10 Ways to Celebrate Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh is the First Harvest Festival in the Wheel of the Year, celebrated on or around the 1st of February in the Southern Hemisphere, which is halfway between the Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox.

Here are 10 simple ways to celebrate Lughnasadh in the Southern Hemisphere:

1. Bake homemade bread. Lughnasadh is the time when wheat and grains would traditionally be harvested. Display your freshly made bread, a bowl of wheat and a sickle (harvesting tool) on your altar to honour the Grain God who is sacrificed to the Harvest Mother each year. 

2. Make a corn doll to represent the Corn Mother or Goddess of the harvest.

3. Collect grapevines to decorate your altar with as well as seasonal flowers such as chrysanthemums, cosmos and sunflowers.

4. Wear pale green, yellow or gold. The Lughnasadh colours represent the golden fields of grain, corn and sunflowers.

5. Visit a local orchard to pick your own fresh berries or stone fruits. Display them in a Cornucopia, Horn of Plenty harvest basket on your seasonal altar.

7. Practice your favourite skill or craft. For me that is making my own beeswax candles and intention bottles. Lugh was a God of craftsmanship known for his many skills. Learn how to weave, crochet or make your own Lughnasadh corndoll! 

8. Engage in athletics sports or competitive games to in honour of Lugh. Play board games, do archery or gymnastics. If you are hosting Lughnasadh with your family and friends, maybe organise some classic outdoor games like sack races or cornhole.

9. Make a Lughnasadh wreath for your door or table centrepiece out of wheat, corncobs and flowers.

10. Host a potluck harvest feast with local seasonal ingredients as the theme. Invite your friends and family to feast with you on sweet corn, raw blueberry pie and chocolate courgette cake. See my 10 foods and drinks for your Lughnasadh Feast reel for more ideas.