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LUGHNASA, Gwy Awst

PostPosted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:15 pm
by Valerius Claudius Iohanes
Salvate, Omnes -- et Vobis Feliciter Fruimini Hodie Lugi Celebrationis Die.

I try in my somewhat confused way to keep August 1st as Lugh's Day, the Day of the Keltic god Lugus. The holiday survives in Christian and Modern Wales as the Gwy Awst, August Festival.

Lugus is well-enough known in the Roman world from, if nothing else, placenames in Gallia Comata - eg, Lugdunum (Lyon) as well as -

    Lugdunum Convenarum, now Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, France
    Lugdunum Clavatum, now Laon, France
    Lugdunum Batavorum, near Katwijk
and so on. He was (per my handy sources) equated with Mercurius in Gaul, and so became a 'Gallic Mercury'.
    Sacred sites [dedicated to Lugus were] High places (Mercurii Montes), including Montmartre, the Puy-de-Dôme and the Mont de Sène, [which] were dedicated to him. In Christian times he seems to have been assimilated into the archangel Michael, and many of the former Mercurii Montes became "St Michael's Mounts". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugus]
Although I followed the conventional wisdom and have always viewed Lugh as a Solar Deity (on the assumption that lug- has a common ancestry with lux/lucis), I find that this simple etymology is nowadays not accepted.

In any event, it is a bright season here in the Northern Hemisphere, and I wish you may all enjoy the Sun, and continue in good fortune and good health.

Sub luce Solis, Bene valete omnes!