Lughnasadh: Embracing the Big Energy of the Harvest

Celebrate the Height of Summer

Earth Sensory Perception is a subsection of Our Uncertain Future and represents a compilation of essays on animistic nature connections in the modern world. Johanna DeBiase is an author and Nature Therapy Guide living off grid in Taos, NM.

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Nature’s Bounty and Brightness

We have entered the height of summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Can you feel it?

The sunflowers are in full bloom opening their bright faces to the sun at its zenith, bigger and hotter than any other time of year. Berries are ample on the vine. Animal sightings are prolific as they hop and scurry and hunt the abundant land. Humans are traipsing outdoors to dance, hike, swim and eat with family, seeking shade and companionship. Gardens are stuffed with overflowing zucchini, tomatoes and greens to share.

On Friday, August 1^st, we celebrate Lughnasadh or Lughnasa (pronounced LOO-nah-sah), a traditional Celtic festival that designates the beginning of the harvest season, halfway between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox in the pagan Wheel of the Year.

The Origins and Traditions of Lughnasadh

In ancient Celtic cultures, Lughnasadh marked the very first time in the year when crops like barley, oats, and wheat were ready to be gathered. To honor this turning point, communities came together to offer the first fruits, the earliest portion of the harvest, as a sacred gift. These first fruits offerings were made to the Earth, the gods, and ancestral spirits, in gratitude and recognition that the abundance of the land was not guaranteed. The offering was an act of reciprocity, gratitude and sacred exchange.

Lughnasadh was named for the god Lugh. In the ancient Irish tradition, Lugh was known as a god of many talents. He was a warrior, poet, harpist, blacksmith, healer, and magician, a being of brilliance and radiant power. Lugh’s foster mother, Tailtiu, was a goddess of the land. She loved humanity and gave of herself to ensure their survival. Tailtiu cleared the great forests of Ireland, working tirelessly to make room for fields where people could grow crops and build homes. But, after giving all she had, Tailtiu collapsed and died of exhaustion, her heart worn down by her love for the people.

Lugh, overcome with grief and gratitude, held a great festival in her honor, a gathering of games, feasting, and celebration to mark her sacrifice. This became known as Lughnasadh, a festival of harvest, of honoring what is given to us, and the effort it takes to bring things into being.

Leo Season and the Energetics of Late Summer

This story addresses the action needed to achieve what we desire (planting seeds) and following our passions whole-heartedly (cultivating crops), but it also speaks to the potential for feeling 'burned out' or energized to excess. I am reminded that not all harvest requires hard work. Nature is full of gifts that are free, unexpected, and powerful.

Nibbling on blueberries in an alpine meadow or showering beneath a waterfall are examples of abundance in nature. Their sweetness is not dependent on our effort and is offered to us lovingly. We receive these gifts from Nature with gratitude and respect while remembering that they were given to us simply for our existence.

This year, I will be hosting women friends at my house in honor of the energy of this time of year. It is also Leo season (July 22-August22), another symbolic time of big energy as Leo is ruled by the sun and signifies confidence, joy, creativity and self-expression. We will have a fire to honor the sun and life force of abundance and share seasonal foods from our harvest or the Farmer’s Market. After drinking cacao, we will share what is on our hearts at this time of year and set intentions for the new season.

Rituals and Slow Living for Lughnasadh

There are many ways to acknowledge this time of year and to embrace the energy of the season in a way that suits you.

• Harvest a “first fruit” or flower from your garden or neighborhood and offer it to the Earth with gratitude for all it gives to you.

• Gather wildflowers and arrange them in your favorite vase.

• Go the Farmer’s Market and stroll around one time without buying anything, simply enjoying the scents, sounds, colors and bounty of the season. Make a second round and purchase items to cook a special meal for yourself or a loved one.

• Bake a loaf of bread or something seasonal as a symbol of harvest and infuse it with your wishes.

• Go on a nature walk and gather materials to create an Altar to the Earth with grains, grasses, fruit, flowers, rocks etc.

• Find a sunny spot outdoors and journal what you are grateful for in your life right now, starting with the smallest seemingly unnoteworthy items.

• Make sun tea by infusing fresh herbs like chamomile, lavender and hibiscus in a jar full of water and leaving it outside all day to steep in the sun.

• Declutter one area of your life where you want to make room for what is ripening—your desk for work or art, your floor for yoga or exercise, a corner for meditation, the kitchen counter for home-cooked meals, your closet for self-expression, etc.

• Meditate with this Full Bloom Flowering yoga nidra to ground into the earth with abundance and joy.

Embrace, Receive, and Reflect: The Heart of Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh is about receiving with gratitude. Take a moment to reflect on all that you have created in your life through your efforts. There is nothing you must do now. You only need to honor this time and the abundance around you to be fully present with Nature, to slow down, observe, and be in awe of the sacredness of life’s smallest details. Simply acknowledging the seasons and noticing how they affect our lives is a beautiful way to connect with the natural world.

Where in your life are you being invited to shine? What personal harvest is asking to be seen, celebrated, or shared?

A Poetic Invitation: Mary Oliver’s “Summer’s Day”

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean —
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down —
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Let the abundant, sun-filled days of Lughnasadh inspire you to slow down, pay attention, and celebrate nature’s generous gifts in your own unique way.

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