Monday, August 1, 2011

Lammas

Merriam-Webster hooked it up today with a bitchin' Word of the Day.


(My lammas harvest offerings)




Lammas\LAM-us\

noun

1 : August 1 originally celebrated in England as a harvest festival — called also Lammas Day

2 : the time of the year around Lammas Day


The word "Lammas" evolved from Old English "hlāfmæsse" ("hlāf" meaning "loaf" and "mæsse" meaning "mass"). It originated from the fact that on August first of each year, the early English church celebrated the harvesting of the first ripe grain by consecrating loaves made from it — hence, "loaf mass." Shakespeareans will be sure to add that the eve of Lammas is Juliet's birthday, as her nurse tells us in Romeo and Juliet, "Come Lammas Eve at night shall she be fourteen." In addition, the phrase "latter Lammas" was used humorously to refer to a day that will never come, as in "he will pay at latter Lammas."


This holiday also goes by the older name of Lughnasadh, after the celtic god, Lugh. Either way, it is a celebration of the harvest and an auspicious day, worthy of honoring. I plan to celebrate all month, cuz August is my favie-fav!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Still celebrated in Scotland as a harvest festival. Thanks for your beautifull foto from your whee harvest, more to come.
Eduard.

taryn said...

your blog is my favie-fav!