Lugh – Serendipities

Lugh Samildánach, God with Many Talents,
One of your devotees has ended [his/her/their] earthly cycle.
Borrow again that swift-sailing boat, the coracle Wave-Sweeper,
From your foster-father Manannán Mac Lir.

Bear [name] away in the boat, over the sea to the West,
Where [he/she/they] might rest a while.
Look over [him/her/them], Lugh Lámfada, Warrior of the Long Arm,
And see that no harm comes to [him/her/them] on [his/her/their] journey.

Take our blessings and love with you,
Across the sea in that swift boat,
To sustain [him/her/them] until [he is / she is / they are] wrapped in the loving arms
Of [his/her/their] Ancestors and Beloved Dead.

This we would ask of you, Lugh, foster-son of Tailtiu,
In whose honor you dedicated the funeral games of Lughnasadh.
We honor [name] now as you honored her,
And we celebrate [his/her/their] memory.
by me, Alexandra Nic Bhe Chuille, 2021

I wrote this prayer for the funeral of a friend-of-a-friend who was a devotee of Lugh. I spoke to Lugh as I wrote it, and then changed words and phrases until we were both satisfied. There aren’t a lot of funerary prayers available online for either Irish Polytheists specifically, or for Pagans generally, and I thought I would share this one for Lughnasadh. Please feel free to use it, with proper attribution.ibution.

Lughnasadh season is busy in our house because it also usually coincides with the start of the Kemetic Epagomenal Days, and this year it also coincided with my return to Priestessing for the Morrigan.

Altar for the Fox and Fungi Lughnasadh celebration

This year, our main ritual was celebrated with the Fox and Fungi group at our local UU Church, which I co-led with another group organizer. We did a druidic style ritual based on a liturgical outline I’ve devised for the group, which sort of splits the difference between Wiccan ritual structure, UU service structure, and the ADF Core Order of Ritual that I became accustomed to when I was previously a member of an ADF Druid Grove. (Yes, those work together better than you might think!) We called upon Lugh and Tailtiu as the deities of the occasion, and a friend and very good storyteller regaled us all with her version of Tailtiu’s story. Our main working was done with leaves placed in baskets. We each had two leaves. On one, we wrote something we were good at or something we’d accomplished that we were proud of. On the other, something we hoped to learn to do, or something we hoped to achieve. As we listened to musical accompaniment, we each came up to the altar to put our leaves each into the appropriate basket. Later, the leaves were taken outside to our ritual space.

It was nice to be with our community, but it did mean that our home observance went largely undone – I wrote a prayer and Scott poured Lugh and Tailtiu each out a shot of whisky, but we didn’t do a large family dinner. I’ve copied the prayer below, for those interested.

Lughnasadh has arrived,
And the days begin to grow shorter
Fruit is ripening on branch and vine
And grains are golden in the fields

Summer heat still hangs in the air
But we have begin the harvest
We are standing on the cusp of autumn
And soon the nights will be chill

On this day we honor Lugh and Tailtiu
His foster mother, who cleared the land
So that the people might plant grain
She gave her life for her people’s needs

Come to us now, and join in our celebration!
We offer you food, drink, and merriment!
We ask in return for your blessings:
Help us to bring in the first fruits of our labors

Lugh and Tailtiu, Hail and Welcome!
lughnasadh Prayer, by Aleja Nic Bhe Chuille

Tag: Lugh

A Funerary Prayer to Lugh

Lughnasadh – A Belated Summary