As the Wheel of the Year winds away from summer, the holiday of Lammas arrives around August 1st. In many neopagan and modern witchcraft circles, Lammas is the first of three harvest festivals marking the sun's gentle turn toward autumn. It’s a time to honor what you've cultivated, release what you’ve outgrown, and give thanks for the bounty of summer.
In this blog, we’ll dive deeper into the lore behind the holiday, touching on its origins, mythology, and how folks celebrate today.
At Sea Witch Botanicals, we’ve crafted a special ode to Lammas with a blend of sandalwood, rose, and frankincense essential oils. Procure your very own Lammas incense, or peruse our wider Wheel of the Year collection to attune with the seasons year-round.
In this article:
- What Is Lammas?
- What Is Lughnasadh?
- Correspondences for Lammas & Lughnasadh
- Lammas & Lughnasadh: What’s the Difference?
- How to Celebrate Lammas
- Seasonal Special: Lammas Essential Oil Incense
- Further Reading: The Wheel of the Year, Explained
What Is Lammas?
Lammas began centuries ago as an agricultural holiday observed primarily by European farmers and agrarian societies. This is traditionally the time of year when the first crops are ready for harvest—primarily grains like wheat, barley, and rye.
While celebrations of the first harvest predate Christianity, Lammas itself is historically a Christian holiday. The name Lammas comes from the old English hlāfmæsse, which literally means loaf mass. The religious associations with this holiday indicate the critical importance of agriculture in pre-industrial societies.
The grain harvest from this period was believed to dictate the success of farmers’ crops to sustain their communities throughout the winter, and the first loaves of bread from the harvest were consecrated. When you boil it down, Lammas is really all about the baking, blessing, and breaking of bread!
What Is Lughnasadh?
The Lammas we celebrate today is a modern interpretation of historical harvest festivals. Many of its traditions are rooted in a Gaelic festival called Lughnasadh (LOO-nah-suh), meaning Lugh’s games, or Lúnasa, which is the Irish name for the month of August. Lughnasadh is still a part of living Irish culture and is celebrated within the first couple weeks of August each year.
Legends say that long ago, the Irish goddess Tailtiu cleared the lands of Ireland for agriculture—a task that proved to be so great that she died from exhaustion upon its completion.
Tailtiu had been foster mother to Lugh, a skilled warrior and craftsman who eventually became king of the Tuatha Dé Danann (a race of supernatural beings from Irish mythology with deity-like powers). Upon Tailtiu’s death, Lugh founded the festival of Lughnasadh in her honor: a gathering of feasting, athletics, music, and storytelling so as to remember his mother well with every harvest.
Correspondences for Lammas & Lughnasadh
Colors: yellow, gold, green, orange, brown, bronze
Moon phase: Waning gibbous moon
Botanicals: grains, wheat, corn, sunflowers; apple, basil, calendula, chamomile, fenugreek, frankincense, grape leaves, heather, hollyhock, hops, mint, meadowsweet, rose, rosemary, sandalwood
Stones: citrine, carnelian, amber, tourmaline, bloodstone, rutile or rutilated quartz
Animals: horses, oxen, cows, sheep, goats, pigs, roosters, bees
Foods: grains, breads, blueberries, blackberries, apples, carrots, squashes, pomegranates, cheese, ciders, fresh vegetables, herbs, corn, jellies, herbal sun teas, mead, beer, wine
Decor & Altar Items: sickles, scythes, fresh vegetables & fruits, grains, berries, corn dollies, bread, flowers, wheat stocks, yellow candles, corn, sheaves of grain
Lammas & Lughnasadh: What’s the Difference?
While we can find a lot of overlap between Lammas and Lughnasadh, the primary difference between the two is the cultural context from which they arose. Lughnasadh is based in Irish mythology and specifically celebrates Tailtiu’s sacrifice as well as Lugh’s lasting impact on Irish society. Lammas, on the other hand, is rooted in Anglo-Saxon Christianity.
As Irish pagans were Christianized, however, it seems the festival of Lughnasadh was equated with that of Lammas. Writer and researcher Kris Hughes offers the following on the relationship between the two:
[Lughnasadh] was probably celebrated with similar fairs in Celtic Britain, but as Christianity and the English language became the norm there, the fairs became known as 'Lammas fairs,' a name which even spread to some parts of Ireland… These fairs became important dates in the agricultural calendar, not only because of their associations with harvesting and celebrating the harvest, but as a date when rent was paid and contracts for employment on farms were made or renewed.
For many folks today, Lughnasadh and Lammas are fundamentally distinct from one another, yet each honors something divine in the first harvest of the year—albeit from different sources. Noting this similarity, many modern witches and neopagans claim either name for the holiday in their personal practice.
How to Celebrate Lammas: Ancient and Modern Traditions
As a holiday celebrating the first harvest of the season, Lammas focuses on themes of gratitude and abundance as well as sacrifice and reciprocity. Some folks keep a tradition of baking an offering of bread from the first grains gathered. The loaf is broken into four pieces and placed in each corner of the barn or home to ensure a bountiful harvest yet to come.
Lammas Rituals:
- make a Lammas altar & decorate your home
- harvest the first fruits from your garden (or go to a farmers’ market)
- save & dry seeds for next year
- bake bread!
- infuse your foods with kitchen magic
- make a harvest spell jar
- do a Lammas divination spread
- craft (e.g. make corn dollies)
- play sports (e.g. capture the flag)
- tell stories (e.g. play DnD or werewolf)
- dance, sing, make music (find our Lammas playlist on Spotify or YouTube)
- practice a ritual for gratitude and/or abundance
- host a Lammas feast with neighbors & friends
- burn Lammas essential oil incense
Lammas Essential Oil Incense
Lammas is a medley of dewy flowers and sweetened woods. Crafted by hand with pure essential oils, our incense blend inspired by the first harvest of the year is lush as a mountain meadow in bloom.
Ingredients: Sandalwood, rose absolute, frankincense, rosemary, benzoin, & bergamot
This limited edition seasonal specialty is only available around Lammastide! Breathe it in and regale yourself in this rich memory of summer’s warmth.
The Wheel of the Year, Explained
The Wheel of the Year is a modern synthesis of historical holidays that follow the cycles of the seasons throughout the year. It comprises eight holidays, or sabbats, altogether: four solar festivals (the solstices and equinoxes), and four fire festivals (each Celtic in origin, marking the halfway point between solstice and equinox).
This neopagan calendar was developed throughout the 50s, 60s, and 70s by the pioneers of Wicca, but has since gained so much popularity in modern spiritual circles that many practitioners who observe the Wheel of the Year are not Wiccans themselves. Since it provides an accessible path to living more closely with the seasons, lots of folks resonate with the structure of the Wheel.
That being said, the Wheel is not observed by all witches or pagans, especially considering not all witches are pagan and not all pagans are witches. Many practitioners choose only to observe the holidays that align with their own traditions.
Find our blog for further reading on the Wheel of the Year, its origins, and how to celebrate each of its holidays—and don’t forget to check out our full Wheel of the Year incense set to draw upon the power of the sabbats all year long!
