The Turning of the Wheel: Lughnasadh & the Golden Heart of Late Summer
- Shannyn Rhodes
- Aug 1, 2025
- 17 min read
As the Wheel of the Year turns once more, we arrive at the sacred threshold of Lughnasadh the first of the three harvest festivals, celebrated on August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere. Known as Edrimios in the Celtic calendar, this season invites us into the glowing heart of summer, where golden grains bend in the sun and the land swells with abundance.
This is a time of gratitude, reflection, and grounded preparation. A time to honour the fruits of our labour literal and metaphorical and begin tending to what we will carry forward as the days slowly shorten.
A Season of Sheaves and Soul-Tending
Lughnasadh is symbolised by the Sheaf, representing both the culmination of effort and the sacredness of the harvest. We are gathering now not just crops, but lessons, insights, and soul seeds planted earlier in the year.
Rooted in the element of Earth, this sabbat grounds us in the tangible, the tactile, and the nourishing. It reminds us that our spiritual work must also live in the soil of our everyday lives.
The direction of the Southwest mirrors the energy of this midpoint. It is where light begins to wane but still holds the fire of the sun. The Southwest whispers of ripening rather than beginning, of action tempered with wisdom, and of the sacred pause between effort and rest.
Here is a deeper energetic breakdown of Lughnasadh, Leo Season, and the Perseids Meteor Shower, including how these energies affect the collective, which zodiac signs are most impacted, and how we can work with them for the most aligned and nourishing outcomes:
Lughnasadh (August 1st): Earth Element, Southwest Direction
Collective Energy:Lughnasadh marks a sacred moment of gathering, gratitude, and grounding. As the first of the harvest festivals, it invites us to reflect not only on the literal crops ripening in the fields, but also on the efforts, intentions, and soul work we’ve been tending since the year began. It’s a time to honour what has come full circle, to celebrate the fruits of our labour, and to pause in recognition of the beauty in completion. This season reminds us to give thanks for what has been cultivated, to root ourselves in grounded celebration, and to gently consider what still needs tending or releasing as the light begins to wane.
Most Affected Signs:
Earth Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Theme: Embodied Wisdom & Harvest Recognition
For Earth signs, Lughnasadh resonates deeply it speaks your language. As a sabbat rooted in the Earth element, this is your energetic homecoming. You are naturally attuned to cycles, seasons, and the slow magic of cultivation. This time of year, can bring a powerful sense of validation: the work you’ve done (often quietly, and behind the scenes) begins to show tangible results. Whether it’s professional progress, personal healing, or practical changes in your daily life, the sacred energy of completion is strong for you now.
The Southwest direction invites Earth signs to integrate effort with reflection. It’s not just about achieving goals it’s about acknowledging them. You may be encouraged to pause and truly honour how far you’ve come. Lughnasadh urges you to balance structure with softness, productivity with presence. You’re being asked to receive the fruits of your labour, not just plant the next seed.
How to work with it:
Create a harvest list: write down everything you’ve grown emotionally, spiritually, financially, or creatively.
Engage in tactile rituals like baking, crafting, or gardening to reconnect with your natural rhythm.
Avoid rushing into the “next thing.” Let yourself dwell in the richness of now.
Reflect on what stability really means to you and what outdated versions of it you're ready to release.
Water Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
Theme: Emotional Ripening & Sacred Surrender
Water signs will feel the emotional undercurrent of Lughnasadh as a moment of sacred release and soulful gratitude. While Earth signs experience this sabbat through what’s tangible, Water signs move through it in the realm of feeling. This is a time when emotional work may come to a soft conclusion or realization. You may find yourself reflecting on the stories you’ve outgrown, the boundaries you’ve lovingly rebuilt, and the quiet healing that has occurred over the year.
The Southwest direction holds a subtle message for Water signs: it’s time to let your emotions settle and begin to integrate. As summer begins to wane, you are being asked to lovingly review what no longer needs to be carried forward. The Earth element offers grounding for your often-fluid energy it anchors your intuition and provides a container for your sensitivity.
How to work with it:
Create a ritual of emotional release: write a letter to your past self or let your tears fall into water as a sacred act of release.
Practice gratitude through memory: reflect on key moments that shaped your emotional resilience this year.
Spend time in water (baths, rivers, oceans) or under the stars to deepen your connection to the cosmic and elemental realms.
Trust the quiet nudges from your soul they are harvests in their own right.
How to Work With It:
Reflect on your harvest: What’s come full circle this year?
Engage your senses: Cook something seasonal, walk barefoot, plant something symbolic.
Begin letting go gently: Clear physical space or revisit intentions that no longer feel aligned.
Create a gratitude practice or altar that honours both effort and grace.
The Sun in Leo: Fire Illuminating Earth
This year, Lughnasadh arrives under the astrological fire sign of Leo, the Lion-hearted sovereign of the zodiac. Leo infuses this earthy sabbat with creative courage, generosity, and a radiant invitation to celebrate life. Where Earth reminds us to be humble, Leo encourages us to shine. Together, they create a season of bold expression rooted in integrity and service.
You may feel called to step into leadership in your community or personal life, to claim your truth more boldly, or to revel in something you’ve created. Let your heart speak and let the sun nourish your roots.
Collective Energy:Leo is the sovereign of the heart the sign of creative fire, soulful expression, and heart-led leadership. While Lughnasadh offers grounded stillness and reflection, Leo brings radiant momentum, encouraging us to step into bold, authentic action. Together, they form a powerful synergy: an invitation to shine our truth while staying rooted in purpose and integrity. This energy calls us to express ourselves not from ego, but from meaning to celebrate what we’ve created, to lead from love, and to let joy, generosity, and courageous truth-telling light the way forward.
Most Affected Signs:
Here’s how Leo Season (July 22 – August 22) will most impact Leo, Aries, Sagittarius, Aquarius, Taurus, and Scorpio
Leo
Theme: Personal Radiance & Purposeful Expression
This is your solar return your personal New Year. The spotlight is on you, but this year it’s not just about attention; it’s about alignment. Leo season asks you to reconnect with your heart’s truth and to express it boldly, creatively, and without apology. You’re being called to lead from authenticity, not performance. There’s a glow around you right now use it to clarify your next chapter.
How to work with it:
Reflect on where you've grown and what you want to magnetize into your next solar cycle.
Engage in creative rituals or projects that celebrate your essence.
Let yourself be seen but only in ways that feel true to your soul, not your social mask.
Aries
Theme: Bold Creativity & Playful Reignition
Leo season reawakens your fire. After months of grit and responsibility, there’s a call now to play, to create, and to let your spirit move with freedom. This energy stokes your courage and could bring fresh inspiration, romantic sparks, or even a desire to lead with your heart. It’s not about conquering it’s about enjoying the journey.
How to work with it:
Take up a hobby or creative outlet purely for joy, not achievement.
Reconnect with your inner child through spontaneous, fearless fun.
Speak your truth with warmth and directness it will land softer, but stronger.
Sagittarius
Theme: Expansive Vision & Soulful Storytelling
Leo season activates your visionary nature, inviting you to share your truth and wisdom in ways that inspire others. You’re being called to step out as a teacher, guide, or muse but in your own firebrand, freedom-loving way. This season could bring a fresh wave of confidence, especially around travel, publishing, or spiritual work.
How to work with it:
Share your journey write, speak, or teach what you’ve lived and learned.
Reignite your spiritual practice or long-term vision.
Say yes to an adventure or creative risk you’ve been hesitating on.
Aquarius
Theme: Relationship Mirror & Heart-Centred Opposition
Leo season sits opposite your sign on the zodiac wheel, making this a potent time for reflection and recalibration in relationships. Others may hold up a mirror now showing you where you’ve outgrown old dynamics or where your individuality meets shared purpose. The call is to bring warmth and heart back into areas where detachment has become a shield.
How to work with it:
Reconnect to your “why” in your partnerships romantic, platonic, or collaborative.
Practice generosity and heartfelt communication.
Let go of coolness in favour of authenticity even if it feels vulnerable.
Taurus
Theme: Emotional Courage & Creative Discomfort
Leo season squares your Sun, offering a bit of friction but also a powerful growth edge. You may feel pushed out of your comfort zone, especially around expressing feelings, taking creative risks, or being seen in new ways. This is a time to stretch especially where your heart wants to speak, but fear holds you back.
How to work with it:
Gently lean into vulnerability speak, create, or show up even if it’s messy.
Trust that discomfort doesn’t mean danger it often means growth.
Reconnect to pleasure, passion, and play as a path to wholeness.
Scorpio
Theme: Power in Visibility & Heart-Led Transformation
Leo season brings a square to your Sun too, highlighting themes of visibility, leadership, and emotional transparency. You may feel tension between staying private and being asked to shine. It’s a challenge worth leaning into. You don’t have to reveal everything but sharing a more authentic piece of yourself can be liberating and empowering.
How to work with it:
Identify where fear of exposure is holding you back.
Let your passion be seen especially in your creative or professional life.
Transform your relationship with vulnerability: not as weakness, but as soul power.
The Celestial Blessing: Children of Perseus
Adding a shimmering layer of magic to this sabbat, we are also in the thick of the Perseids Meteor Shower, often called the "Children of Perseus." These meteors grace the night skies from mid-July through August, peaking around August 11–13, but their presence is felt well before.
Each streak of light is like a cosmic prayer: a flash of hope, a reminder of the vastness above and the miracle of being here, now. The Perseids born of ancient star dust echo the themes of Lughnasadh beautifully: bursts of insight, bright moments of gratitude, and the recognition that even in endings (harvest), there is wonder and beauty.
Collective Energy:The Perseids Meteor Shower adds a shimmering layer of cosmic wonder to the grounded reflection of Lughnasadh and the bold brilliance of Leo season. As streaks of stardust dance across the sky, they remind us of the magic found in fleeting moments the beauty of impermanence and the soul’s quiet connection to something vast and eternal. This celestial event invites us to tune into cosmic guidance, listen for soul whispers, and dream beyond our perceived limitations. It’s a time for star-seeded insight, synchronicity, and the kind of magic that appears when we pause to look up and believe in what we cannot yet fully see.
Here’s a breakdown of how Air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) and Mutable signs (Virgo, Pisces, Sagittarius, Gemini) may be especially impacted by the Perseids Meteor Shower, which graces our skies from July 17 to August 24, peaking around August 11–13.
As one of the most magical celestial events of the year, the Perseids offer more than a stunning visual display they’re a cosmic invitation to awaken insight, make soul-led wishes, and connect to the dreamscape between heaven and earth. This meteor shower speaks in sparks, downloads, and synchronicities. It's about fleeting brilliance that leaves a lasting impression, much like a soul whisper that changes your direction forever.
Air Signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Theme: Inspired Insight & Mental Awakening
For the Air signs, who already live in the realm of thought, ideas, and higher perspective, the Perseids bring an energetic surge to the mental plane. Expect heightened intuition, flashes of genius, and an increase in meaningful coincidences. This is a time of mental expansion and clarity, often arriving in poetic or symbolic forms through dreams, lyrics, conversations, or sudden realizations.
Gemini, as both an Air and Mutable sign, may feel this doubly: electric downloads could shift your direction or reshape how you communicate your truth.Libra might receive clarity around relationships or decisions that have long sat in the “maybe” pile what once felt foggy may suddenly click.Aquarius, always future-oriented, could be struck with bold new visions for personal or collective evolution. Watch for brilliant ideas that feel ahead of their time.
How to work with it:
Keep a dream or idea journal close some thoughts won’t stay long.
Create space for stillness; insight often arrives in quiet moments.
Say yes to spontaneous conversations they may hold unexpected guidance.
Meditate under the stars with an open mind and a question in your heart.
Mutable Signs: Virgo, Pisces, Sagittarius, Gemini
Theme: Divine Disruption & Soul Redirection
Mutable signs are inherently adaptable, often dancing between endings and beginnings. The Perseids stir this fluidity with sudden insight, intuitive nudges, and gentle (or not-so-gentle) pushes toward change. You may feel called to release outdated beliefs or reimagine your path forward. These meteors are activators they shine light on what’s no longer aligned, while opening portals to soul-aligned possibilities.
Virgo may be called to surrender the need for control and lean into the unknown clarity won’t come through logic alone, but through surrender and subtle signs.Pisces may receive mystical insight through dreams, art, or spiritual connection; this is a peak time for intuitive downloads and emotional release.Sagittarius may feel a strong pull to realign their broader life vision travel, study, or purpose and could receive cosmic cues about a path they hadn’t considered.Gemini, again, may feel caught between dual directions, but the Perseids could help you integrate fragmented desires into a single, soul-truth trajectory.
How to work with it:
Watch what leaves suddenly or gently fades it may be divine timing.
Journal around your next chapter, especially in the days just before and after the peak.
Trust your instincts, even if they contradict your original plans.
Offer a wish to the stars not from lack, but from love and alignment.
Integration: Working with the Perseids as a Portal
For both Air and Mutable signs, this meteor shower is not just a celestial event it's a cosmic catalyst. It can stir restlessness but also deliver downloads that change everything. The key is not to grasp at every flash of inspiration but to pause, receive, and reflect. Let the sparks settle like stardust before making your next big move.
How we can work with the three interwoven energies of this powerful seasonal moment: Lughnasadh, Leo Season, and the Perseids Meteor Shower. These energies form a sacred triad of Earth, Fire, and Air each offering a unique but deeply connected invitation for the soul.
1. Ground, Shine and Dream
This moment on the Wheel of the Year is not about choosing one energy over another it’s about weaving them into a cohesive, soulful rhythm. Lughnasadh offers the grounding: it helps you pause, reflect, and root into what’s real and ripened. Leo season invites you to shine: to take what’s bloomed and share it with pride, authenticity, and courage. And the Perseids Meteor Shower reminds you to keep dreaming to look beyond what’s visible and allow cosmic inspiration to guide the next evolution of your journey. Together, they teach us that life is not linear. We must root down, rise up, and reach out all at once.
Practice: Create a three-part ritual.
Ground: Journal on what you’ve harvested (physically, emotionally, spiritually).
Shine: Express something you’re proud of share a post, art, or story.
Dream: Stargaze and whisper a wish or intention to the Perseids. Let it lift into the unknown.
2. Blend Elemental Energies
This season brings a rare and potent elemental harmony Earth (Lughnasadh), Fire (Leo), and Air (Perseids). These elements form a trinity of manifestation: Earth grounds our actions, Fire fuels our passion, and Air carries our vision. Working with these energies in unison allows you to align the body, heart, and spirit. Instead of being pulled in many directions, you’re invited to anchor deeply, express boldly, and trust the unseen.
Practice: Design a simple altar or space that reflects all three.
Earth: Include soil, grains, bread, or a stone.
Fire: Light a candle, place a sun symbol, or include something golden.
Air: Use feathers, star symbols, or crystals like clear quartz or celestite.
Sit with this space daily, letting each element speak to a part of you: your physical world (Earth), your creative energy (Fire), and your dreams and intuition (Air).
3. Harvest Your Inner Truth
This season isn’t just about what you’ve achieved it’s about who you’ve become. The real harvest isn’t in the visible outcomes but in the soul-deep shifts: the resilience gained, the clarity earned, the wounds that became wisdom. Lughnasadh calls you to reflect, Leo to express, and the Perseids to dream forward from a place of integrated truth. It’s a moment to honour not only the fruits of your effort, but also the transformation that took place beneath the surface.
Reflection:Ask yourself What truths have emerged in me this year that I can now honour openly?Then ask How do I want to carry this truth forward? Boldly, joyfully, and with grace?Let this truth become the offering you make to the fire, to the earth, and to the stars.
A Moment to Reflect and Honour
This is a sacred invitation to pause. To kneel on the earth, touch the soil, and whisper thank you. You might bake bread, weave wheat into crafts, or hold a gratitude ceremony under the stars. You might gather with friends around a fire and share stories of what has ripened in your life.
And as the meteors dance above and the Leo sun warms your skin, you may find a quiet truth blooming in your heart: you are both harvest and harvester, both light and rootedness.
Let’s contemplate these together:
How can I honour the slow, sacred work I’ve done behind the scenes?
Why this matters now:In a world obsessed with hustle, speed, and visible achievement, this prompt reminds us that much of our most meaningful growth happens quietly. Like seeds deep in the soil, there’s wisdom in the unseen. As we honour Lughnasadh, a sabbat that marks the first harvest, it’s vital to acknowledge not just what we’ve "achieved" outwardly, but what we’ve nurtured internally resilience, emotional healing, boundary-setting, self-trust.
How to work with it:Take time this week to write down what you’ve been slowly cultivating: mindset shifts, emotional healing, consistent habits, quiet creativity. Light a candle, read them aloud to yourself, and say: "Even if no one else sees this, I honour what I’ve grown." This practice nourishes self-worth from the roots up and anchors us in sacred self-recognition.
Where am I being called to lead not for applause, but from love?
Why this matters now:Leo season asks us to shine, but not from ego from heart-led authenticity. The world doesn’t need more performers; it needs soulful leaders who are lit from within. As we collectively move through times of uncertainty and change, each of us has a light to carry whether in our families, friendships, art, activism, or everyday presence.
How to work with it:Reflect on where your passion naturally wants to flow. Is there a conversation you’ve been avoiding? A group you feel pulled to support? A truth you’re ready to embody?Leadership doesn’t have to be loud it can be a whisper that uplifts others. Write down one action you can take this week to lead from love, and then do it.
What part of me is both stardust and soil and how can I live from that place more fully?
Why this matters now:This is a powerful moment to remember that we are both cosmic and human celestial souls navigating very real, earthly experiences. The Perseids streaking across our skies are like divine sparks of remembrance: we are part of something vast and sacred. But we’re also here to ground that magic into our lives through our choices, actions, and relationships.
How to work with it:Journal on where your soul dreams meet your daily life. Maybe you love mystical things but forget to integrate them into your routine. Or maybe you’ve been very focused on survival and need to reconnect to magic.Ask: Where can I let more wonder in? And how can I bring that into the way I care for my body, space, and others?This is how we live as whole beings rooted and radiant, sacred, and human.
Here’s a Lughnasadh Ritual for the Urban Light Warriors that honours Earth (Lughnasadh), Fire (Leo Season), and Air (Perseids) in a sacred threefold alignment. It weaves grounding, expression, and dreaming into one intentional ritual designed especially for city souls and small spaces.
Lughnasadh Ritual for the Urban Light Warriors: Sacred Moments in Small Spaces
You don’t need a field of wheat or a roaring bonfire to honour this sabbat. Magic lives in intention, and that can rise from high-rise balconies, city rooftops, or bedside tables. This ritual brings together the grounded gratitude of Lughnasadh, the radiant courage of Leo season, and the dream-weaving brilliance of the Perseids Meteor Shower. It is a ritual of integration of body, heart, and spirit.
Mini Altar Setup: Earth, Fire & Air in Harmony
Create a simple altar with items that represent all three energies:
Sheaf or grain symbol (Lughnasadh): A small bundle of dried wheat, oats, or grass tied with golden ribbon.
Element of Earth: A stone, potted herb, small bowl of soil, or something that connects you to your roots.
Sun & Fire representation (Leo): A gold candle, fairy lights, or a photo/drawing of the sun. Add a heart symbol or something bold that makes you feel powerful.
Seasonal food: A piece of bread, cornbread, fruit, or anything handmade.
Meteor connection (Perseids): A crystal like clear quartz or labradorite, or even a star charm or sticker something that reminds you of cosmic light.
Optional: A feather or incense for Air, to help invoke dreamlike movement and star-aligned insight.
Ritual Steps: Rooted, Radiant, and Reaching
1. Ground and Centre
Sit comfortably. Place one hand on your heart and one on your belly. Breathe deeply three times. With each breath, feel yourself anchoring into the Earth while opening your heart to the sky.
2. Light the Fire (Leo energy)
Light your candle or activate your sun symbol. As you do, say: “I honour the fire within me radiant, courageous, and true.”
3. Honour the Harvest (Lughnasadh)
Hold the grain or Earth item. Speak aloud or silently: “I honour the harvest what I’ve grown, what I’ve learned, what I now carry within.”Let yourself reflect on your inner and outer accomplishments, big or small. Feel their weight in your hands.
4. Harvest Your Truth
Write down three things you’re grateful for (physical, emotional, spiritual).
One truth about yourself that has emerged this year.
One thing you’re ready to release (an outdated belief, habit, or burden).
Tear the note and burn it safely, or discard it with mindfulness, saying: “With gratitude and grace, I make space for what’s next.”
5. Wish Upon the Perseids (Meteor Magic)
Sit quietly. Gaze at the stars if visible or simply close your eyes and imagine them.Hold your star crystal or token. Whisper a wish or intention into the night, speaking to the dream that’s ready to bloom: “I trust the unseen. I dream boldly. I reach for the stars with rooted feet.”
6. Close with Stillness
Place your hands back on your heart and belly. Breathe in the magic you’ve created. Let yourself feel grounded, luminous, and guided. Your ritual is complete.
You’ve just called in the wisdom of the Earth, the courage of Fire, and the vision of the Stars a sacred trinity, wrapped in your own light.
Closing Thoughts:
As the Wheel turns and we stand in the golden heart of late summer, Lughnasadh invites us to pause not in retreat, but in reverence. We are not only harvesting what has grown in our gardens and goals, but what has deepened within our hearts and spirits. This season offers us a sacred triad: Earth to ground us in gratitude, Fire to ignite authentic expression, and Air to lift our dreams into the vast unknown. Whether you’re an Earth sign honouring slow and steady growth, a Fire sign burning to create and lead, or an Air or Mutable soul receiving whispers of change and inspiration, this moment calls each of us home to what’s true, what’s ripened, and what’s ready to rise. Under the Leo Sun and the shimmer of the Perseids, may we remember that we are both harvest and harvester, both rooted and radiant, both stardust and soil. And from that knowing, may we step into the next chapter not with pressure, but with purpose lit from within, guided by the stars, and deeply connected to the sacred rhythm of becoming.
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