Tarot Reading and Rituals to give thanks to the Sun and the Harvest

Lughnasad, also known as Lammas and sometimes pronounced as Lughnassadh, is a pagan holiday, as it is one of the eight sabbats on August 1st.

Every sabbat celebrates each seasonal change or turning point, as Lughnasad marks the midway between the summer solstice, Litha, and the autumn equinox, Mabon.

Lughnasad celebrates the grain harvest, as it is essential. Families could starve if the grains were not harvested from the fields on time.  Harvesting grains before Lughnasad in early Ireland was a bad idea because farmers were failing their communities since the grains were not ready. Let’s now talk about the traditions and celebrations.

What Are The Traditions And Celebrations For Lughnasad?

Lughnasad honors Lugh, a Celtic god that rules craftsmanship, fighting, and blacksmithing. Some say that the celebration of Lughnasad is because August 1st was the date of Lugh’s wedding feat or that Lugh held a harvest celebration to create a tribute to his foster mother, Tailtiu.

Many pagans celebrate Lughnasad by baking bread as they welcome the early harvests of fruit such as raspberries, black currants, pears, grapes, root vegetables, corn, and wheat. Many also make corn dolls out of husk leaves or wheat sheaves as they hang them around their homes. They use these corn dolls to reach out to Lugh and other deities to bless their efforts to bring a good harvest.

Another thing that many pagans do when celebrating Lughnasad is by going to a farmers market and pick up seasonal fruits and vegetables or grow their own in their gardens. Typically feasts involving harvest foods are held to celebrate the sabbat. Desserts such as pies and cakes, including the grains and fruits associated with the sabbat, are typically enjoyed. In addition to that, pagans set up their altars for Lughnasad.

Decorating A Lughnasad Altar

Part of the Lughnasad celebrations is decorating an altar for the sabbat. If you want to do this, you will want to find an area of your home that you find sacred or quiet to decorate the altar. If you use a cloth, then you will want to use one that contains red, orange, or yellow, which is the color that represents the sun. You can also use earth colors such as brown or green.

As you have your altar base set up, you can layer it with items that mean a lot to you. Some ideas are yellow, orange, or red candles, corn dolls, sunflowers, grapes, honey, grains, and root vegetables. You can also add crystals such as amber, sardonyx, green aventurine, citrine, and carnelian. Remember, there is no right or wrong when decorating the Lughnasad altar, and you want to decorate one that is ideal for you.

You will also want to do a Lughnasad tarot reading to add to the celebration, as I will do a collective Lughnasad reading based on a spread found on Ethony.com.

Lughnasad Tarot Reading

This Lughnasad tarot reading is a five-card spread emphasizing the concepts of the first harvest and using your skills and talents to get where you want to go. The first card indicates the theme for Lughnasad, and you place the card in the middle. The second card is on the left of card one, slightly elevated, and it represents the goals you have and wants to focus on achieving during the seasonal cycle.

The third card is located on the right of card one, slightly elevated, and it indicates inspiration, as what energies you can rely on to help make you your best during this cycle. Card four is on the left of card one, lower and beneath card two, representing the harvest which focuses on what you must be grateful for during this cycle. Finally, card five is on the right of card one and lower, and beneath card three is Lugh’s bread, and the focus is on what you need to release so you can prosper. Now, let’s do a tarot reading for Lughnasad.

Card one: Death

Card two: Two of Wands

Card three: High Priestess

Card four: Ten of Cups

Card five: Star

Let’s now elaborate on each card and what message each one has for you.

Card One: Death

The theme for Lughnasad is Death, which means there will be endings, and you can expect many transformations to happen. You can interpret that in any way that makes the most sense to you, but you will expect significant changes during this season. You may be changing jobs, or something will transform your relationships, whether it is your romantic relationship or friendship. You may be going through significant transformations yourself. Whatever it is, the shifts you will go through are the theme. Transformations are complex, and you will want to give yourself grace for these changes. Let’s look at the next card.

Card Two: Two of Wands

The second card represents your goals and wants that you want to focus on to achieve during this seasonal cycle. The Two of Wands comes up, a card indicating planning and making decisions. It is a card that shows that you should not entirely take action as there are steps you need to focus on before you take any action and make…