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Lammas

A bread doll wearing sunglasses and sitting in a beach chair. Happily baking in the sun in a wheat field.
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Lammas – the original carb-loading festival! 🌾

🌾🍞🌽🧑‍🌾

Lammas: Celebrating the First Fruits of Summer

Looking for an excuse to eat fresh bread all day? Lammas is the ultimate carnivore festival that involves the freshest bread you could wish for.
Today we bake bread with flour from from the first harvest of this season and have the loaves blessed at the local church. Then we gather around for a picnic with our loved ones and make cute little corn dollies, just because we can.

Lammas is a traditional Christian festival that marks the beginning of the harvest season and is a time to give thanks for the first fruits of the summer harvest.
During Lammas, people gather to partake in feasts, games, and various festivities. They offer prayers and blessings for a bountiful harvest and engage in traditional rituals to honor the land and the cycle of nature.
In some regions, they would create elaborate corn dollies or bread figures, symbolizing the spirit of the grain, which would be stored and used in rituals during the following year’s planting season.
The festival continues to be observed by modern pagans and followers of Celtic traditions as a way to honor their heritage and embrace the importance of agriculture and the changing seasons.

Lammas and Lughnasad Are Not the Same

Many people confuse Lammas with Lughnasad. Which is easy to do because these holidays are both harvest festivals, both happen in the beginning of August and even start with the same letter.
While both festivals have similar themes, they come from different cultural backgrounds.

Lughnasad originates from Celtic traditions, particularly in Ireland, where it was dedicated to the god Lugh, the master of skills.
Lammas, on the other hand, has its roots in English and Anglo-Saxon Christian customs, marking the first fruits of the harvest.
The names themselves reflect these distinctions, with “Lughnasad” honoring the Celtic god Lugh and “Lammas” deriving from the Old English term “hlafmaesse,” meaning “loaf mass.”
Lughnasad includes games, competitions, and ceremonial offerings to honor the harvest and the god Lugh.
Lammas involves bringing loaves of bread, made from the new harvest, to the church to be blessed.

How to Celebrate Lammas

There are many ways to celebrate Lammas. Here are a few ideas:

  • Bake a loaf of bread, infusing it with your wishes and blessings for the future.
  • Participate in traditional activities like crafting corn dollies, symbolizing the spirit of the grain.
  • Create a gratitude ritual by making offerings to nature, thanking the earth for its gifts.
  • Attend local harvest festivals and enjoy the vibrant atmosphere with music, dancing, and seasonal delights.
  • Host a Lammas feast with friends and family and  feast on fresh produce and bread made from the new harvest.
  • Enjoy a nature walk and enjoy the beauty of the summer landscape.

Don’t forget to capture the essence of Lammas with photos of colorful harvest displays and homemade bread.
Use the hashtags #Lammas, #LammasBounty, #CornDolly and #BountyBlessings to share your Lammas celebrations on social media.

Happy Lammas!

So now you know what Lammas is and how to celebrate it, let’s go out there and let the timeless traditions of Lammas inspire you to appreciate nature’s gifts all year round!
And if anyone asks why you’re dancing barefoot in the fields or crafting a giant corn maze in your backyard, just say Wild Calendar gave you permission to do so!
Happy Lammas, and may the harvest’s blessings be abundant in your life!

P.S.
If you celebrate Lammas by doing something totally wild and crazy, like dancing almost naked in a wheat field or sacrificing a chocolate bar to the harvest gods, just be sure to tag us on social media so we can enjoy it too! 😉

Bread and wine start a banquet.

– (French proverb)

#Lammas #LammasDay #FeastOfFirstFruits #GuleOfAugust

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