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Cary NC

 
 
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Lammas – Celebrated August 1st
Lammas is the first of the three Pagan harvest festivals.  It is a time when folks first notice that days are beginning to be shorter, and in northern areas there may be some cool nights.  The plants of spring begin to wither – some fruits are already out of season.  We are still celebrating summer, but we begin to realize that winter is coming, and perhaps it is time to gather those grains and fruits to store them for the dark months ahead.
We honor the sacrifice that the God must make.  The Corn God must die, but though he will be sacrificed, he will return.  Birth, life, death, rebirth.  All part of the cycle.
Although Lammas is the first of the harvest festivals, there is still plenty of life to be found…crops still continue to grow.  So though we may honor the God for the harvest, we can honor the Goddess for bringing forth the fruit and vegetables yet to come.   
Lammas is also known as Lughnasadh, Lammastide, and First Harvest Festival.  'Lammas' was the medieval Christian name for the holiday and it means 'loaf-mass', for this was the day on which loaves of bread were baked from the first grain harvest and laid on the church altars as offerings.  ‘Lugnasadh' referred to the feast to commemorate the funeral games of the Irish sun-god Lugh.
Correspondences
Symbolism: First harvest festival; honoring of Sun Gods
Symbols: Corn dollies, grains, the Sun
Foods: Breads, grains, potatoes, summer squash
Colors: Red, gold, yellow, orange
Decorations: Corn, hay, gourds, corn dollies, shafts of grain, sun wheels
Activities: games, country fairs and craft festivals, making corn dollies, baking bread, canning and making jams and jellies. 

 


 
 


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