#FolkloreSunday: `Horse races, with some indication that they may have held some ritual significance, are very much a feature of the #Lughnasa celebration.
Remember Macha, who had been forced into a race against the horses of Conchobar while heavily pregnant? The outcome of this race was that she won, gave birth to twins, and cursed the Ulstermen. `There was certainly a Lughnasa festival held on Mag Macha in early August.`
Source: Ronald Hicks `Dún Aillinne’s Role in Folklore, Myth, And The Sacred Landscape`
https://hear-me.social/@NeuKelte/114965468422103779

🌾 Lughnasa, the ancient Celtic festival marking the start of the harvest, was named for the god Lugh and celebrated with feasts, games & gratitude. Today, honour the tradition by harvesting summer veg & sowing for autumn. The wheel turns—your garden grows. 🥕🌽 #Lughnasa #HarvestTime #GrowYourOwn

🌾 Lughnasa, the ancient Celtic festival marking the start of the harvest, was named for the god Lugh and celebrated with feasts, games & gratitude. Today, honour the tradition by harvesting summer veg & sowing for autumn. The wheel turns—your garden grows. 🥕🌽 #Lughnasa #HarvestTime #GrowYourOwn

#Lammas and #Lughnasa blessings to all who celebrate! I wish you fresh-baked bread and sunshine!
#pagan

#FindsFriday: During the ancient festival of #Lughnasa it was traditional in Ireland to make Harvest Knots. Men would make these as love tokens to give to their sweethearts to be worn at the festival dance.` #Celtic
Source: https://www.louisburgh-killeenheritage.org/topics/national-heritage-week-projects/heritage_week_17th-25th_august_2019/celebrating_lughnasa_harvest_knot_making

Wishing everyone a happy Lughnasa, Lammas, Calan Awst, or first of August!
#lughnasa #lunasa #lammas #august #bloomscrolling

#BookologyThursday: `July and August were seen as the prime months for collecting the best-tasting bilberries. For those inclined to follow superstitious belief, bilberries were not to be collected after the first Sunday in August as the fairies and Crom Dubh, the dark and crooked figure of the harvest, had spat on them.`
Source: https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0725/1525282-bilberries-bilberry-sunday-ireland-folklore-lughnasa-festival/ #Lughnasa #Celtic

#BookologyThursday: `Mary MacNeill (1962) has made a strong case that many pilgrimages that take place on the last sunday of July such as pilgrimage to Mount Brandon, Co Kerry, Croagh Patrick, Co Mayo, and Maumeen, Co Galway, evolved from the #Celtic Festival of #Lughnasa held in honour of the God Lugh. Another relic of this festival was the collection of billberries also on the same day the last sunday in July.
Traditionally the gathering of the berries was carried out by young people who would climb up into the hills and have a good time picking the berries. In the evening young girls would incorporate the berries into a cake and at the dance that evening present the cake to whatever ‘fella’ they had their eye on.`
Source: https://pilgrimagemedievalireland.com/2012/07/28/billberry-sunday/

#BookologyThursday: `The bilberry was an important feature of activities, games, food and entertainments associated with the festival of #Lughnasa.
In October 1925, the Weekly Irish Times ran a brief feature on bilberries in its 'A Nature Picture' column. An attractive monochrome sketch of the plant, captioned Whortleberry, accompanied a text that told readers it 'is a wonderful year for wild berries- blackberries are profuse everywhere, hips and haws abound… So, too, in its favourite habitats the whortleberry, blaeberry, or bilberry, as it is variously called, has a great crop of berries available for those who like them as an ingredient for pies and puddings.' #Celtic
Source: https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0725/1525282-bilberries-bilberry-sunday-ireland-folklore-lughnasa-festival/