Lughnasadh: tips on how to celebrate the harvest festival - traditionally and modernly

LUGHNASADH (pronounced: lu-na-sah) – an ancient Celtic holiday, traditionally celebrated on August 1. It is the fifth holiday of the Wheel of the Year, a cycle that represents the natural transition of the seasons. Associated with these are eight significant holidays, through which we celebrate various aspects of life, growth, abundance, death and rebirth.

It is one of the four major Celtic festivals, along with Imbolc , Beltain , and Samhain .

A Celtic counterpart is Lammas (short for "Loaf Mass"). This holiday is Anglo-Saxon, a Christian celebration of the first harvest. The first baked loaf of bread from the harvest was a gift to God.

Differences between Lughnasadh and Lammas

Holiday energy

• Thank you for the harvest.

• Accepting changes and closing the cycle.

• Preparation for the gradual transition to the darker part of the year (days shorten and nights lengthen).

• Celebrating abundance and sharing with family and friends.

The symbolism of the holiday is thanksgiving, honoring Mother Earth for the first harvest, especially grain and crops. The lengthening of the night and the shortening of the day, the peak of summer and the approach of winter. Symbols include sacrifice and abundance, the first sheaf or loaf of bread can be offered.

Lughnasadh is a festival of the first harvest, especially of grain. It is a time of thanksgiving and gratitude for the fruits of the earth and the beginning of the harvest season. The holiday is dedicated to the sun god Lugh, who was the god of light, arts and crafts.

Colors characterizing the Lughnasadh period: yellow, gold, orange and green

Yellow is a symbol of optimism, enlightenment, warmth and understanding. Yellow is the color of the incoming and strengthening rays of the sun and the warmth it brings with it. It is the color of the bright days of the coming summer and as the Sun shines from the sky onto the landscape, its yellow rays bring the power of enlightenment and support the search for knowledge. It is the color of the summer solstice at a time of bright long days, the color of warmth.
Yellow is the color of mid-year, the successful beginning of a new journey, promises and fulfilled promises, and "sunny" optimism.
How does yellow affect our psyche, how do we perceive it, and how is it perceived in the world? You can find out in our article Yellow: the color of light, joy, optimism, and vitality.

Gold is a symbol of enthusiasm, happiness and power. Gold is the traditional colour of kings, wealth and the Sun and seems to touch the deepest part of our minds, evoking images of mystical places, treasures and adventure. Gold helps to alleviate fears and worries, strengthening our enthusiasm and ambition.

Orange is a symbol of joy, friendship, pleasure and family togetherness. Orange is the most amazing color for its natural strength and action, it is the color of people born at the end of summer, i.e. August 23 to September 22 under the sign of Virgo.
Orange is the color of joy, friendship, and physical pleasure. The passion of these rays is a combination of red and gold. Joy is a pure emotion, elusive but heartfelt. As people age, they sometimes lose the ability to rejoice, and yet it is a way of very easy pleasure or a deep, lasting feeling.

Green is the color of growth, new life, vital energy and fertility. It represents nature, abundance and the renewal of the energy of the earth. It is associated with harmony, stability and natural cycles. On the altar it is represented by leaves, grass and plants as decorations, or green candles to promote abundance and balance.

Traditional gemstones for Lughnasadh celebrations

These stones and crystals are worn as talismans , can be used to decorate an altar, or to meditate with. Add thyme, myrrh, juniper, or sage to your altar.

How best to spend this holiday?

Create a Lughnasadh altar

Whether you create a simple or elaborate altar, it is important that it reflects your intentions. It should be a place of joy, light, and above all, full of positive energy.

Here are some tips on what should be on the altar:

• Ears of grain – a symbol of the first harvest.

• Fresh fruits and vegetables – apples, corn, plums…

• A loaf of bread.

• Herbs: thyme, rosemary, lavender and calendula.

• Something from nature, e.g. seeds, pine cones, stones...

• Candles in yellow color may be made of beeswax.

• Stones for grounding, optimism, vitality, joy, happiness, solar energy, positive energy: e.g. garnet, carnelian, citrine, sunstone, sun aventurine, tiger's eye, etc.

• You can add a small item that reminds you of the goal you achieved: a diploma, a coin, etc.

Ritual tip for Lughnasadh – Celebrating the first harvest

The intention is to express gratitude for the fruits of life, symbolically reap what we have sown and prepare for the next phase of the year. Ideally on August 1st or the closest full moon/new moon around this date, specifically the Sturgeon Full Moon (August 9th, 2025 and onwards depending on the year).

What you will need

A bundle of cleansing herbs or a piece of palo santo wood, resin or lavender, a feather, a bowl of water, grain, stone, bread and fruit, paper and pencil.

• During the ritual, first cleanse the space and yourself: by smoking herbs such as sage, lavender, or resin.

• Summon the four elements

  • Air: incense, feather.

  • Fire: candle.

  • Water: a bowl of water.

  • Earth: grain, stone, soil.

• List out loud or in your mind everything you have accomplished this year.

• Symbolic offering: place a piece of bread, grain or fruit on the ground as a gift to the Earth and say, for example: "Thank you for the gift of the harvest, thank you for the fruits of life."

• Write a wish or intention for the next cycle on a piece of paper. Place the paper under the stone.

• At the end of the ritual, thank all the elements, yourself and the Earth. Close the ritual with food, music, singing or dancing.

Traditional foods during Lughnasadh include homemade bread or pancakes. Herbs and seeds can be added to the dough. Roasted vegetables, grain salads, fruit pies. These include herbal teas or mead.

Affirmations for Lughnasadh

Affirmations are positive statements that we repeat or write down. The purpose is to strengthen our thinking, self-confidence and thus support the achievement of goals.

Affirmations focused on gratitude , grounding , and accepting the fruits of one's own labor

"I am grateful for all that I have sown, and now I reap with gratitude."

"I open myself to the abundance that life brings me."

"I am in harmony with the cycles of nature and my own life."

"I allow myself to harvest, celebrate, and slow down."

"The Earth holds me, the Sun strengthens me."

"I recognize my journey, my efforts, and its fruits."

A short prayer for Lughnasadh - say it out loud or silently while lighting a candle, offering bread, or repeat it throughout the ritual

Prayer of Gratitude to the Earth and the Sun

Thank you Earth for its fertility,
I thank the Sun for its strength.
I thank my hands for their work,
to your heart for faith,
and the time that brought the harvest.

I accept what comes to me.
I reap what was sown.
And in humility I offer my gratitude to the Earth.

May my days be filled with abundance,
my actions balance
and my steps guided by light.

For our altar we used candles, grain, a Lughnasadh incense burner from our magical workshop, bundles we made for that beautiful season, a loaf of bread, and a home-baked cake with apricots, raspberries, and blueberries. The sun symbol is a must. You can complete the altar with a crystal grid.

The crystal grid should primarily contain sunstone as a symbol of joy, optimism and connection with life's solar energy, carnelian as a symbol of energy, creativity, vitality and sexuality, citrine for optimism, vitality, abundance and happiness and solar aventurine for light and strength.

Prepare festive food and drinks
Fresh fruits and vegetables, roasted vegetables, whole grain bread or pancakes. Make herbal tea or try mead.

Meditate
Find a quiet place where you will be alone and nothing and no one will disturb you. Light a candle and meditate.

There are similar holidays around the world that, like Lughnasadh, are celebrated.

Lammas – Europe, Christianity: August 1.

Harvest Festival – Slavs: end of summer. Harvest is celebrated, danced and gratitude is shown for the gifts of nature. The holiday takes place on August 28th.

Erntedankfest – Germany and Austria: late September and October, usually October 5th: similar to Slavic harvest festivals.

Pongal – Tamils, India: mid-January, harvest celebration, celebrating the sun, cattle and abundance.

Whatever the name of the holidays, they are united by the celebration of the first harvest and fruits of the earth, a time of abundance and preparation for the coming season, when the days shorten and the nights lengthen.

We wrote the article for you on July 25, 2025.

Articles about other holidays in the Wheels of the Year series can be found here.

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