Lúgnasad

"Lúgnasad is Old Irish, Lughnasadh is "unreformed" modern Irish, Lúnasa is "reformed" modern Irish. In Gaelic, this festival is called Lùnasda, Lùnasdal, and Lunasduinn. O.Ir. Lúgnasad means "Commemoration of Lugh." This Féis normally falls in early August. "

--- from "Holidays Introduction," by Crommán mac Nessa,
http://groups.msn.com/CromansGrove/holidayintro.msnw

Lúgnasad (LOO-nass-AH) August 1. At Lughnasadh we give thanks to the Earth for its bounty and beauty. The ancient Celts played games and sports to honor the God Lugh and to celebrate strength and good health. This is a time to harvest the dreams planted earlier in the year. Lugh, the bright one, is a fire God and a prominent champion of the Tuatha de Danaan. Lughnasadh is a time for work, the harvest is at hand, and the long lazy days of summer are over. The work of the harvest takes the entire tribe working together. As an Order, it is working to ensure that goal plans are in the finishing stages and when rewards for hard labors are realized.

Lúgnasad refers to the funeral games of Lugh (pronounced Loo). Lugh is the Irish sun god. The reference to the funeral games are not his own but the ones he hosts in honour of his foster-mother Tailte. For that reason, the traditional Tailtean craft fairs and Tailtean marriages (which last for a year and a day) are celebrated at this time.

Lúgnasad originally coincided with the start of the harvest. It was known as the time when the plants of spring wither and drop their fruits or seeds for our use as well as to ensure future crops.

As Lúgnasad begins, the Sun God enters his old age, but is not yet dead. The God symbolically loses some of his strength as the Sun rises farther in the South each day and the nights grow longer.

Lúgnasad is the first of the harvest festivals. It also honours the God Lugh, a master of every art. Corn, wheat, barley and rye figure predominately in the festival when the harvest is distributed. Thanks are giving to the God and Goddess for the bounty. It is the beginning of the cycle of death.