Lughnasadh
A summertime switch to slowing down 🌿
Hello, my lovely.
When I realised it was time to write this year’s Lughnasadh newsletter, I double-blinked. Surely not! Summer seems to be searing by in a blaze of sunshine.
Our first harvest festival of the year is here already!
And there has been a lot to be grateful for in my life of late:
The Pagan festival of Lughnasadh will be with us on 1st August, bringing with it the first flurry of tomatoes, courgettes and nasturtiums, along with the more modern idea of giving thanks for all we have in our lives.
In last year’s newsletter, I focused primarily on this concept of gratitude and abundance - the two main themes of the festival. But this year I want to draw attention to the act of slowing down in a world that is spinning far too quickly for the human brain to comprehend.
I have been lucky enough to spend a lot of summer so far writing supine on my lawn, my cat never more than an arm’s width away. I have taken such joy in the small things: catching the glint of a strand of spider silk out the corner of my eye, listening to the gangs of swifts screaming across the sky, and drinking a cup of tea while it’s still warm!
This is highly unusual for me. I’ve spoken a lot on The Green Witch about my numerous projects (I published my second book of 2026 a couple of weeks ago! More on that below) and my crazily hectic year, despite desperately wanting to slow down and feel the earth beneath me. I’ve missed having time to grow green things. I’ve missed tuning into the seasons’ cycles and not letting them pass me by. But I’ve finally taken some time back to enhance my wellbeing and to focus on my big priorities in life, which I’ll be sharing more about with you over this summer on The Green Witch.
After months and months of intense astrology, mad busyness, and the most recent Mercury Retrograde (anyone else still recovering?), you too are absolutely entitled to enjoy the lushness of this summer’s bounty and sink into Lughnasadh’s long grass to live in slowness and peace.
In this Lughnasadh edition of The Green Witch, I’ll be sharing:
ways to celebrate this Pagan harvest festival
an exclusive Lughnasadh offer for readers of The Green Witch (you need to check this one out!)
all about my new book, A Guide to Plants For Little Witchlings
Your Summer Invisibility Charm to help you slow right down
I hope your summer is filled with blessing after blessing. For even more ways to celebrate the festival of Lughnasadh, listen to last year’s Lammas episode of The Divine Void here >
Jennifer x
How to celebrate Lughnasadh
The sun may have baked us into submission in the recent waves of heatwaves, but there’s still so much to raise our hands up to this summer.
I’ll be celebrating Lughnasadh by:
swotting up on the themes of this harvest festival. Gratitude is front and central in modern celebrations of Lughnasadh, but there is a lot of playfulness and community here too! The legend goes that the Sun god Lugh organised a lavish series of games to honour the life of his foster mother, the harvest goddess Tailtiu. The word “Lughnasadh” actually means “Lugh’s gathering”. Think about how you can invite in that sense of play and fun into your life - maybe even whip out the boardgames with friends to commemorate the festival!
channelling my inner bread-baker. Paul Hollywood, move over - Lammas (or “loaf mass”) is bread season! Now, I’m no habitual baker, but I have recently been researching ultra-processed food and how much gunk actually ends up in the daily bread we consume (I’d really recommend reading Ultra-Processed Women by Milli Hill). To combat this, I’m not going fancy with my bread-making this Lughnasadh, I’m going to begin making 4-ingredient artisan loaves, easy pittas, and homemade naans, and keep up the habit throughout the year!
learning the magick and symbolism of abundance. Take some time to notice and write down the symbols of these qualities within the natural world: meadowsweet, bay, lemon balm, wheat sheaves, sunflowers (and other golden plants), cattle and beautiful bees. Once you know them, you can invite them into your life and use them within your spellwork. You can also read my posts on “4 Lammas Plants for Success and Abundance” > and “Lemon balm: the ultimate heatwave pick-me-up” >
trying some Lughnasadh crafts. Speaking of bees… I love this bee abundance charm from Danu Forest’s book, The Magical Year: Using modelling clay, felt or the material of your choice, craft three little bees. Take a gold-coloured pouch and pop your bees inside one by one - as you do so, say: “Pretty bee, busy bee, please bring your magic to my home. Make my life here honey sweet and full of sunshine. Keep me safe and prosperous. Pretty bee, busy bee, I thank you and blessed be.” Secure the pouch and hang it somewhere sunny in your home, telling them about your life from time to time, and always being respectful.
speaking with the Goddess Rhiannon. Anyone who has read this newsletter for a while or listened to The Divine Void Podcast will know about my hyperfixation on the Goddess Brigid! She represents spring, healing and sacred fire, as well as the maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess. But this year, I’m determined to form a bond with the Welsh goddess Rhiannon - one of the great mother goddesses, a deity ruling over horses, the moon and the Otherworld. Within the modern pagan community, Rhiannon is honoured as a goddess of fertility, abundance and the cycles of nature, embodying the beauty and fullness of summer, pregnant with the world’s harvest. Connect with her by adding horse and motherhood iconography to your altar, or by performing guided meditations around fertility and the harvest.
slowing the heck down. As I’ve mentioned, this is something I’ve really struggled to get to grips with this year, despite writing about burnout and overwhelm in The Wheel and The Witch’s Survival Guide. Life has indeed got in the way! But in the build-up to Lughnasadh, I am counting my lucky stars that I: 1) have time to sit and just be in the garden amongst the honeysuckle and pumpkin flowers 2) have written six books in six years, so I have permission to take some time off now! And 3) have filled my front garden with lavender, so that I drift off every night to its scent and the humming of 5,000 bees. What blessings.
making a traditional corn dolly. These little straw figures were once crafted from the last sheaf of wheat to carry the spirit of the harvest through the winter. Also known as the “corn mother”, the dolly would then be ploughed into the first furrow of the new season for good luck and fertility. Time to get crafting!
lighting small flames on my altar. I don’t know about other UK-dwellers, but any mention of fire makes me feel a little jumpy right now. Especially after the recent events on the moors at Dovestones Reservoir, close to where I live. Lughnasadh is one of the four ancient fire festivals that were celebrated by our ancestors with bonfires and feasting. One of the ways we can honour this is by lighting candles on our altars and asking the flames to light our way through the year, while thanking the sun for its blessings. But safety first, please! No fires out in the countryside - just safe on your altar.
creating a Lughnasadh “fane”. I was really inspired by my Litha outdoor shrine back in June, and hope you were too! I want to replicate this for Lughnasadh, but this time in full sunshine. I’ve included wheat sheaves, fresh tomatoes from our conservatory/greenhouse, yellow and orange candles, and a mirror to catch and reflect the Sun’s abundant light. You might also like to try these Pagan summer crafts to take things to the next level!
For a closer look at the festival of Lughnasadh, pick up a copy of my book, The Wheel: A Witch’s Path Back to Healing Through Nature.
Sign up to The Green Witch for just £35🌻
As we approach the festival of gratitude, I want to say thank you to you - wonderful reader! For a limited time only, get a full annual membership to The Green Witch Substack for just £35 (usually £50) ❤️
Every weekend, you’ll receive seasonal living tips, green witch guides, and ways to connect with nature straight to your inbox, all while saving 30%!
Just some of what to expect at The Green Witch membership:
Redeem your offer below. But be quick - this exclusive offer ends at midnight on Wednesday 12th August 2026!
Happy publication month to A Guide to Plants for Little Witchlings!
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but my 6th book, A Guide to Plants for Little Witchlings, is OUT NOW!
A Guide to Plants for Little Witchlings shares 15 common plants from the garden that are essential for little witchlings-to-be! Aimed at ages 5-7, you’ll discover fascinating flower facts and fun folklore before learning to cast spells and make petal potions with this magic guidebook.
Read my full post on this beautiful book here. I hope it speaks to your inner child, and your inner witch!
Your Summer Invisibility Charm
Last year, I shared my Summer Prosperity Spell with you, but this year I’m changing tack!
I was inspired by Caitlin Gemmell’s recent post, “An Invisibility Spell”, which got me thinking about the importance of finding time for oneself, not always being contactable and fading off the radar in order to slow down and recuperate.
One might say that the ideal time to do this is through the colder months, when it is more ‘socially acceptable’ to hole yourself up with a book in a cosy window nook. But I think that we should also take some time at this high point of summer to sit, be and take stock of the joyfulness and contentment in our lives. And we can’t very well do that if we are being pulled in every which direction.
It’s time to go off grid and reflect! Here is Your Summer Invisibility Charm.
You’ll need:
a hagstone or a piece of jewellery you would like to charm
garden sage and a lighter
a small bowl of sea salt
2 pinches of dried mugwort
2 pinches of dried chicory root
For more information on creating charms and talismans, read my post here >
Cleanse the room you will be working in, yourself and your object of choice using your lit bundle of garden sage.
Lay your object on a clean surface or on your altar and create a circle of sea salt around it. Say, “With this salt, I cleanse and protect this charm.”
Inside the circle of salt, add a smaller, inner ring of chicory root and mugwort. Say, “Mugwort for mystery and the moon, chicory root for invisibility.”
Press your right palm to the object, visualising the intention of your charm clearly in your mind. Say, “This charm makes me invisible.” Say these words as many times as feels comfortable and visualise this intention flowing into the object.
Holding your right hand over the charm, say three times: “I am Air, I am unseen. I am Wind, I am unseen. I carry this charm that hides me quick - no one disturbs me; from the world I am hid.”
Activate your charm by having it about your person when you want to feel ‘invisible’. Enjoy!
I'll see you on the next turn of the Wheel: Mabon will be here on Wednesday 23rd September. Watch out for your newsletter a few days before. See you then!
Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate your ongoing support and feedback on my Substack. If you want to share some love or wish to support me, you can upgrade your newsletter subscription below ⬇️
Slowing down to simply be, is underrated. Thanks for the reminder! Blessed Lughnasadh!
I love your suggestion of working with Rhiannon. I typically work with Demeter at this time but you’ve inspired me.