilberries are symbolic of the bounty of Mother Earth at this time of year and of the fruits harvested in that ancient time when Tailltiu made a place for the grain that would feed the generations to come after her. With the coming of Christianity to the Celtic lands, the old festival of Lughnasadh took on Christian symbolism. Loaves of bread were baked from the first of the harvested grain and placed on the church altar on the first Sunday of August. The Christianized name for the feast of Lughnasadh is Lammas which means "loaf mass". And, of course, there are the fairs which are still held all across Europe and America.
British Witches often refer to the astrological date of Aug 6th as Old Lammas, and folklorists call it Lammas O.S. ('Old Style').
'Lammas' was the medieval Christian name for the holiday and it means 'loaf-mass', for this was the day on which loaves of bread were baked from the first grain harvest and laid on the church altars as offerings. It was a day representative of 'first fruits' and early harvest.
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1