Lughnassadh

August 1st: Irish Gaelic for "festival of Lugh". LOO-nah-sah. Like the other fire festivals, this one too was once celebrated with great bonfires. People gatherd on the sacred hills, and visited the sacred wells. This is time in which connecting with one's personal gods/goddesses is important. Some have mistakenly thought that Lughnassadh was a festival that celebrated Lugh, but in reality it was a funeral festival held for his foster-mother Tailltiu (pronounced Telsha), who had died under the strain of clearing the plain in Ireland that bears her name. The legendary Telltown Races wer held on this plain up until the early modern period. In the spirit of Tailltius' sacrifice fo her life, modern Celtic Pagans will take the time to remember that which has been sacrifices for them. This can be a personal sacrifice that was made for you, or a commulal sacrifice such as the Rainforests, or simply that which has sacrifieced in Nature due to man's greed. Like Bealtinne, Lughnassadh is also a traditional time for hand fasts, engagements, marriages and disseverments of previous relationships.