Alternate Names
Lammas, Lunasa, Celtic "Grain Festival" 

Further Details
The autumn season contains three harvests, and Lughnasadh is the first of these, the time when the first corn harvest is cut. Lughnasadh is named after Lugh (pronounced "loo"), a Celtic deity of light and wisdom. At Lughnasadh, bread from the first harvest was eaten in thanks, and this tradition was continued in the Christian church's Lammas ("loaf-mass") service, where the first loaf would be blessed at mass. 

In terms of the Goddess cycle, Lughnasadh is sometimes considered as the time of transformation of the Goddess into her aspect as pregnant Earth Mother. The God is getting weaker as the days grow shorter, but his rebirth is assured as he is also present as the Goddess's unborn child. Though the God is often thought of as dying at Samhain, there is a sacrificial aspect to Lughnasadh, with the Corn King being cut down to be transformed into the life-giving fruits of the harvest and resurrected as the new crop the following year. Deities and symbols associated with agriculture and harvest are all appropriate for Lughnasadh, and a symbolic eating of bread is often an important part of celebrations at this time of year. 

Lughnasadh is a time to take stock and be thankful for what we have and what we have achieved. It is a time for sharing and appreciation, a time to consider our situation and learn the lessons of the ways in which we have reaped what we have sown, for good or for ill. It is also an auspicious time for deciding how to get the most from ongoing situations or projects, and how to bring more negative influences to an end. 

Source: http://www.byzant.com

Tools for the Ritual:

Now do I give thanks for an abundant harvest
The seed which was planted in the spring has brought life.

Place dish on or before altar.

Dance around the circle in celebration, playing instruments and singing.

Hold a loaf of bread aloft. Draw down the goddess energy, invoking:

O mighty mother of us all, bringer of all fruitfulness,
Give us fruit and grain, flocks and herds, and children to the tribe,
That we may be mighty.
By the rose of Thy love, do Thou descend
Upon the body of Thy servant and Priestess here (if appropriate).

Continue to dance, all the while holding the loaf as a sacred object.

Holding the loaf in both hands say:

Thus do I strengthen my Lord
His energy resides in this bread
A record of all life that ever was
And all that is yet to come
I eat of this bread,
That my Lord my live on,
And the wheel may turn.

Take some of the bread to eat and say:

Light does not die, it merely changes to another form.

Source (Adapted): http://www.tryskelion.com

Lammas Bounty Spell

Lughnasadh; it is a celebration of plenty and optimism, and of nature’s infinite bounty. It is the time of the first harvests, and it marks midsummer’s joyous and fanciful energy. This spirit is celebrated, too, in Shakespeare’s A Mid-Summer’s Night Dream. To tap into this energy, gather a small bundle of long grass or reeds to braid, and light a white candle. Braid the grass as you speak this verse:

Fairies prancing in the meadow,
Spirits in the corn;
Green Man is flourishing everywhere
On this Midsummer morn.
Grains begin to ripen,
All things bear fruit.
Summer glistens with
possibility,
Blossoms take root.
Fairies whisper secrets,
Powerful blessings to see.
Cycles move and all around,
they share their gifts with me.
Air to fire,
Fire to water,
Water to earth,
Earth to air.
Elements feed spirit,
And the circle glows.
At Lammas, day and night,
We witness Nature’s awesome might.
Growing full
And blessing all,
’Tis Earth’s celebration Before the chill of fall.
Now braiding this grass,
I mark this day
Protect my hearth,
With the abundance of grain.
The blessings of the Goddess come again;
Place the braid above my door.
Hunger be banished now and then.
Blessings be drawn to this place,
Summer’s energy fill this space.
Air, fire, water, earth unite,
And bless us all this day.