8 Rituals and Spells To celebrate Lughnasadh on August 1st

By Amber C. Snider

Lughnasadh, an ancient holiday to celebrate the first harvest of the year, is a great time for rituals involving abundance, growth, and gratitude.

Photo by Kura Tregenza on Unsplash

​Each year on August 1st, Lughnasadh is a Celtic/Gaelic festival that dates back to roughly the 1 A.D. and marks the time to the harvest, as well as giving thanks for the abundance of the earth. Historically, this time of year is a pivotal point in the calendar for harvesting the first grain and fruits of the season, which helps ensure survival over the coming winter months. It’s also the midway point between the summer solstice and the fall equinox, and part of the eight Sabbats in the Wheel of the Year in the Wiccan religion. 

In Celtic Ireland, Lughnasadh honors the Sun God Lugh, who is also known for his craftsmanship and is associated with grain, fertility, and abundance. The holiday was traditionally celebrated by cutting the grain, grinding it into flour, and baking the first bread of the season. In more modern times, Lughnasadh was syncretized with the Christian church and changed to Lammas or Loaf Mass Day (in Old English, lammas means “loaf mass") and involves blessing the first loaves of the season. 

Lughnasadh/Lammas is a time to celebrate all the hard work you’ve put in up until this point, get excited about the upcoming fall season and give thanks for the blessings of summer. For modern witches, Wiccans, and pagans this can also involve doing spellwork and rituals around prosperity, abundance, growth, and gratitude.

Here, we’ve put together a few ways you can celebrate this sacred time using magical tools and rituals, regardless of the spiritual path you ascribe. 

Photo by Polina Rytova on Unsplash

Make corn husk dolls
“Corn is abundant this time of year and in the olden days, people would make corn husk dolls from the harvest. They can be used as a form of sympathetic magic, too,” says Marisabel Santiago, a staff member at Enchantments. “These are old traditions representing the Goddess or Lugh’s mother, because [in some stories] she would die this time of year. As a result, some people would use the corn husk dolls for sympathetic magic to symbolize the pieces of themselves that no longer serve them. They would put [aspects of] themselves that no longer served them inside the corn husk dolls and burn them in a ritual, thus, letting go and also giving birth to their own harvest.”

Here, we’ve found a great (free) step-by-step guide to creating your own corn husk doll from Pagan Song. 

A ritual using Rose of Jericho
“Lammas is such a prosperous time. It’s good for money magick, prosperity, and [invoking] solar energy. I highly recommend working with the Rose of Jericho. It’s that miraculous plant that comes back to life. It’s typically left in water bowls and as it opens it brings prosperity. You can add dimes to the water to reign in more prosperity,” says Marisabel.  

Turn on the oven and bake some bread
“I like to make simple, white bread for Lammas. Because it was the first harvest of the season, people would make the first cut of wheat, grind it up to make flour, and make bread from it. The first bread was offered to the God Lugh and people would take a trip up the mountain (because the mountains are closest to the sun) and bury it there. Then they’d have their celebrations there on the mountain,” says Marisabel.

“My favorite bread to make is herb pull-apart bread with mozzarella cheese (here’s a recipe). If you don’t want to use the corn husk for sympathetic magick, you can also make little breadmen and fill it with intentions. If you were trying to lose weight, mold yourself into that image. If you want to represent the Goddess, shape it into a nice Venus of Willendorf…it’s just a really fun way to celebrate,” she adds. 

Burn Lammas Incense as a ritual
“Lammas incense is excellent when you’re trying to work with air elemental magick. All you have to do is light some incense and make your intentions heard. As the incense blows up to the heavens, so your prayers get brought up,” says Marisabel. “Lammas has this whole history of going up the mountain to get in contact with the solar deity, but the fact that the incense carries up to the heavens saves you the trip of going up that hill,” she adds. #RunningUpThatHill. Nine Fruits incense, which brings luck and blessings, is also great this time of year. 
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Solar Blast kit Photo by Victor Castro

Making a really nice meal
“I love to make a really nice meal as a ‘thank you’ for all the blessings in my life during Lammas. It’s another great way of celebrating the harvest: You put in the hard work throughout the entire year to get to this point and you can take a moment to enjoy it all,” says Marisabel. “People nowadays really do have to take a moment to reflect on all the good, especially with all the bad stuff going around. Lammas is a great way to stop and just be. It’s also in the middle of Leo season, which is one of the happiest seasons!”

Try a Solar Blast Candle to invoke the energy of the sun
“A Solar Blast candle is great for this time of year. We’re still in summer, but we’re heading into the darker half of the year, so I love a Solar Blast to try to get that last bit of the sun into our prosperity rituals,” says Marisabel. “I also love a Success Candle, because it’s Leo season, and it’s all about that 5th House of being the inner child, showing up, and having that strength and vitality. Adding that [Leo] energy to your Success Candles can be a really big blessing, especially this time of year,” she says. 

Frankincense & Myrrh 
“Frankincense and myrrh are solar resins, so they tend to bring a lot of prosperity,” says Marisabel. You can purchase Frankincense resin here, which is used for cleansing and protection, and often burned with Myrrh, which is good for cleansing and protection.

Money related candles & spells
“Money-related candles are great because it’s time to reap that harvest and get that money!” she says. You can opt for a custom Money Drawing Candle, Money Draw incense or oil, a Money Pyramid Candle (good for long-term financial growth and promotes responsibility and good choices regarding money), a Money Draw spell kit, (which comes with a small incense and dram of oil), or a picture candle like this Mr. Money Candle.