Lughnasa: Reconnect with nature

If Friday's Entertainment feature caught your eye, you read about the LCHS production (the next two weekends) of "Dancing at Lughnasa" (silent "g") - a "festival of light and rebirth" that "stirs the conflict between pagan and Christian cultures."

Many Americans claim, or at least identify with, Celtic heritage, making it fun and enriching to explore. Lughnasa stands not alone, but is the last of four feast days deeply rooted in Celt and Druid tradition.

The first Americans know well as Hallowe'en - or Samhain - celebrated in late October/November, when the Celtic new year began. Next came Imbolg (February), then Beltane (May), and Lughnasa (August). Notice the seasonal pattern? You guessed it: the four festivals, like most pagan spiritualism, followed the cycles of the Earth, upon which all living things depended.

Samhain: Earth's cycle of life, and thus the Celtic new year, begins with winter's rest. Samhain (pronounced, "sow-in") means "summer's end," a celebration of October's final harvest and the return of livestock from grazing areas as the ground lay fallow. At this time nature's door between life and afterlife briefly opened. Mystics communicated with ancestors, seeking the answers needed to survive winter and plan for the coming year. In time conversion-minded conquerors merged Samhain with their own traditions; the Romans with the festivals of Feralia (the dead) and Pomona (fruit goddess), and by the 11th century the Christian All Saints Day was moved to Nov. 1.

Imbolg/Imbolc: Around Feb. 1, Imbolg ("im-molk" or "im-boe-lg") celebrated longer days of the emerging sun, hinting at the coming of spring.

Brigid was an important Celtic deity, later absorbed by the Christian Saint of the same name (Feb. 1 is now St. Brigid's Day), and credited with starting the traditional agricultural year and the lactation of sheep, still plentiful in Ireland. The goddess Brigid was also a poetess, inspiring many an Irish poem.

Beltane: Falling between the solstices and now known as Mayday, Beltane ("bell-tain" or "bey-al-tin-ah") is synonymous with fire and spring's fertile rebirth. Bel was a solar god (think of the sun as a ball of fire) of both life and death, in one unbroken cycle. As with Samhain, the gate between life and afterlife was open at Beltane, when certain spirits were said to seek physical communion with the living.

Celebrations emphasized spring's re-emergence with flower-topped "May bushes" (sometimes they were trees) and the dousing of homefires soon to be relit from a special bonfire. As years passed and traditions merged, celebrants danced around a pole to the sound of music (the ribbons were added much later, wrapped around the Maypole by dancing maidens - a symbolic male-female communion). Before the Christian influences, the Romans merged their flower-goddess's spring fertility festival of Floralia with Beltane, which also influenced Mayday traditions now so merged it's difficult to distinguish among them.

Finally we come to Lughnasa. Traditionally celebrated in August, this harvest festival was named for Lugh, a warrior god of sun, light, and harvests. Like other feast days, Lughnasa is still celebrated on the Emerald Isle; the Norman Carrickfergus Castle in Northern Ireland hosts historic re-enactments in ancient Celt style. Then and now Lughnasa celebrants wear crowns of berries and dance to their hearts' content. Naturally the harvested fields were blessed.

In addition to what is now the UK and Ireland, Lughnasa was also celebrated in France and Spain. The Christian church moved the feast of St. Michael to September to discourage Lughnasa celebrations in favor of the more sober Michaelmas, when rents were due and debts to be paid.

Each of these four Celtic festivals opened the night before, so celebrations began with sunset, lasting through the night and following days. Because there were no calendars, dates are approximate and were measured by the length of the sun's shadows upon tall stones, and the cycles of the harvests. Subsequent religions and modern life got away from this nature-based approach to spiritualism, although perhaps for its simplicity, the roots of Beltane still survive in Mayday celebrations. The more modern culture becomes synonymous with leisure, entertainment, and technology, the more we seem to need to reconnect with the natural world to shed associated stress. Perhaps we can take a page from the Celtic tradition to rediscover our natural rhythms.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.