(This festival fell on the 2nd of February in 2008, in the Southern Hemisphere. For information on the Southern Wheel of the Year, click label at end of post.)
Lughnasadh is also called First Fruits, Lammas, Lughnasadh or Loaf Mass. It marks the beginning of the harvest season.
The body of the God is symbolised by harvested grains. The grains become bread. The bread is consumed as a symbol of the god keeping the seasons of the yearly cycle flowing.
This was clearly explained at the very first Neopagan event I attended, an open circle at Lughnasadh 2006. We ate the bread and sang the song of Lughnasadh:
"Hoof and horn,
Hoof and horn,
All that dies shall be re-born.
Corn and grain,
Corn and grain,
All that falls shall rise again."
There are no native animals in Australia with hoofs. (Cows, horses, sheep etc are not native to Australia.)
February is the hottest month in Australia and often the worst month for bushfires. We sometimes call the bushfires the February Dragon, after the fiery breath of dragons. Bushfire is the element of Fire and fire is not all bad. It is energy. It burns away the tangled undergrowth and germinates some varieties of native tree.
At Lughnasadh 2008 I could not find an open circle anywhere near me, so I celebrated it at home on my own.
I looked for a ritual that included both my heritage (mainly British) and life in the Australian climate. I found nothing. So I used an article for writing your own festivals celebrations and wrote one. It was a bit rough and ready and I'm sure I left out important parts I simply hadn't learned about then. However, writing it taught me a lot I didn't already know and the ritual went well enough for a first try.
I put gold flowers on the god's side of the altar and inscribed a white candle with His name.
When I cast the circle, I imagined it consisting of ripe wheat, giant stalks stretching up and the heads curving to meet overhead.
I had found examples of quarter calls but they had a very Northern Hemisphere feel. I adapted the wording slightly to give a more Australian flavour and thus mean more in Australia. I included wording about the drought and the rain coming to break it and so on. They too were rough but time and more knowledge has given all parts of my rituals more polish.
I invoked Lugh, god of the storms and rain and the harvest and asked Him for protection in a personal matter and asked Him if he could avoid setting fire to too much bush and crops this fire season.
There was a storm the day before Lughnasadh and another one the next morning, neatly sandwiching Lughnasadh between them.
The quarter calls I adapted
Writing your own rituals
