Lammas, Lughnassadh, Lugnasad.  August 1st/2nd 

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.  We work with the cycle that Mabon or the Autumn Equinox is the Second Harvest of Fruit, and Samhain is the third and Final Harvest of Nuts and Berries.

The word 'Lammas' is derived from 'loaf mass' and is indicative of how central and honoured is the first grain and the first loaf of the harvesting cycle.

Lugh

It is also the 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, were 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...

The Grain Mother

At Lammas the Goddess is in Her aspect as Grain Mother, Harvest Mother, Harvest Queen, Earth Mother, Ceres and Demeter.  Demeter, as Corn Mother, represents the ripe corn of this year's harvest and Her daughter Kore/Persephone represents the grain - the seed  which drops back deep into the dark earth, hidden throughout the winter, and re-appears in the spring as new growth.  This is the deep core meaning of Lammas and comes in different guises: it is about the fullness and fulfillment of the present harvest holding at its heart the seed of all future harvest.  (It is a fact that a pregnant woman carrying her as yet unborn daughter is also already carrying the ovary containing all the eggs her daughter will ever release - she is already both mother, grandmother and beyond, embodying the great Motherline - pure magic and mystery.)

So as the grain harvest is gathered in, there is food to feed the community through the winter and within that harvest is the seed of next year's rebirth, regeneration and harvest.  The Grain Mother is ripe and full, heavily pregnant she carries the seed of the new year's Sun God within her.  There is tension here.  For the Sun God, the God of the Harvest, the Green Man, or John Barleycorn, surrenders his life with the cutting of the corn.

John Barleycorn                      

John Barleycorn is the living Spirit of the corn, or grain.  As the corn is cut so John Barleycorn.  He surrenders his life so that others may live, so that the life of the community can continue.  He is both eaten as the bread and is reborn as the seed returns to the earth.  In the case of barley, the first stalks were also used to make the first beer of the season.  The first sheaf of corn produces the first seed and assurance of future harvest. 

This page is under construction.  Come back soon. xxx