Blog Article

Lughnasadh - the Month of Harvest

August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time. Sylvia Plath

August is a transition time, there is a touch of something in the air that has the scent of an ending, and then a new beginning, all at once. It sits at the top of summer’s Ferris wheel. Everything—June and July—has been the rise to this month, where we hover in these hot unrelenting weeks, swaying to and fro as if unable or unready to let go, and then with a jolt the wheel rasps to life again, making its inescapable descent into Fall.

It is here, as August takes it’s first breath that we celebrate Lughnasadh. The first harvest festival on the Wheel of the Year. I’ve always loved this time. It has a sort of bittersweet joy, a breath-taking, indescribable combination of loss and possibility.

Lughnasadh (“Loo-nah-sod”) is a seasonal celebration that honors the gifts of late summer and enjoying the abundance all around us right now. It honors the impermanence of life as we move into the final days of Summer. Berries are ready to pick. The vegetables are ripening. We feast on fresh greens from our gardens and local farms. The first grains are ready to harvest

This season is lush and abundant, but Nature is already beginning to sense the coming of colder Winter days. So begins the days of preparation: gathering seeds to plant next Spring, harvesting herbs, canning jams and jellies, and baking bread to store for those cold days ahead. It’s important to also understand that there is so much more to Lughnasadh and not just the literal interpretation of harvesting because you may not be farming your own fields.

This is a time for gratitude, personal growth, and renewal. The energy and intentions of Lughnasadh are still prevalent in the day-to-day lives of those who live a nature spirituality-based life.

It can be easy to overlook this holiday because it is the first of three harvest celebrations. Most of us don’t physically harvest anything much bigger than a garden, so it can be easy to disconnect ourselves from the process.

As a Hearth-Witch, my home, kitchen, garden is the source of my power and magic. My celebrations on August 1st are gestures of gratitude for the things, people, and places that nourish and sustain me.

Today I will be spending some time on my small garden, baking bread and sharing dinner with my family.