Lammas or Lughnasadh ( pronounced Lúnasa ) is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season usually held on the eve of July 31st – August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere and the eve of January 31st – February 1st in the Southern Hemisphere, beginning and ending at sunset or celebrated about halfway between the Summer Solstice & Autumn Equinox. Lammas or Lughnasadh is seen as one of the two most popular times for hand fasting, the other being at Beltane. Some Magickal practitioners celebrate this holiday by baking a figure of the "corn god" into the bread made from the season's first crop, and then symbolically eating it, as it becomes one with their body & spirit. Ancient magick charms directed that the Lammas bread be broken into four bits, placed at the four corners of the barn, which would then protect the garnered grain. As the first of 3 Autumn festivals and one of the 8 Sabbats on the wheel of the year, Lammas is a time to celebrate the harvest of wheat / grains & the plentiful foods it can offer us, as many cultures view the grain as a sacrifice that must die, so that we humans can live; we remember, all that dies shall be born again.
