Practical Magic: A Beginner's Guide to Crystals, Horoscopes, Psychics, and Spells - Nikki Van De Car 2017

Lammas
Pagan Holidays
Magic for the weekend Wiccan

Pronounced luh-MAHS. Also known as Lughnasadh, it is celebrated from August 1 through August 2.

Lammas occurs on the day of the first harvest of the year—so right around the time your local farmer’s market starts up in earnest. It is a sign that the hot days of summer are finally coming to an end and the bounty we have worked so hard all year to ensure has finally arrived.

Lammas translates to “loaf-mass;” traditionally, loaves of bread were placed on altars to honor the Green Man, the Sun God (called Lugh in Gaelic), or the Christian God, depending on who was doing the celebrating.

For Lugh, the day has particular significance. Funeral games were held in his honor, though it wasn’t his funeral—it was his foster mother, Tailte, who is said to have died of exhaustion after clearing the fields of Ireland for agriculture. The games played on Lammas were contests of strength and skill.

This was also a time for trial marriages; Tailteann marriages were arranged marriages that were given a provisional period of a year and a day—if the marriage was successful after that, great. If not, it was dissolved on the Hills of Separation (actual hills that stand near where the games were traditionally held) as if it had never been.

COLORS: orange, yellow, brown, and green

STONES: carnelian, emerald

HERBS: hops, apples, grains

WAYS TO CELEBRATE:

Bake a loaf of bread and leave it as an offering for whomsoever you choose.

Hold a feast, and host some games!

Make a doll out of a sheaf of corn and hang it in your home until the next harvest, when it should be planted to grow again.

Perhaps consider taking a significant next step in a relationship, or use Lammas as a day to reflect on how your relationships are working.