Post by Alraune on Aug 1, 2018 7:43:01 GMT
Lammas
Date: 31st July/1st August.
Other Names: Lammastide, Loaf Mass, Hlaf-mas, Lughnasadh, Lughnasa, Lúnasa, Luanistyn.
Themes: Harvest, thanksgiving, sacrifice, abundance.
Deities/Spirits: Gods of the harvest, Lugh, Demeter, Ceres, Kronos, Saturn, Nerthus, Frey, John Barleycorn, Tailtiu.
Symbols: Wheat, corn, barley, the spear, sickle, scythe.
Ritual Tools: Spear, sickle
Colours: Green, yellow, orange, gold.
Plants/Herbs: All grains, oak, poppies, cornflowers, moon daises, pennyroyal, catmint, sunflowers, late-blooming wildflowers.
Incense: Frankincense, chamomile, marigold.
Oils: Mint, calendula
Animals and Birds: Buzzard, pigs, snakes, harvest mice, bees.
Food and Drink: Bread, grains, honey, nuts, blackberries, cider, fresh fruits and vegetables, pies and cobblers, jam, potatoes, cornbread, ale, beer, whiskey, mead, grapes.
General
Lammas is the first harvest of the neopgagan festival cycle and honours the gathering in of the grain at the turning between summer and autumn. Also called Lughnasadh, it marks the funeral feast of the Irish earth goddess Tailtiu who is the foster mother of the sun god Lugh. In the Lebor Gabála Érenn, Tailtiu is said to have died from exhaustion after clearing Ireland for agriculture. Lugh establishes a feast and games in Her honour and various customs and traditions have been passed down into modern pagan celebrations. Echoes of this relationship can been seen in the rituals surrounding the Eleusinian Mysteries; Triptolemos establishing a mystery cultus in honour of His foster mother Demeter.