Lughnasadh

Last week was the festival of Lughnasadh, which celebrates the Irish god Lugh and is one of the festivals of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. Lughnasadh, Samhain, Imbolc, and Beltane are historically documented ancient Celtic pagan festivals. 

Lughnasadh is not one of my regular festivals. Not because I have something against it. It’s just not on my festival radar. There are a variety of reasons for this. 

First, Lugh isn’t in my pantheon. Because my Patron Deity is Inanna, the gods of my pantheon are largely Near Eastern, primarily Mesopotamian, and Lugh is Celtic. I have several friends who follow contemporary Druidism. If I attended a Lughnasadh ritual with them, I would honor Lugh during the ritual out of respect for them. In addition, I have Welsh blood, and Lugh is the Irish equivalent of the Welsh god Lleu Llaw Gyfes, which would make honoring the god an option if I choose. 

Relief of a three-faced god from northeastern Gaul believed to be Lugus, the Gaulish equivalent of Lugh

Second, the Irish festival of Lughnasadh is historically an agricultural festival. Some Wiccans call this holiday Lammas, meaning “load mass,” the English name. While Lammas may have had a pagan origin, it is a Christian ritual. I find neither agricultural nor Christian festivals personally meaningful. 

Third, August 1st is a miserable day where I live. My city’s high temperature was 107f/ 42c on August 1st. It hasn’t rained for months and probably won’t for months to come. Climate change will only make this worse. There’s nothing about this date that inspires celebration for me.

I celebrate a variety of festivals. For example, I celebrate the four  seasons of Summer, Winter, Autumn, and Spring. While not a Autumn festival per se, my thoughts have already turned to Samhain. Not only am I anticipating the relief of Fall weather, but I also find the festival’s dark aspects, aesthetics and subject, very meaningful.

I also celebrate festivals such as Lupercalia, Sol Invictus, and Walpurgisnacht. Some modern festivals, such as Thanksgiving Day, May Day, and Labor Day, I include in my calendar. Of course, my highest festival is my own birthday.   

You, dear reader, may be wondering what this post’s point is. Why should you care what I celebrate? My point is that a person isn’t obligated to celebrate specific festivals regardless of their tradition. You can pick and choose what festivals, if any, you want to celebrate.

The choice is yours.