4x4 relief carved, hand painted ceramic sunflower tile.
Happy full moon on this eve of Lammas or Lughnasadh, the first of the three Pagan harvest festivals on August 1st around the time of the early grain harvest which has been celebrated for thousands of years.
It is a time we begin to reap what has been sown, prepareing for the summers end and the up coming abundance of the fall harvest.
Lughnasadh is named for the Celtic diety Lugh who presides over science and the arts. According to Celtic legend, Lugh decreed that a feast be held each year at the beginning of the harvest season in honor of his foster mother Tailtin, the Royal lady of the Fir Bolg. After her people were defeated by the Tuatha De Dannan Tailtin was obliged to clear a vast forest for the planting of grain. In her attempt to fufill this obligation she died of exhaustion. Tradition states that she was buried beneath a great mound called the hill of Tailtin where the first feast of Lughnasadh was held in Ireland. There were games and contests of skill as well as a great feast from the first fruits of the summer harvest. As the years past traditions surrounding the feast at Tailtin began to evolve into events and ceremony to celebrate not only Tailtin and the beauty of the harvest her sacrifice provided but also to honor the work and sacrifice of human beings as they strive to provide sustenance for their families and community.
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