In the Alps, the traditions observed around this commencement of the harvest time, particularly the Schnitterfest (the “cutters’ festival”) would be the local Circle of Abred within the wider Circle of Gwynvyd of all such festivities on the north-western part of the European continent. This is where we talk about Lughnasadh being a festival in honour of the beginning of the harvest time, a time to be aware of the gifts Mother Earth presents to us and to ask for a bountiful yield of crop. There, we can explore the basic meaning of the celebrations, void of any local manifestations. And then there is the widest Circle of Ceugnant, the realm of infinity. This is the realm of spirit, where the people celebrating Lughnasadh do so under the spirit of Lugh, no matter their specific customs. Meath equals the Circle of Abred, the epicentre, then all the traditional celebrations honouring Lugh in the other lands of modern Celtica would be the Circle of Gwynvyd. When this Assembly of Lugh in Telltown in Co. There, the actual “Assembly of Lugh” was celebrated as “A fair with gold, with silver, with games, with music of chariot, with adornment of body and soul by means of knowledge and eloquence”. The circle of Abred, or the realm of necessity, would be the old Irish customs of the festival of Lughnasadh, as they were conducted in Telltown in Co. For that purpose, I found it helpful to approach a festival – or anything, really – as though it has three circles around it similar to the circles of Abred, Gwynvyd, and Ceugnant of the Welsh traditions. Therefore, since there is no 1:1 comparison possible, I need to do what I could best describe as identifying the different layers of meaning each festival has. It’s not like there are no customs that are being observed in the Alps at that time of year, but they are certainly different to what is known about the Lughnasadh traditions in Ireland. With the current seasonal festival that is widely celebrated under the name of Lughnasadh, this method proves rather difficult. If there seems to be a commonality, often only found after stripping several of the many layers of spiritual and mundane development over the past 2,000 years from the tale or practice, am I sometimes able to draw conclusions on the possibility of a Celtic origin of a particular tradition.
Since there are no written sources telling us that such and such an Alpine tradition is of Celtic origin, often enough the only way to find out is to compare existing local customs with those of the British Isles. As many of you know, one of my major interests is finding traces of Celtic tradition and lore in the Alpine region, home to the Hallstatt Celts and their successors.
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