Lammas marks the first of the three harvest festivals in the Wheel of the Year, typically celebrated on August 1st. The spiritual significance of Lammas comes from the beginning of the traditional harvest season and the abundance it hopes to deliver.
It has deep spiritual significance rooted in gratitude, transformation, planning for a future life, as well as the cyclical nature of our collective existence.

Lammas in the wheel of the year
As the sun gives life and human advancement for millennia, civilisations have long worshiped and celebrated key points in the year. For farming societies whose survival was reliant on crops for food, this reverence and observation was particularly important.
The fear of hunger and death tends to drive groups to celebrate when their savior arrives. In this case, their savior is the sun and all of its glory, light, and sustenance. This forms the roots of the spiritual significance of Lammas.

The movement of the earth around the sun creates the key events in the wheel of the year calendar. When furthest away in the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth has longer nights and colder temperatures. Conversely, this summer period means maximum light in the day and breeds life and new beginnings.
Lammas falls between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox, and so is known as one of the ‘Cross Quarter Points’ in the overall wheel.
Historical and mythological roots of Lammas
Lammas remains one of the most mysterious of the eight festivals in the year.
Popular myth and opinion is that the name comes from the Old English “hlaf-mas,” meaning “loaf mass,” signifying the first bread that was made from the grain at the first harvest. The popular story goes that the festival involved baking the first loaf of bread from the harvest, which was then blessed and used in rituals to protect the remaining crops that would be harvested over the coming weeks and months before winter.

These stories conjure up images of primitive Irish and British (or at least Anglo-Saxan) farming societies engaging in nature worship to help survival. Echoes of the Wicker Man and Lord Summerisle making a sacrifice to the gods for a future apple harvest bounty, are hard to ignore.
Mythologically, Lammas is said to be associated with several deities of grain and harvest. For instance, the Celtic god Lugh, a deity of many skills, is often celebrated during this time. Lugh is recognized for his craftsmanship, and his festival, Lughnasadh, includes feasts, games, and fairs that honor his talents.
A complex view of spiritual significance of Lammas roots
Eleanor Parker, an expert in Anglo-Saxan history, has however written an alternative view of the tapestry of myth and evidence that is combined into today’s understanding of the festival.
She states that Lammas may not have actually been a specific point in the year. Over time it has been drawn from several different instances of community celebrations around the traditional first harvest.
For example, the term ‘mass’ comes from Latin and is therefore associated with Christian festivals (think ‘candelmass’ or ‘christmas’). If Lammas is an original Pagan festival (from before Britain converted to Christianity in 7th century) then it would have been called something else.
Parker’s conclusion on Lammas is that there is not much evidence of Pagan specific celebration by name, but that there is evidence of celebration around the time of the first harvest. This tended to occur around the beginning of August.
Spiritual significance of Lammas
Whatever the actual history of the festival, today’s earth based religions look upon Lammas as a time to express gratitude. They acknowledge the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, and make offerings to ensure future abundance.

The spiritual significance of Lammas centers around themes of abundance, gratitude, transformation, and preparation for the darker months ahead. It’s a time to:
- Give Thanks: Express gratitude for the harvest and the abundance in one’s life. We often find this hard at Cultivated Zen, when the world seems to be in so much turmoil. At the same time, we are blessed with so much such as simple treats like the intense green of a an oak tree.
- Celebrate Achievement, Skills, and Talents: Celebrate personal and communal skills and achievements. What intentions have you managed to keep, and what have you personally achieved?
- Reflect and Release: Reflect on your personal growth and achievements. All the toil and hard work throughout the year has to be celebrated and considered to make it all worth while. Here you can set intentions for the future, and release what no longer serves. What do you need to let go of and let into your life to make your personal harvest even better next year?
- Connect with Nature: As with all points in the wheel of the year, this is a time to deepen your connection to the earth and its cycles, acknowledging the interdependence of life and nature. This is a lovely time to still bathe in the early light. Read up on folks like Robin Sharma who write about the power of waking up early and being present in the peace of a rising dawn.
Rituals and celebrations to honour the spiritual significance of Lammas

Common practices include:
- Bread-Baking Rituals: The mindful process of kneading and baking bread from freshly harvested grain is a spiritual act of gratitude and connection to the earth’s bounty. This bread can be shared in communal feasts or offered in rituals to bless the remaining harvest.
- Harvest Dolls and Offerings: Creating corn dolls from the first sheaves of grain is a traditional Lammas activity. They symbolize the spirit of the harvest and are used in rituals to represent sacrifices made for future prosperity. These dolls are often burned or buried as offerings to the earth, and is another example of how fire is used so often in Pagan celebration.
- Community Gatherings: Drawing on the history of a harvest being a community effort, Lammas offers festivals, fairs, and communal meals. This emphasizes the importance of shared abundance and collective gratitude.
- Gratitude and Reflection: Many Pagans use this time for rituals of gratitude and reflection. This can include meditations, prayers, or creating altars decorated with symbols of the harvest, such as grains, fruits, and candles. These practices help individuals connect with the cycles of nature and reflect on personal growth and achievements.
- Ritual Bonfires: Lighting bonfires is a traditional way to celebrate Lammas, symbolizing the transformative energy of the harvest season. Participants may offer herbs, flowers, or written prayers to the flames, releasing intentions and letting go of what no longer serves them.
By participating in Lammas rituals and celebrations, we can honor the ancient traditions of our ancestors, connect with the natural world, and prepare spiritually and physically for the coming seasons.
This is a time to enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Do something that pleases you and makes you happy, without worrying about the chores and tending your crops. The time to welcome the darker nights is yet to come.
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