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The Wheel of the Year turns now to the celebration of the first harvest of the year, known as Lammas or Lughnasadh (LOO-nuh-suh). This is Irish Gaelic for “Commemoration of Lugh.” This is another of the four Celtic fire festivals of Imbolc, Beltaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain. This feast begins at sundown on July 31st and continues until sundown August first.
Lughnasadh marks 15° Leo, and the beginning of the Sun’s fall from the sky. Now we are aware of the descent of the Sun into the darkness of winter. From the connection between the Earth (female principle) and the Sun (male principle), the marriage of the Sky Father (Sun God) with the Earth Mother that we celebrated at Beltaine, emerge the fruits of the first harvest of the year. Lughnasadh is a time of joy about the first fruits. It is also a time of tension, because the dark days of Winter are coming nearer, and most of the harvest is not brought in and stored away yet. This brings folks together to help each other.