Lughnasadh: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for Lammas (Llewellyn's Sabbat Essentials, 4) by Llewellyn, Melanie Marquis

A whole book for one sabbat. Which is the point of the series: depth rather than a chapter each.

Old ways and new. The historical record alongside contemporary practice, with the difference between them noted.

Recipes and crafts included. Lughnasadh is a harvest festival, and the food is not incidental to it.

• Author: Melanie Marquis
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications, Sabbat Essentials series, book 4
• Covers rituals, recipes, lore, spells, divination, crafts, correspondences, invocations, prayers, and meditations
• SKU: BLUGHNA

Lughnasadh, also called Lammas, is named for Lugh, the Irish god whose festival it was, and the older Irish record describes it as a great assembly with games, contests, and markets, held in memory of his foster-mother Tailtiu, who died clearing the plains for agriculture. Lammas is the English name, from hlafmas, loaf-mass, when the first loaf from the new grain was blessed in church. The two names carry two different histories, and it is worth knowing which is which.

What both mark is the same thing: the first harvest, and the gratitude and stocktaking that come with it. The grain is cut, the work of the year begins to show its results, and there is a note of sacrifice under the celebration, since the cutting of the grain is also its death. Marquis works through both the historical and the modern.

1. Read it before the sabbat rather than on the day, so the planning has somewhere to go.
2. Choose one ritual and do it properly, rather than sampling several.
3. Bake something. The recipes are not filler; bread is the point of this festival.
4. Note which practices are attested and which are modern; the book distinguishes them.
5. Keep it with the seasonal books, and bring it out each year.

• Lughnasadh Altar Candle by Lailokens Awen: the candle for the same festival.
• Living Wicca by Scott Cunningham: for building the practice around the wheel.
• Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences: the reference behind the timing.
• Green Household Candles: the harvest colour, for the rites.
• Blank Journal: for the year's stocktaking, which is what this sabbat is for.

When is Lughnasadh?

The start of August in the northern hemisphere, marking the first of the three harvest festivals.

Is Lughnasadh the same as Lammas?

They fall at the same time but come from different traditions. Lughnasadh is Irish and named for the god Lugh; Lammas is English, from hlafmas, loaf-mass, the blessing of the first loaf.

What is in the book?

Rituals, recipes, lore, spells, divination, crafts, correspondences, invocations, prayers, and meditations for the sabbat.

Who was Lugh?

An Irish god of many skills. The festival was held in memory of his foster-mother Tailtiu, who in the tale died clearing the plains for farming.

Is it for beginners?

Yes. The Sabbat Essentials series assumes nothing and gives you a complete festival in one book.