Lammas, Lugnasadh, pagan art, wiccan decor, kitchen witch, wiccan art, pagan altar decor, etsy artists, kitchen art, witch shops, wiccan wheel, Emily Balivet, 

X

LAMMAS or LUGHNASADH
Wheel of the year / Pagan sabbat art

 

OIL PAINTING IN PROGRESS 

 

OIL PAINTING IN PROGRESS

 

 




Lammas, Lughnasadh, Oil on Canvas, 76 cm x 61 cm

 

 


LAMMAS / LUGHNASADH
 FIRST HARVEST CELEBRATION

TRADITIONAL DATES :
Northern Hem: August 1st or 2nd . Southern Hem:  February 1 st or 2 nd
Astrological dates vary annually.

LUGHNASADH AND LAMMAS: SOME KEY POINTS:


Lammas Day (Anglo-Saxon hlaf-mas, "loaf-mass") was initially a holiday celebrated in some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a festival to mark the annual wheat harvest, and is the first harvest festival of the year. On this day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop, which began to be harvested at Lammastide, which falls at the halfway point between the summer Solstice and Autumn September Equinox.

The loaf was blessed and in Anglo-Saxon England it might be employed afterwards in protective rituals.

In many parts of England, tenants were bound to present freshly harvested wheat to their landlords on or before the first day of August. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where it is referred to regularly, it is called "the feast of first fruits". The blessing of first fruits was performed annually in both the Eastern and Western Churches on the first or the sixth of August (the latter being the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ).

Lughnasadh or Lughnasa is traditonally a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically is was widely observed and celebrated throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. It corresponds to other European harvest festivals such as the Welsh Gwyl Awst and the English Lammas.

The festival is named after the God Lugh. It involved great gatherings that included religious ceremonies, ritual athletic contests (most notably the Tailteann Games), feasting, matchmaking and trading.

Lughnasadh customs persisted widely until the 20th century, with the event being variously named 'Garland Sunday', 'Bilberry Sunday', 'Mountain Sunday' and 'Crom Dubh Sunday'. The custom of climbing hills and mountains at Lughnasadh has survived in some areas, although it has been re-cast as a Christian pilgrimage. The best known is the 'Reek Sunday' pilgrimage to the top of Croagh Patrick on the last Sunday in July. A number of fairs are also believed to be survivals of Lughnasadh, for example the Puck Fair. Since the late 20th century, Celtic neopagans have observed Lughnasadh, or something based on it, as a religious holiday. In some places, elements of the festival have been revived as a cultural event.



 











"Lammas / Lughnasadh – The First Harvest" —

Wheel of the Year Collection  | Wiccan Sabbats Series

The bread is warm. And she made it from nothing, and from everything. In this rich, sun-baked oil, Lammas is not a distant goddess — she is the woman in your kitchen, smiling as she works.

Wearing a golden LAMMAS shirt and an elaborate headwrap swirled with earthy blues and browns like seeds and rivers, she grinds grain in a stone mortar, her hands present in the sacred work of turning harvest into sustenance. Before her, the table overflows — a cornucopia spilling pumpkins, pears, grapes and potatoes, and beside her a wicker basket heaped with freshly baked loaves, round and braided and crusty.

On the windowsill, a vase holds fantastical mandala-blooms, and through the window behind her you see him — the farmer in the wheat field, pitchfork over his shoulder under the high summer sun, bringing the grain in. The whole painting is patterned in folk-art warmth, honey and terracotta and harvest-blue.

 Its name Lughnasadh honors Lugh, the Celtic Sun King, God of skill and craftsmanship, and the word Lammas comes from loaf-mass — the first loaf baked from the first grain. This is the first of three harvests, a time of profound gratitude and sacrifice. Myth tells us the Corn God willingly gives his life so the people may live, in every grain cut. Villages held games, fairs, handfastings, and baked the first bread to share. It is not about taking, but about thanking.

Why this print belongs in your home: A print of Lughnasadh brings nourishment, abundance, craftsmanship and deep gratitude into your home. It is the energy of the full pantry and the busy, happy kitchen. Hang it in your kitchen, your dining space, or where you create — it is a blessing for bakers, makers, growers and anyone who wants to honor the work of their own hands.

It reminds you daily: what you have sown, you now get to break bread with and share. This is not just a harvest painting. It is the smell of fresh bread and the quiet pride of a job well done.