Lughnasadh, Lammas or the Hight of Summer: what to celebrate and why?

Picture taken by me and reworked in Water Brush app

Happy month of August and happy Lughnasadh, Lúnasa, or Lammas, happy whatever you are celebrating by any name. I like to refer to this seasonal tide as the Height of Summer and celebrate it as such. 

A couple of days ago, while talking to a friend the following question came up: “Why holding at the beginning of August a celebration for a holiday that long ago was centered around harvesting and other activities with agricultural and seasonal character if such activities are not part of one’s life?” Like, for someone living in the city, for someone who does not participate in activities that are in some ways connected to agriculture or farming does celebrating Lughnasadh or Lammas make any sense?  So, I thought I’d offer my take on this because who knows, more people could find it relatable. 

First and foremost, in celebrating the Hight of Summer I acknowledge the season itself and all the changes that occur in nature at this time. Simplistic and even superficial as this may sound, for me, the connection to Nature and natural cycles is not mere accessory and certainly not a superfluous thing.

When celebrating this seasonal tide, what I do and how I do it is not the same with what my spiritual ancestors did or experienced long ago. I am not pretending that it is. I do not believe that everything that was done is still suitable for me to do today. I do not try to parrot some ritual or force into my twenty-first century frame of reference something that only made sense in the past. But I also find value in learning about and acknowledging those practices and the people who participated in them as well. The very act of learning and then somehow acknowledging make me feel closer to people and customs from both a past that could be as “recent” as my own childhood and to people and customs that I only know from lore and old traditions no longer actively practiced yet surviving in living memory. “Long ago, the people from […place…] did […activity/ritual…] because they believed […reason for ritual or activity…]” 

I don’t live where my ancestors lived and my current living conditions are different. The climate is different too. I am not harvesting anything on a large scale nor take cattle out to pasture. But because I don’t it doesn’t mean that other people around me aren’t doing it either. The food that reaches my table and pantry comes from farms and gardens, most of them local. I only have a couple of berry bushes and few medicinal herbs in my yard and my harvesting is rather symbolic than quantitatively significant. But by celebrating the Hight of Summer I am acknowledging the bounty the land has granted us, the people working in fields, orchards and farms, the goodwill of Powers behind the rain and sunshine coming our way to make things grow and ripen. 

Hight of Summer 2026, picture taken by me

There is really a lot to celebrate and be grateful for at this time some of us call Lughnasadh, Lammas, or Hight of Summer. And whether knowingly or unknowingly, we can sense that the story played out every summer, year after year, has reached culmination and form now on it winds down toward conclusion mellowing into the golden glow of September. 

Does this seasonal tide hold any meaning for you personally? If so, how do you celebrate? What or who do you acknowledge?

Happy month of August everyone and happy seasonal celebration by whatever name!

Daniela