While the Wiccan/Pagan Esbats are connected to the moon cycles, the Sabbats are connected to the sun.
There are eight Sabbats through the year, celebrating the turning of the wheel of the year and the change of the seasons. The eight Sabbats consists of four solar holidays and four cross-quarter days, marking the shift from one season to the next. The four solar holidays of the year are Ostara – Spring Equinox, Mabon – Autumnal Equinox, Yule – Winter Solstice, and Litha – Summer Solstice. The four pagan cross-quarter holidays are Samhain, which is also considered the witches new year, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh.
Lughnasadh – the harvest festival. August 1st.
Season + Element: the transition to Fall and the element of Water
Incense: Frankincense, Rose and Sandalwood.
Stones: Peridot, Citrine, Aventurine, Tourmaline, Golden Topaz, Amber, Brown Agate, Tiger’s Eye.
Food: Grain, bread, cakes, honey, fruit, berries, dark fruity beverages, blackberry wine, berry- or apple pies, bbq meat or chicken, corn.
Decorations: Grains, cornucopia, sunflowers, corn doll, handcraft, corn.
Colors: Gold, green, bright yellow, brown, orange, red, violet.
Deities: Demeter, Lugh, Neper, Odin, Osiris, Sif, Isis, Luna.
Corresponding Moon: Disseminating Moon – symbolizing gathering and sharing.
Lughnasadh, is a pagan harvest festival, celebrated on August 1st every year. Falling halfway between the summer solstice and fall equinox, Lughnasadh is one of the cross quarter days, honoring the turning of the wheel and the shift of the seasons, from summer to fall. This Sabbat also celebrates the God of light, Lugh, and marks the time of the first harvest of the year, and is a time for us to reap what we have sown and to come together in celebration and give thanks for the abundance mother earth is providing us with. But as the wheel turns, and the light summer months are nearing their end, this Sabbat is also about the cycle of death and rebirth. As the God dies, the sun goes with him, but he will be reborn again in the spring. and the plants and new life with him.
Rituals
There are an abundance of rituals connected to the Sabbaths, and what’s listed below are simply suggestions. Always follow your heart and do what feels right for you ♡
During Lughnasadh, give some special attention to the spirits of the land where you live. Create an offering to the land and the spirits by offering a portion of your harvest, like e.g. the first apple you are picking from the tree. If you don’t have a garden or anything to harvest, create an offering from your baked goods, or cooked meal to give back to the earth. Be creative, but be sure you take some time to honor the spirits of the land and re-commit to your vow of being a servant to our beloved mother earth, at this time.
Finish a project
Lughnasadh is a time of completion and harvest, but also a celebration of talents, skills, and craftsmanship. Whatever you want to get better at, start to honor those skills now. Lughnasadh is also the time to tie up all lose ends and projects before the winter, so draw in the abundant spirit of this festival, and carry all your project to completion.
Be grateful for the abundance in your life
Take time to give thanks to the land, to yourself, to those who came before you and to those who surround you today. Give a special thanks to pachamama for giving you life, holding you, providing you with food, and for letting you rest in her embrace again when the time comes.
Make a corn doll
Get your hands on some local grain and create your own corn doll. The corn doll kan be kept on your altar all year around for protection and blessing, helping your projects come into fruition.
Share with your loved ones
An easy way to honor this Sabbat is to bake some delicious fresh bread and cookies and invite family and friends over to share the love. I will bake my favorite honey bread and serve it with homemade jam and butter.
Renew your altar
Lughnasadh is also a time to redo and renew your seasonal altar. The best days to change your altars are during the cross quarter days (Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain), as they mark an initiation into the energies of the new season. Burn seasonal incense, and add candles, stones and seasonal flowers to your sacred space to honor the Sabbat. Use your imagination and follow your gut. What feels right for you and your altar around this time?
Taking time to journal and contemplate
As always, the Sabbats are times of reflection. Life is busy, and these days are all opportunities for us to stop, breathe and check in with ourselves. Just like the earth goes through seasons, and the moon through her cycles, we do too. So on these special days of the year; take time to honor where the earth – our beloved pachamama – is in her cycle, and take time to honor where you are too.
- What are you grateful for in your life? Give thanks!
- What parts of your life are reap and ready to be harvested? It is now time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
- Think of ways to share and give back to your community. What can you give from your place of abundance?
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