Lughnasadh & Lammas: Honoring the First Harvest Through Spirit, Tradition & Gratitude
As August 1, 2025 approaches, we celebrate one of the most meaningful and beautiful festivals included on the Celtic Wheel of the Year - Lammas, also known as Lughnasadh.
A sacred time shared by Christians, Wiccans, Pagans, and nature-based spiritual paths, this holiday celebrates the abundance of summer. Whether you come to this season through church tradition, the Wiccan interpretation of the Wheel of the Year, or folk and earth-centered spirituality, this is a time to honor the first fruits of the harvest, express gratitude, and connect with the rhythms of creation - it can also be an amazing way to connect with others in your own spiritual community, as well as those outside of it.
From ancient Celtic feasts to traditional Christian loaf blessings, this high summer holiday invites us to honor the fruits of the Earth—and the labor, love, and divine grace that made them possible.
What is Lammas / Lughnasadh?
Lammas (from the Old English hlaf-mas, meaning “loaf mass”) is a Christian festival celebrated on August 1. Historically, it marked the beginning of the grain harvest and was a time when communities would bake bread from the first crop and bring it to church for blessing. It was a moment of offering, gratitude, and a reminder of God’s provision - as well as the value of honest labor, and the joy of sharing abundance.
Lughnasadh (pronounced LOO-nah-sahd), rooted in Celtic tradition, also honors the first fruits of summer. Named after Lugh, a Celtic god of the Sun and master of all arts, the festival included games, gatherings, trade fairs, and community feasting. It is both a practical and spiritual recognition of the earth’s bounty, focused on giving thanks for the harvest and to celebrate life's blessings.
In the Wiccan interpretation of the Wheel of the Year, Lughnasadh / Lammas marks the first of the three harvest festivals (followed by Mabon and Samhain). It is a cross-quarter sabbat, where Wiccans honor the waning power of the Sun, the sacred cycle of sowing and reaping, and the Goddess in her Mother aspect, heavy with abundance.
United Beliefs
Though these traditions arose from different worldviews, they share profound themes:
- Gratitude for the harvest
- Celebration of work and skill
- Sharing in community
- Blessing what has been received
Sacred Symbols of the First Harvest
These symbols are shared across many traditions, faiths, and cultures, each rich with layered meaning:
🌿 Blackberries
In Folk herbalism, as well as Christian and Wiccan folklore, blackberries symbolize abundance, protection, and humility. Sacred to both Mary in Christianity and the Crone aspect in many Wiccan traditions, blackberries represent the fruitfulness of the land at this time of year - especially in the pacific northwest, where Brigid Trading Company is located and where blackberry brambles are so common they are our own backyard garden weeds.
Blackberries in our area become ripe and edible around early July, so very much come at a great time for canning, freezing, or otherwise finding a way to preserve for a natural, free, sweet treat over the coming darker months.
🌾 Oats & Grain
Grain represents sustenance, the sacredness of honest work, and the body of the Earth itself. It is blessed in Christian loaf masses, offered to the Goddess in Wiccan rituals, and honored in Pagan harvest feasts. Oats are significant as offerings, for grounding, as well as bread baking and practical uses on this day. A staple in many Northern climates, including Ireland, oats represent humble faith, nourishment, and daily bread. Used in both baking and folk magic, sharing abundance and blessing at church, oats bridge the sacred and the practical in most interpretations.
🍯 Honey
A symbol of divine blessing. In the Bible, honey is a symbol of divine promise—“a land flowing with milk and honey.” In Wiccan and Pagan paths, it represents the sun's golden energy, sweetness in life, the work of the bees themselves (a symbol of spiritual cooperation), and spiritual nourishment.
🙏 Rituals & Reflections for All Paths
Whether your observance of this holiday is liturgical, magical, or simply mindful, remember this is a season of offering, reflection, and gratitude.
🔥 Bake & Bless a Loaf of Bread
Inspired by the Lammas tradition, bake bread from seasonal grains—oats, wheat, or spelt. Bless it at your altar or dinner table, giving thanks to God or Spirit for the abundance you receive, or bring with you to church if yours observes this day.
🌻 Craft a Traditional Corn Dolly
Corn dollies, or corn mothers, were small figures made of dried grasses, straw, or grain stalks. In pre-Industrial European societies, corn dollies were handcrafted as part of harvest customs, and were said to hold the spirit of the harvest.
Prior to Christianisation, traditional pagan European cultures believed the spirit of the corn ("corn" means "grain" in American English) lived among the crop, and that harvesting the corn left the spirit homeless. It was traditionally crafted from the last sheaf of wheat or other grain harvested for the season.
In Celtic and folk-Christian tradition, the dolly holds the spirit of the harvest and is kept inside throughout the winter as a promise of spring’s return. In spring, it is then ploughed into the first soil of the new season's crop to return the spirit to the outdoors.
🕯️ Light Candles in Seasonal Colors
Use gold, amber, or deep green candles to reflect the idea of the light of the sun, the ripeness of fields, and the divine spark in each of us. Brigid Trading Company's core message is to make light, both literally and figuratively, so this aligns strongly with our purpose as a company. Our Candle Collection features 7 ounce candle jars that are a deep amber color, and we chose this quite intentionally. Our Lughnasadh Candle was crafted specifically for this purpose.
🍇 Create a Harvest Altar, Find a Community or Church, or Find/Make a Sacred Space
If you don't already have one, create a sacred space to observe the meaning of this day and its significance to you and your place in this life, at this location at this time. This can be a church, a windowsill, an alter or table, outdoor space, or anywhere else you feel safe and at peace to reflect and feel gratitude.
If crafting an alter or table for yourself, consider including blackberries, oats, honey, seasonal herbs (these include mugwort, rosemary, and basil to name a few), a cross, a sun symbol, or anything that has meaning for you. This can be a place of prayer, meditation, intention-setting, thanksgiving, or even event planning. Find what works for you -- we are not here to tell you how to worship or what to believe. We hope you find these ideas useful as you work on your own path.
🎁 Sacred Items to Enhance Your Celebration
Our curated Lughnasadh / Lammas Collection includes:
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Premium Soy Wax Candles - crafted by hand with the intention of aiding others in celebrating life's light.
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Fragrance Roller Bottles - remind yourself of the season anytime, anywhere
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Goat's Milk Soap - created by hand with our signature Lughnasadh fragrance blend
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Solid Lotion Bars - hand created with our signature recipe
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Body Lotion - a shea butter-based body lotion made with plant-based ingredients for an additive-free lotion.
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Hand Lotion - a thick, alcohol-free hand lotion designed to nourish with real oils and butters
- Diffuser Oils - create your own
Each item is chosen with care to serve diverse traditions and offer tools for both sacred ritual and simple celebration.
🌞 A Season of Unity, Gratitude & Hope
Lammas and Lughnasadh remind us that there is more that connects us than divides us. At this point in history, we feel this message of unity is more important than ever - traditions did not evolve away from us, we evolved with them. Whether we bring our harvest to the altar, the hearth, or the table, the message is the same:
Give Thanks. Share with Others. Honor Honest Work. Bless the Earth.
May this season bring you abundance, peace, and a renewed connection to Spirit - whatever form that takes in your life.
