Lugnasadh and the First Fruits of Harvest

Lugnasadh and the First Fruits of Harvest

On August 1st, the land enters the festival time known as Lugnasadh (pronounced LOO-na-sa) or Gŵyl Awst — one of the four cross-quarter festivals in the old Celtic calendar, and traditionally the first of the three harvests, followed by Mabon (Autumn Equinox) and Samhain (final harvest). It marks the moment when the first fruits of the land are gathered — the grain, the berry, the first apple — and the work of the farmer begins to bear tangible reward.

The word Lugnasadh combines the name of the god Lugh with nasadh, which means assembly or gathering. As Ronald Hutton notes in The Stations of the Sun, this was a time not only for harvest but for trade, marriage agreements, competitive games, and community assembly on hilltops and sacred grounds. In Ireland, it was deeply tied to the mythical tale of Lugh honouring his foster-mother Tailtiu, who died clearing the land for agriculture. The echoes of this survive in English Lammas Day (1 August), meaning "loaf-mass", when loaves baked from the new grain were brought to church in blessing.

druidry.org interprets Lugnasadh as a time of gratitude and sacrifice, when what has been sown begins to yield, but not without cost. The sheaf must be cut for the bread to be made. It’s a moment to reflect on what we have reaped — personally, spiritually, and in community — and also to consider what we must let go of to continue growing.

Pilgrimage and Harvest

For pilgrims, this time of year offers walking with the land’s abundance, to taste its fruits and reflect on the work of our own hands, or at least the hands of others. It is a time to honour the invisible labours — of the soil, the rain, the sun, and those who work the land — that nourish life.

Pilgrimage in this season can take on a new layer of meaning. Just as the land gives up its yield, the pilgrim gives up comfort and certainty, trusting in the way. The path becomes a kind of threshing floor, revealing what we carry and what we no longer need.

Places in Britain Linked to Lugnasadh and Harvest

Here are some pilgrimage destinations with historical, agricultural, or seasonal associations that resonate with Lugnasadh:

• Glastonbury Tor, Somerset – Long associated with seasonal festivals, mythic kingship, and fertility of the land. The surrounding fields echo the abundant stories of the Grail and sacred kingship tied to the land’s fruitfulness. See our Glastonbury Day Pilgrimage.
• Pen Dinas / Dinas Emrys, Wales – Hilltop sites once associated with local gatherings and seasonal fairs, carrying echoes of old tribal assemblies and seasonal rites.
• Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow, Wiltshire – The vast mound of Silbury stands within a ritual landscape shaped in relation to the farming year. West Kennet Long Barrow, just beyond it, offers a place for quiet harvest reflection. See our Avebury Day Pilgrimage.
• Lochmaben Stone, Dumfries and Galloway – A solitary megalith near the Solway Firth, once a gathering place for cross-border exchanges and perhaps older seasonal rites.
• Cerne Abbas Giant, Dorset – A hill figure often associated with fertility and masculine energy; local traditions once included summer celebrations and fairs. See our Catherine and Cernunnos Way.
• Cropredy, Oxfordshire – Site of the Fairport Convention music festival, held near Lammas each year; echoes the ancient traditions of seasonal music and gathering.
• Mount Caburn, Sussex – An Iron Age hillfort above Glynde, with panoramic views. Its location and context suggest an ancient site of assembly, with surrounding fields still active with grain. See our Old Way Section 7.

If your pilgrimage takes you past wheat fields ready for cutting or apple orchards beginning to blush, pause. Notice the smell of the air, the colour of the leaves, the weight of the year thus far. This is what pilgrimage offers — not just movement over ground, but movement through time.

John Barleycorn Song

The traditional folk song John Barleycorn offers a powerful mythic lens on the harvest. In this ballad, Barleycorn is a personification of the grain itself — a man who must suffer violence, death, and burial in order to bring life to others. He is cut down, ground, and brewed, yet rises again as ale and bread to nourish the people. The song echoes ancient sacrificial themes found in seasonal festivals like Lugnasadh, reminding us that harvest is not just a time of plenty, but also of transformation — where death and renewal are woven into the same cycle. Singing John Barleycorn on a pilgrimage at this time of year can help reawaken the deeper meanings behind what it takes to bring forth sustenance from the land.

The main painting image above is Roger Wagner's Harvest, which is currently showing in a wonderful exhibition in Wales here.