Pagan holidays - Lammas Day (Lughnasadh)

The autumn period of the Celtic pagan calendar began with the festival of Lammas, which was dedicated to the god Lugh. Lammas is an Anglo-Irish name, which literally means “Lug’s gathering”, “Lug’s wedding”. The name of the holiday in Celtic is Lughnasadh. There are other options: the holiday of the great bread, the first harvest, the holiday of the sickle. The dates of the holidays were set in accordance with the wheel of the year - the Celtic calendar. It was divided into eight parts at approximately equal intervals, in accordance with the main pagan holidays, one of which was Lammas. The official date of Lughnasada celebration is August 1st. But based on the lunar phases, the new day for the Celts began on the evening of July 31, therefore, the beginning of the celebration was at the same time. This is explained by the superiority of night over daytime among these peoples. And the day for the Celts began in the evening, and not like ours, in the morning. On the eve of the holiday, the first sheaf was cut in the fields. The hero of the celebration was the Celtic god Lugh, who was the patron of agriculture, fertility and crafts, distributing his wealth. There is a legend that this holiday was established by Lug himself, in honor of his adoptive mother Tailtine, the goddess of earth and fertility, after her death. The second legend says that the holiday is dedicated to the marriage of Lugh to the goddess Eira, who was the guardian of Ireland. Before the festivities, an elder was chosen. It was believed that the leader chosen on this day would be wise and fair. The holiday was held during the period of ripening berries and harvesting in the fields. It was customary to pick blueberries and bake pies from the flour of the new harvest. Ritual bread decorated with ears of corn was prepared for sacrifice to the gods. Or they sculpted figures of a god and goddess from bread dough. In addition to bread, gifts of wine, fruit, nuts, and beer were given. Money was donated to attract good luck in trade matters. On the day of Lughnasad, cattle breeders read spells in the pastures to protect livestock from illnesses and diseases. For the same purpose, they smeared the ears and tails of animals with resin. The whole community celebrated the holiday, trying to dress in the colors of the ripe harvest: red, orange, yellow and green. The festivities were accompanied by songs, dances, games and jumping over the fire. The Celts treated each other to beer, wine and bread. People forgave offenses and sins, and made wishes. Dolls were made from straw to preserve comfort and well-being in the house. Exactly a year later the doll was burned. For all family members, women made amulets from stones (citrine, amber), wood or fabric. Another meaning of the holiday is the day of the fusion of masculine and feminine principles. It was on this day that young people sought to get married. There were both real and symbolic weddings. When a man and a woman came together for one year and one day, in order to understand whether they could spend their whole lives together. That is, civil marriage existed even among the Celts. Later, during the period of close contact between the Romans and the Celts, when the latter invaded Roman territory, Lammas was changed to the Assembly of the Gauls glorifying the emperor.