Lughnasadh: Sacrifice / Celebration

Lughnasadh, known as Lammas in England, celebrates the first fruits of the harvest. The powers that be are thanked for what they have given and asked to protect the main harvest to come.

Each of the ancient Celtic fire festivals occurs when the Sun reaches the middle of each fixed sign.

Lughnasadh is Leo. The Sun reaches 15 Leo on Tuesday, August 7, at 9:30 am EDT. This year, the Sun will be conjunct Mercury and the asteroid Pallas Athena.

To the ancient Celts, Lughnasadh was sacred, a time-outside-time when normal rules were suspended. Tribes gathered for horse racing and trading, for games and contests at arms.

There was feasting, drinking, dancing, storytelling, and song. Also, courting. Couples slipped away to tryst and trial marriages were arranged (with a no-fault option to walk away in a year and a day).

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All of this sounds very Mars, right? Sports, contests of strength and skill, wine and women. Yet there were strict rules in place for the duration of the Tailteann Games and Lughnasadh festivals: No brawling, no fighting, no harsh words, no violent acts of any kind.

These are perfect rules for this Martian season we find ourselves in as Mars retrograde sits with the South Node of the Moon and squares Uranus, Saturn retrograde trines Uranus, and Mercury is retrograde in Leo.

This is a time to spread our wings, stretch our muscles and our minds, toss outmoded possessions, ideas, and goals out the window––and do it all without leaping to judgement, getting up in people’s faces, or making quick decisions (especially irrevocable ones).

The ancient Lughnasadh festivals lasted three weeks. Modern ones are shorter, of course, but still important. We can take these days to prepare for the coming New Moon and eclipse in Leo on August 11.

The Romans syncretized the Celtic god Lugh with Mercury. These two are not quite the same, but share the trait of having many skills. Lugh originally gained entry to the hall of the gods by showing this was true––instead of having one thing he was best at, he was master of many. Mercury is the same.

And Mercury is about to reach his inferior conjunction with the Sun. This is a New Mercury, like a New Moon, the time when Earth, Mercury, and Sun line up to begin a new Mercury cycle.

Mercury is invisible during these days, his light consumed in the fire of the Sun. Thought, communication, heart, and soul purpose align in this most inner point of the retrograde cycle.

This year, Lughnasadh is marked by this inward journey of Mercury, which begins the waxing half of his cycle. When he becomes visible again, it will be in the morning sky. Dane Rudhyar called this Mercury’s Promethean half.

In fact, Lughnasadh festivals are funeral games. They were organized by Lugh to honor not himself, but his foster mother Tailltiu. She was Fir Bolg, the dark people the Celts found already in Ireland when they landed. Early myths recount conflicts between the peoples, and also alliances like marriages and fostering.

Tailtiu’s story is that she worked alone to clear vast fields in Ireland, making them suitable for agriculture. After this promethean effort, she died, giving her life so the people could live. We can hear echoes of John Barleycorn here, and more importantly, older stories of goddesses of the land who must be honored and protected so the land remains fruitful and hospitable.

This year, Lughnasadh also heralds Venus’ entry into Libra. This is generally a happy event, as Virgo is not a comfortable place for Venus and Libra is one of the signs she rules.

This year, Venus faces a series of challenges: As she enters Libra, she squares Saturn (retrograde and strong in Capricorn), trines Mars (retrograde in Aquarius), is inconjunct Uranus in Taurus, and opposes Chiron (retrograde in Aries).

If we see Venus as a grain goddess, we can see in her shift from Virgo to Libra, Tailtiu facing consequences. The fields are cleared, she met her deadline, she created a revolutionary gift, but she worked too hard. She is mortally wounded.

Venus will pass through this daunting lineup of planets in a few days. At Lughnasadh, though, we see Lugh as Mercury contemplating a new beginning as Tailtiu as Venus must also make a major transition.

As we all are. This eclipse season has brought changes to many, some welcome, some unwelcome, but all experienced with emotional highs and lows that leave us reeling.

I wish I could say this time of intense change was winding down, but we’re not there yet. On the day of Lughnasadh, Uranus stations retrograde, preparing to head back into Aries one more time before turning direct again on January 6, 2019.

The outer planets spend so much time retrograde, we don’t always attach much significance to it. But there are two things to note about this Uranus station:

One is that when a planet approaches a station, whether retrograde or direct, it slows way down. Such a station intensifies its influence. We are in an especially Uranian time, which amps up the intensity and speed of revolutionary change.

The other is that Uranus, who only recently entered Taurus, will move back into late Aries and then reenter Taurus, this time to stay for his seven years. Movement back and forth between signs creates a bigger shift in energy than a retrograde within one sign.

Our status quo still includes the possibility of big change, certainly through the New Moon and partial solar eclipse on Saturday, August 11.

Lughnasadh is a turning point in the ancient Celtic calendar. We are entering the dark half of the light half of the year, moving toward winter and into a more inward time.

This might feel ominous but is actually a very fertile time. The Celts understood that everything begins in darkness. Their year begins at Samhain, the opening of the dark half of the dark half. This is when seeds are planted. This is where stories come from. This is where soul is built.

So, anticipating the harvest, aware of the sacrifices needed to make it happen, and looking beyond to winter, we celebrate. This has been a challenging year, and Leo still loves to play.

With gratitude for all we have, we celebrate the good things of life, knowing change will come. Life is worth living and loving and we are ready.

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I use Unsplash for most photo illustrations. All astrological charts are my own. The images in this post include the title, adapted from the sunset photo by Rose Erkul, the photo of fields and mountains by Paul-Vincent Roll, the basket of vegetables by Markus Spiske, and the children playing by Robert Collins.