Festival of Lammas

 
"What will be is. What was will be.
The Wheel of the Year forever turns.
Dark to light, light to dark,
each season passes with lessons learned.
We plant with love, tend with respect,
and at Harvest time our yields reflect The bounty of our Mother Earth,
ripened by our Father Sun.
Now upon our humble hearth, gifts we offer the Two that are One.
As each day passes, shorter than the last.
May we each be reminded of the seasons that have passed.
The marriage and the seeding of the Goddess back in May,
Her womb swollen with life anew at Summer Solstice Day,
All this time the Father Sun has shone with so much pride.
Rising early, setting late,
and now that he's supplied The warmth and light to bring to bear,
the Goddess and the lands He knows that his death is drawing near,
but this secret he understands,
that with the turning of the wheel, his rebirth has been planned."

By, White Willow Who Trumpets the Sound

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Lugh, Celtic sun god The god associated with the season is a Celtic sun god, Lugh, whose name is related to the Latin lux, or, 'light', and means 'the shining one'.  He was handsome, perpetually youthful, and full of vivacity and energy. Poet and author Robert Graves proposed that his name came from the Latin lucus ('grove'), and even perhaps lu, Sumerian for son. Lugh was a deity cognate to Hercules or Dionysus, the Romans' version of the Greek god Apollo. Another name for him was 'Lugh the Long Handed'. In Wales, he was called Lleu, or Lleu Llaw Gyffes, meaning 'Lion with the Steady Hand'. Lleu means lion, related to the Latin leo. (Note that the sun is now in the zodiacal sign of Leo.) Although we are uncertain whether the Gauls' name of this Celtic deity was Romanized to Lugus/Lugos, (whom they identified with the god Mercury), or vice versa, we do know that the impact of both the name and the deity were widespread. Lyons in France, for example, was originally called Lugudunum, or the Fort of Lugus, and a festival formerly held there on August 1 was later renamed after Caesar Augustus who had assumed major deity authority. The European towns of Laon, Leyden and Carlisle (originally Caer Lugubalion) also were all named after Lugh, and the modern name Hugh also derives from the deity.

Fun, fun, fun, including divorce

When ancient Celts went to a Lughnasadh celebration, they could expect to find many features of a modern fair or market day, not just sports and sacrality. Crafts (probably including 'corn dollies', which are still a Lammas tradition), preserves, all kinds of foods and local produce would certainly have been displayed and sold at the games, so it must have been a fun and colourful affair. 

One ancient custom still associated with cross-quarter days, and in particular Lughnasadh, was for a large wagon wheel to be dragged to the top of a hill, covered with tar, and set on fire; then it was blazingly rolled down the hill – perhaps recalling the end of summer, with the flaming disk representing the declining sun deity. This, in Christian times, evolved into the popular firework, the Catherine wheel, since St Catherine of Alexandria (who was intended to be martyred on a wheel but survived miraculously), was commemorated on her feast day at Lammas (though the Church has moved it several times) and the wheel rolling continued as part of her day.

Lughnasadh was seen as a propitious season in which to marry, as food was abundant between the two harvests for the 'honey moon', and leisure time was available once the harvest was in. At the Oenach Tailten began a widespread custom called a Tailtean (or Teltown) marriage, similar to neo-Pagan 'handfasting', and it only took place at Lughnasadh. Such a marriage lasted only a 'year and a day' and could only be dissolved if both parties returned to the Lughnasadh fair. To divorce, the spouses stood back-to-back, then one spouse walked to the north and the other south. This custom carried on well into the 16^th century and, like bundling ('[occupying] the same bed without undressing – said of a man and woman, especially during courtship' – Webster), which was known even later and certainly in colonial America, was considered proper, even by the Christian Church.

Another of these great Lughnasadh festivals was the Oenach Carmain, the assembly of Carmán the evil sorceress. She, like the Fomorians (evil giants; the people of the other world) came to Ireland from Athens, accompanied by her three ferocious sons. The people of Leinster province, at Carman or Wexford held the Oenach Carmain, once every three years, beginning on Lughnasadh and ending on the sixth, believing that by holding it they would receive various blessings, such as prosperity, and corn, milk, and fruit in abundance, as well as protection from incursions by other provinces. There also were racing, poetic competition, satirical drama, and history, with a strong role played by women, who had political meetings called aireachts. Probably due to the influence of the patriarchal Christian Church, the Oenach Carmain only lasted until the 11th Century.

As well as the sports played at this event, there were marriage contracts made in the 'Marriage Hollow'. In Europe, the festival of Lughnasadh was also associated with the myth of the marriage of Lugh to Bloddeuedd. This goddess, whose name means 'face of flowers', was conjured up out of flowers of oak, broom, and meadowsweet, by Lugh's uncle, King Math, to be Lugh's consort. When she later turned out to be an unfaithful wife, she was cursed by Gwydion, brother of the moon goddess Arianrhod, to be forever disturbed by sunlight, and she experienced a shapeshift into an owl, a creature said to be hated by all other birds.

At gatherings of Lammastide, villagers placed offerings of blackberries, acorns, and crab apples in the lap of a maiden dressed in white, seated on the top of a hill, and a dance and procession home would then be held.

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Was King William Rufus a pagan sacrifice?

The Celts celebrate the main part of the festival of Lughnasadh from sunset on August 1 until sunset on August 2. On August 2, 1100 English King William Rufus was killed when shot through the eye by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest. Rufus ('the Red') was a son of William the Conqueror, and his elder brother, Richard, had also died in the New Forest. Rumours probably abounded that Richard and Rufus were victims of heathen ill will, for William the Conqueror had expelled the dwellers of the New Forest. These were the pagans, for that is what the word pagan originally meant.

\Pa"gan\ (p[=a]"gan), n. [L. paganus a countryman,

peasant, villager, a pagan, fr. paganus of or pertaining to

the country, rustic, also, pagan, fr. pagus a district,

canton, the country, perh. orig., a district with fixed

boundaries: cf. pangere to fasten. Cf. {Painim}, {Peasant},

and {Pact}, also {Heathen}.]

Source

Pagans were thus the dwellers in the forest/countryside, whose old religions were at odds with, and ruthlessly suppressed by, monotheistic religions like Christianity and Islam, the hegemonies of which led to the longstanding pejorative connotations of the term.  

The legend says that on the night of August 1, Rufus dreamt of his blood reaching to heaven, darkening the sky. The same night, an English monk dreamt that King William Rufus entered a church and picked up a crucifix; he gnawed at Christ's arm, then the figure kicked him, making him fall backwards, and smoke and flames came out of his mouth. Rufus heard about this dream but dismissed it. The a third dream occurred, and on August 2 a messenger brought Rufus a letter from Abbot Serlo in Gloucester, saying a parishioner had dreamt on the same night of a virgin (the Church) pleading at the feet of Christ to be freed from her oppressor (Rufus), and Jesus had assured her he would. William, who had many enemies, for he was known as an oppressor of England, taxing the people heavily, took no heed of all these prescient warnings.

It's possible that William the Red was killed by his younger brother who was with him on that hunting trip and was crowned King Henry I almost immediately. Tradition has it that William's bleeding body was taken by a charcoal burner named Purkiss, to Winchester Palace, and for his kindness he was rewarded with an acre or two of land. (It is interesting to note that a charcoal-burning family named Purkiss still lived on the same land at least as late as the 1880s.)

Sacrificial kingship

It's widely believed amongst neo-Pagans that William and other kings who died violent deaths on or near Celtic cross-quarter days, such as this one, were actually victims of sacrificial kingship. This ritual of pre-Christian times in Europe was related to giving thanks to the sun for a good harvest. Such sacrifice was also practised in ancient Greece, and the Celts might have acquired the practice from there.

Lughnasadh would be the time for the king to reaffirm his sacred 'marriage' to the prosperity of the kingdom. One notes that both the murder of King Olaf of Norway, and his feast day, are close to Lammastide (July 29); sacrificial kingship is also known in other parts of Europe. Also, apparently it is known in Africa: Walby, Celestin, 'The African Sacrificial Kingship Ritual and Johnson's Middle Passage', African American Review 29.4 (1995): 657-669. It has strong connections with the self-sacrifice of Odin in Norse mythology, and to the Christian myth of the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

William Rufus might have been the last pagan sacrifice of a king, and his death disguised for the Christian authorities as a hunting accident. Some of the clergy, by the way, hated Rufus and saw his death as divine judgment, while some contemporary accounts said he was accidentally shot by his friend William Tirel.

It was on a Lammas night, When corn rigs are bonie, Beneath the moon's unclouded light, I held away to Annie: The time flew by, wi tentless heed, Till 'tween the late and early; Wi' sma' persuasion she agreed To see me thro' the barley. The sky was blue, the wind was still, The moon was shining clearly; I set her down, wi' right good will, Amang the rigs o'barley I ken't her heart was a' my ain; I lov'd her most sincerely; I kissed her owre and owre again, Among the rig o' barley. I locked her in my fond embrace; Her heart was beating rarely: My blessings on that happy place, Amang the rigs o'barley. But by the moon and stars so bright, That shone that hour so clearly! She ay shall bless that happy night, Amang the rigs o'barley. I hae been blythe wi' Comrades dear; I hae been merry drinking; I hae been joyfu' gath'rin gear; I hae been happy thinking: But a' the pleasures e'er I saw, Tho three times doubl'd fairley That happy night was worth then a'. Among the rig's o' barley.   CHORUS   Corn rigs, an' barley rigs, An' corn rigs are bonie: I'll ne'er forget that happy night, Among the rigs wi' Annie.  Robert Burns  Audio  Source

Harvest, death and rebirth Despite its marital associations, Lughnasadh was also a mourning feast. A long tradition of a symbolic funeral procession during Lammas continues today in Lancashire, England's Wakes Week, and long wake processions such as one across the Yorkshire moors, called the Lyke Wakes Walk.  To this day, young men carry an empty coffin about 60 km (about 40 miles) along an ancient track. We must bear in mind that while Lughnasadh is Lugh's marriage, when the sun is called upon to allow a successful harvest from the feminine earth, it is also Lugh's wake, for he is the Sun-King, whose light begins to pale after the Summer Solstice. Lughnasadh, too, recalls the theme of death, because, as the first of the three harvest Sabbats, (Lughnasadh, Mabon and Samhain), ancient people celebrated the ripening grains and corn, which must be mowed (killed) for 'rebirth' to begin. The Greek story of Demeter and Persephone, likewise, is a story about the cycle of death and rebirth associated with grain. Here is where the theme of the sacrificed god motif is so central, Lugh's death being essential for rebirth of the land to take place. Lugh's death is a sacrifice that will occur again with the new growth in the spring, and must be repeated each year. Thus it was that pagan kings sometimes had a duty to sacrifice themselves for the land, although we do not fully know to what extent human or animal sacrifice occurred in pagan cultures. All we know is that in those times, kings did at times allowed themselves to be sacrificed at the end of the year, whereupon a new king could be appointed and the cycle could begin anew. Waverly Fitzgerald* has an excellent article at School of the Seasons, called Celebrating Lammas, so why not pay her a visit? She writes, “Lammas is a festival of regrets and farewells, of harvest and preserves. Reflect on these topics alone in the privacy of your journal or share them with others around a fire. Lughnasad is one of the great Celtic fire-festivals, so if at all possible, have your feast around a bonfire. While you're sitting around the fire, you might want to tell stories.” As a final word on this ancient calendar custom, I add that 'At latter Lammas' is an old English expression meaning 'never'. And never shall we see the likes of earlier Lammas.

Stories like these are what you will find
in the free Wilson's Almanac ezine

A good page of information on Lugh

Excellent 'Mything Links' page of Lammas links

* Visit Waverly Fitzgerald's store to purchase her new Lammas Packet, full of ideas for celebrating this holiday.