Old Irish Lughnasadh (IPA: [luːnəsə]; also spelled Lughnasa; modern Irish Lúnasa; Modern Scots Gaelic, Lunasdal) or "Lammas" is a Gaelic holiday celebrated on 1 August, during the time of the harvesting. Lugnasadh was one of the four main festivals of the medieval Irish calendar: Imbolc, Beltaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain. Lughnasadh marked the beginning of the harvest season and was therefore a festival of celebrating mother earth and the abundance of nature. Lughnasadh translates as "Lughs wedding" and was dedicated to Lugh, a Sun God of Celtic mythology. Lughnasadh festivals lasted from 15 July until 15 August. Aside from three days of religious rituals, the celebrations were a time for contests of strength and skill. In Ireland, during the Middle Ages, important Lughnasa celebrations were held at Taltiu (modern Teltown ) and Carmun (whose exact location is under dispute). Both locations are named for women who appear to be localized manifestations of the earth goddess. Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Irish language which can be more or less fully reconstructed from extant sources. ... This is a concise version of the International Phonetic Alphabet for English sounds. ... The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, whose language is one that is Gaelic (Goidelic), a division of Insular Celtic languages. ... The word holiday has related but different meanings in English-speaking countries. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... Imbolc is one of the four principal festivals of the pre-Christian Celtic calendar, associated with fertility ritual, was subsequently adopted as St Brigids Day in the Christian period, and in more recent times has been celebrated as a fire festival, one of eight holidays, festivals (4 Solar and... This article is about the Gaelic holiday. ... Samhain (IPA: ) is the word for November in Irish, and in Scottish Gaelic is spelt Samhuinn. ... Lugh (earlier Lug, modern Irish Lú, pronounced loo) is an Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past. ... The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is believed to be a sculpture illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology. ... July 15 is the 196th day (197th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 169 days remaining. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ...

On mainland Europe and in Ireland many people continue to celebrate the holiday with fires and dancing. The Christian church has established the ritual of blessing the fields. In modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic, the names for the month of August are Lúnasa and Lughnasadh respectively. Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ...

A festival corresponding to Lughnasadh may have been observed by the Gauls at least up to ca. the 1st century (see Coligny calendar); the same date was later adopted for the meeting of all the representatives of Gaul at the Condate Altar in Gallo-Roman times. Interestingly, during the reign of Augustus Caesar the Roman's instituted a celebration on August 1 to the genius of the emperor in Lyon, a place named for the Celtic god Lugh. Gallia (in English Gaul) is the Latin name for the region of western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 100. ... overview of the re-assembled tablet detail of Mid Samonios The Gaulish Coligny Calendar was found in Coligny, Ain, France (46°23′N 5°21′E) near Lyons in 1897, along with the head of a bronze statue of a youthful male figure. ...

1 August as the national holiday of Switzerland, ancient homeland of the Iron Age Helvetii, with its traditional bonfires might trace to this ancient Celtic tradition. A map of Gaul showing the northern Alpine position of the Helvetii. ...

There is a play by Brian Friel entitled Dancing at Lughnasa which has also been made into a 1998 movie. Brian Friel (born January 9, 1929) is a playwright and director from Northern Ireland. ... Dancing at Lughnasa (see references to Lughnasa, or Lughnasadh, the ancient pagan ritual) is a play by Brian Friel set in Irelands County Donegal in August 1936. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Neopaganism

In Neopaganism, Lughnasadh is one of the eight sabbats or solar festivals in the Wheel of the Year. It is the first of the three autumn harvest festivals, the other two being Mabon and Samhain. It commemorates the sacrifice and death of the Corn God; in its cycle of death, nurturing the people, and rebirth, the corn is thought of as an aspect of the Sun God. Some Neopagans mark the holiday by baking a figure of the God in bread, and then symbolically sacrificing and eating it. Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism [1] is any of a heterogeneous group of new religious movements, particularly those influenced by ancient, primarily pre-Christian and sometimes pre-Judaic religions. ... In the Wiccan form of neopaganism, a Sabbat is one of the eight major seasonal festivals which make up the Wheel of the Year. ... In Neopaganism, the Wheel of the Year is the natural cycle of the seasons, commemorated by the eight Sabbats. ... Fall redirects here. ... Hay bales after harvest in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany In agriculture, harvesting is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. ... Mabon is one of the eight solar holidays or sabbats of American Neopaganism. ... Samhain (IPA: ) is the word for November in Irish, and in Scottish Gaelic is spelt Samhuinn. ...

Neopagans also use the name Lammas, taken from an Anglo-Saxon and Christian holiday occurring at the same time, that is only as closely related to Lughnasadh as any two harvest festivals amongst agrarian peoples. As the name (from the Anglo-Saxon hlafmæsse "loaf-mass", "loaves festival") implies, it is a feast of thanksgiving for bread, symbolizing the first fruits of the harvest. Neopagan celebrations may have elements from either festival. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Anglo-Saxons refers collectively to the groups of Germanic tribes who achieved dominance in southern Britain from the mid-5th century, forming the basis for the modern English nation. ...

Lughnasadh is often defined as a cross-quarter day midway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox, which is half way through Leo (in the northern hemisphere) or Aquarius (in the southern hemisphere). Lughnasadh in the northern hemisphere coincides with Imbolc in the southern hemisphere. As a sabbat it is preceded by Midsummer and followed by Mabon. A cross-quarter day is a day falling halfway between one of the four main solar events (two solstices and two equinoxes) and the next one. ... Illumination of Earth by the sun on the northern hemisphere summer solstice The summer solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the sun in relation to the celestial equator. ... In astronomy, the autumnal equinox signals the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere: the moment when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading southward; the equinox occurs around September 22–September 24, varying slightly each year according to the 400-year cycle of leap years in the... Leo (Latin for lion, symbol , Unicode ♌) is a constellation of the zodiac. ... Aquarius (Latin for the Water-bearer or Cup-bearer, symbol , Unicode â™’) is the first sign of the zodiac, situated between Capricornus and Pisces. ... Imbolc is one of the four principal festivals of the pre-Christian Celtic calendar, associated with fertility ritual, was subsequently adopted as St Brigids Day in the Christian period, and in more recent times has been celebrated as a fire festival, one of eight holidays, festivals (4 Solar and... Midsummer celebration, Ã…mmeberg, Sweden Midsummer, or Litha as it was known by the ancient Germanic peoples, refers the period of time centered upon the summer solstice and the religious celebrations that accompany it. ... Mabon is one of the eight solar holidays or sabbats of American Neopaganism. ...

See also

• autumn equinox, Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane and Litha.