This document provides information about Paganism and the Festival of Lughnasadh. It discusses that Paganism encompasses diverse indigenous religious traditions and includes groups like Wiccans, Druids, and others. There are three main principles of Paganism in Ireland: reverence for nature, taking responsibility for one's own development, and recognizing both female and male divine aspects. The Festival of Lughnasadh was a Gaelic harvest festival held around July 31-August 1 to honor the god Lugh. It involved religious ceremonies, athletic competitions, feasting, and visits to holy wells, often taking place on hilltops. Some traditions of this festival have survived into modern times.

1. Paganism in general and in Ireland and in
particular, the Festival of Lugh.

2. Paganism
The term pagan is from the Latin paganus, revived
during the Renaissance.
Paganism is a group of indigenous and historical
religious traditions.
Paganism encompasses a diverse community with some groups
concentrating on specific traditions, practices or elements such as ecology,
witchcraft, Celtic traditions or certain gods.
Wiccans, Druids, Shamans, Sacred Ecologists, Odinists and Heathens all make
up parts of the Pagan community.

4. In a wider sense, Paganism has also been understood to include any non
Abrahamic, folk or ethnic religion. Modern ethnologists (social scientists who studies
the characteristics of different people and the differences and relationships between
them) often avoid referring to non-classical traditional and historical faiths as Pagan.
Contemporary or modern paganism (also known as neopaganism) is a group of new
religious movements claiming to be derived from the various historical pagan beliefs of
pre-modern Europe.
Contemporary Pagan religious movements are diverse, sharing no single set of beliefs;
nor do any claim to be absolutely authoritative. However, there is a great deal of
overlap amongst Pagan movements and there are a number of beliefs commonly
shared by many Pagans, including pluralism, pantheism, polytheism, and a general
belief that divinity is found in mind and nature.

5. Paganism in Ireland
There are 3 main principles in Paganism in Ireland:
- Love for and kinship with Nature. Reverence for the life force and its ever-
renewing cycles of life and death.
- A positive morality, in which the individual is responsible for the discovery and
development of their true nature in harmony with the outer world
and community.
This is often expressed as "Do what you will, as long as it harms none".
- Recognition of the Divine, which transcends gender,
acknowledging both the female and male aspect of Deity.

7. The Festival of Lugh
Lughnasa is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season that was historically
observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.
Originally it was held on 31 July – 1 August, or approximately halfway between the summer
solstice and autumn equinox.
Lughnasah is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals; along
with Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane.
It corresponds to other European harvest festivals, such as the Welsh Calan Awst and the
English Lammas.

8. Lughnasah is mentioned in some of
the earliest Irish literature and is believed to
have pagan origins. The festival itself is named
after the god Lugh. It involved great gatherings
that included religious ceremonies, ritual
athletic contests (most notably the Tailteann
Games), feasting, matchmaking and trading.
There were also visits to holy wells. Much of
this would have taken place on top of hills and
mountains.
Lughnasah customs persisted widely until the
20th century, with the event being variously
named 'Garland Sunday', 'Bilberry Sunday',
'Mountain Sunday' and 'Crom Dubh Sunday'.
The custom of climbing hills and mountains at
Lughnasah has survived in some areas,
although it has been re-cast as a Christian
pilgrimage. The best known is the 'Reek
Sunday' pilgrimage to the top of Croagh
Patrick on the last Sunday in July.
An altar
depicting a
three-faced god
identified as
Lugh
In Irish mythology, the Lughnasah festival is
said to have been begun by the god Lugh as a
funeral feast and athletic competition in
commemoration of his mother Tailtiu. She was
said to have died of exhaustion after clearing
the plains of Ireland for agriculture.

9. People climbing Croagh Patrick on "Reek Sunday". It is believed
that climbing hills and mountains was a big part of the festival
since ancient times.