The sultry month of August is the perfect time to celebrate a sun god and the harvest and that's what the ancient Celts did each year around August 1st. Sunshine nurtures the oats, barely, and wheat to ripen. Then it’s reaped, prepared, and baked as fresh bread. In the ancient Celtic belief system, Lugh (Lleu in Welsh) transmitted his power of the sun into the grain, and with the harvesting of the grain, he was sacrificed.
The ancient Celts were self-sustainable and fully green. They also loved tattoos, crazy dancing, loud music, and freedom. And believed in treating women equally. They were a lot like us.
Lleu is with us today to tell us about Lughnassa and the book he is featured in, The Lynx and the Druidess.
Lleu since you are the hero of a romance book, let me ask you what has been your best or worst date?
“Well, we ancient gods don’t really date in the way you modern mortals do. But my worst relationship with a woman was with my wife Blodeuwedd. It all began with a tinged (that’s kind of like a curse or a rule) that my mother the goddess Arianrhod put on me which prohibited me from having a wife. So, gods Math and Gwydion conjured a wife from me out of flowers and named her goddess Blodeuwedd. I thought the marriage was going well until she and her human lover tried to kill me. I survived. And god Gwydion, my uncle, turned Blodeuwedd into an owl to punish her. Now, the best relationship I’ve ever had with a woman was with Wyndolen.”
She’s the heroine of your story, The Lynx and the Druidess, right?
“Yes,”
And how did you meet?
“The first time I saw her, I scried her by peering into the pond of the wise salmon in the Otherworld. Fire coursed through me as I watched this dark-haired enchantress. swirl in a rhythmic dance, winnowing the harvest by holding her wicker basket high as husks and kernels leaped up from the bottom of it and the wispy chaff caught by the breeze floated above her.”
She sounds gorgeous and graceful. Now, I ask many people this next question, which is if you could be an animal which one would you be? But, in your case, you actually have transformed to other animals and the Lynx is the creature associated with you the most? Why do you like shapeshifting into a lynx?
“There are so many things I love about the majestic lynx. One thing I admire the most is that they are mighty hunters. I love to hunt but I can’t compare to the skills of a lynx when in my human form. Even in deep snow they can maneuver their environment well and capture their prey. And in the dense forest, they are as stealthy as shadows and use the element of surprise. Also, many Celts call them Llewyn, naming them after me.”
And, you also have a huge Celtic festival named after you? Tell us about that.
“Lughnasa, pronounced LOO-nuss-uh, takes place August 1 to celebrate the first Harvest and to honor me, god Lleu. Food is more abundant at this festival than any other, due to the harvest, so there is a great feast. It is often a time when many couples get married. One Lughnasa tradition is to pick ripe bilberries and string them into a bracelet for your lover. The British Celts would also fashion a wheel of the year, set it aflame, and the druid, using an iron rod, would roll it down a hill, chanting something like God of the sun, the wheel has turned, the yearly end of your reign has come. The sun begins its journey, winter nears. The seasons turn, sun and earth, life to death. Lughnasa, Lughnasa. But one of the biggest events of the festival was the huge summer bonfire that brought it to a close each year.
And for all the modern-day women reading this, I wanted to pass on that fruit picking is a wonderful family activity to celebrate Lughnasa. There is a lot of bilberry and apple picking in The Lynx and the Druidess."
Here is a favorite recipe of mine for a yummy August or Lughnasa treat –
Apple Crisp
Peel and chop or thinly slice 8 apples of your choice (Granny Smiths are recommended)
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Rub butter or use non-stick cooking spray on an 8” by 8” baking dish
Stir apples, add 3/4 tsp of cinnamon,a Tbsp granulated sugar, and 1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice together in a bowl and pour into the baking dish.
For the topping, dice 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter into small cubes. In another bowl whisk the butter cubes, with 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats, 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Cut the butter into the mix until it resembles pea-size crumbs.
Spread this over the apple mixture in the baking dish, patting softly to even it out.
Let it bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown.
Top each serving with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and caramel sauce.
More of The Lynx and the Druidess
The Druidry and the Beast Series
Book Five
by Cornelia Amiri
Genre: Romantasy
Loving a god has its advantages
Lleu, the radiant sun god, crosses between worlds to the Silures village for the fierce and stunning druidess, Wendolyn —a woman worth battling for. He longs to celebrate Lughnasa, the festival that honors him, with her.
Wendolyn is captivated by the striking stranger the moment he wanders into her village. Furthermore, she wants him with a fervor, burning her from within. However, he’s hiding his true identity. When he vows to save her tribe from the Romans marching toward them, everyone, including her dead father in a dream, says he is a coward who has run off.
Lleu is determined to win the love of druidess Wendolyn even if it means fighting the Roman army single-handedly—by shapeshifting into his lynx form.
Will her tribe survive the Romans? And, can Wendolyn and Lleu’s relationship survive her tribe’s mistrust of him?
Excerpt:
With her heart hammering, Wyndolen stared with wonder at Lleu’s luscious nude body. She only glanced away long enough to pull a white robe, speckled with gold, out of the chest in the corner. She tugged it on, then fastened a plaid cloak over it with a round silver broach and latched her gaze onto Lleu again while he slipped his clothes back on.
They left the roundhouse and walked hand in hand to Cynfor’s home.
She called out to the woodmaker, “It is time.”
Cynfor stepped out, clutching an iron rod and the wheel of the year coated with gooey tar. As the three walked together to the center of the village, men, women, and children gathered around the druidess, muttering, “Lleu,” and “coward.”
Scanning the angry faces in the crowd, Wyndolen sighed. If only they knew the truth about him. But she couldn’t blame them, she was as guilty as they were. She hadn’t recognized he was a god, even after he’d told her. No, he had to show her his magic spear and reveal his dazzling aura. Now the others needed to learn the truth. Tonight, at his festival, she would announce who he really was. But first she had to prepare her tribesmen for the news, to lessen their shock.
She held her palm upward toward the crowd and cleared her throat. “Hear me, I have a surprise for all of you. The presence of the god Lleu is here. You do not see him as he is in the guise of one of us. So, take care of how you treat each other, lest you offend the deity.”
Their expressions shifted from anger to shame as they were now all on their best behavior.
Taking graceful steps, she led all her tribesmen, chief, and Lleu to a cliff. Their chief proudly carried a blazing firebrand, and Cynfor held the sacred wheel with reverent hands. Everyone grew quiet and gazed down the mountain slope.
Wyndolen announced, “We have gathered this Lughnasa to observe the Wheel of the Year as it turns.” She raised her arms to the sky and smiled at Lleu as she chanted, “The sun burns, yet winter nears. The season turns. Summer comes to an end. Sun and earth, life to death the wheel turns, Lughnasa, Lughnasa.”
She took the torque from Corio, handed it to Lleu, and he lit the wheel of year aflame. Cynfor handed Wyndolen the iron rod. Then, the sun god, Lleu, ran beside her, on the other side of the flaming wheel, as she used the rod to roll it down that part of the mountain slope.
She chanted, “God of the sun, the wheel has turned, the yearly end of your reign has come.”
Smoke rose, as flames ate the wood. The wheel reached its end at the foot of the slope and crumbled into ash and burning fragments. The crowd stopped in their tracks and circled the symbol of the dying Lleu.
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