Happy Lammas!

Lammas (my favourite sabbat apart from Samhain) is nearly here! This year it's on Monday 1st August (tomorrow!), although some may celebrate from sundown on 31st July to sundown on 1st August, or on 2nd Aug.

For the past few years, I've written posts with celebration ideas for Lammas. Last year I did a round-up of my previous Lammas posts, so for 2022 I'm just sharing some links and ideas, rather than an in-depth post (like I did for Beltane and Litha). :)

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it's time for Imbolg/Imbolc! You might like my Imbolg round-up post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/01/imbolg-round-up.html

I also came across this post about celebrating Imbolc from an Australian blogger: https://thefrugalbrownwitch.wordpress.com/2015/07/23/imbolc-celebrations-for-the-frugal-family/

 

 

Lammas (also called Lughnasadh) is the first harvest festival on the Wheel of the Year (followed by Madron/Mabon (aka the Autumn Equinox) in September and Samhain in October. It's also the last sabbat associated with summer, marking the start of the transition from summer to autumn. It comes after Beltane at the end of April/beginning of May, which although it is a spring festival, marks the shift into summer and Litha in June, which is also the Summer Solstice and the official start of summer. 

 

 

Lammas is also the festival of the Celtic Sun God Lugh (pronounced Loo) and a cross-quarter day (across the main 4 quarters of the year).  Its themes include harvest/grain, fire, abundance, gratitude and sacrifice. 

 

 

Here is my 2021 round-up of previous Lammas posts: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/07/lammas-round-up.html

 

 

And here are some posts from other sites:

Update 29/8/24: Some of these links are now gone, so I've updated the post.

 

Info about Lammas: https://www.cerdeirahomeforcreativity.com/our-blog/2023/08/01/lammas-wheel-of-the-year

 

Post from Tanae of Witch of Lupine Hollow about Lammas and how to use it to manifest: https://whimsysoul.com/lammas-celebrations-what-is-it-how-to-celebrate-by-manifesting-your-dreams/

Modern style Lammas: https://goodwitcheshomestead.com/2017/07/30/modern-style-lammas/

The spiritual meaning of Lughnasadh (Rebecca Campbell): https://rebeccacampbell.me/the-meaning-of-lughnasadh/

10 Ways to Celebrate Lughnasadh: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/witchindeed/2022/07/10-ways-to-celebrate-lughnasadh/

 

My main celebration for Lammas is baking. I normally bake gingerbread and some years I also make a Cornish style pasty or bread. This year I'm making gingerbread as usual. I used to use the recipe from the light brown soft sugar packet, but since they stopped doing it on there a few years ago, I now use this one: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gingerbread_men_99096

 

I'm also baking 90 minute "man bread" which I first made in 2019. The recipe is from Don't Waste the Crumbs: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/90-minute-man-bread/

 

I didn't bake bread for 7 years (I made some in 2010 when I started celebrating the sabbats and then not again until 2017!), but in recent years I've been inspired to make it more often. 

Visit this post from Lammas 2014 to see my Cornish style pasty (it's not considered a genuine Cornish pasty unless it's made in Cornwall) and for links to recipes: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2014/08/lammas.html 

If you want more baking ideas, check this post I wrote in 2020, which is specifically about baking for Lammas (with some extra ideas): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/07/baking-for-lammas-extra-ideas.html

This 90 minute Italian bread from Torrie of To Love and To Learn looks good too: https://www.toloveandtolearn.com/2012/11/19/italian-bread-princess-bride-snuggles/

And check out this lemon lavender loaf as well: https://www.whitewitchparlour.com/blogs/witchy-wisdom-spells-inspiration/lemon-lavender-loaf-for-joy-vibrancy-summer-kitchen-witch

 

 

Another couple of things I plan to do are go for a walk at my local nature reserve at sunset and light an orange candle.

 

Hope this post gave you some ideas for celebrating! :) Happy Lammas! (Or Happy Imbolg/Imbolc!).

Photo: Mill Hill, Shoreham-by-sea. Moonsparkle 2022.