Lammas Altar 2012

Here are some photos of my Lammastide altar, with explanations:

Lughnasa/Lughnasadh Altar and Dinner Spread 2012

This is my Lammas Altar from my party earlier in the week: Appropriately colored candles, offerings for the spirits and I have representations of the harvest, of the warrior and of the craftsman (though Big Daddy took this picture BEFORE we ceremoniously placed them on the table).

The candle is almost out after the party- you can
see the offering in the background. Some corn
meal and bread and a little cheese was
paired with a nice frothy beer.

 (The offerings are NOT for ingestion- they were subsequently buried in the backyard- NEVER NEVER NEVER eat spirit food.)

Big Daddy and I's ritual:

I cleaned the room and smudged with sage, which Big Daddy found very smelly. At sunset, on the nose, I lit the candles. I place the breads and flowers on the table and then the bounty of summer as well as the bounty of our local deli. Then I filled a pretty container of mine with some grain and took my athame (fancy ceremonial knife) and presented it to Big Daddy.

Some of the flowers I purchased
for Lammas.

This time of year the focus is on the masculine energy taking the helm, so we both felt it was important that he be the lead in our ceremony. He took the athame and focused on the warrior aspects and the craftsman (Big Daddy actually IS a craftsman who works with his hands everyday.) Then after he placed it on the altar/dinner table, I came forward accomplishing the same task but with the offering of grain, or in my case, corn meal. I thought about how that grain could tip the balance between life and death. How fortunate we were that, for us, we would survive the winter with what we had. That this year the suffering would not come from hunger and that I was grateful to all the people who had worked to ensure that we would live. I thought of the farmers and I thought of Big Daddy and even myself to make sure that we all would have enough. Then we ate from the same piece of bread and drank from the same cup. Then we tucked into a great conversation about the holiday (no joke) and ate with the chihuahua gorging herself on deli meat (not a normal activity for the little pup.)

Another picture of my Lammastide Altar/Dinner Table

Then the friends arrived and the evening just got better. Everyone loved the bread and all of the food. In fact, they ate everything, which was lovely. Great conversations, great people, great food, and holiday focused on bounty, how could we not reflect on how rich our lives were in that moment. It was beautiful and the magic of friendship, love, and generosity was definitely in the air.

Sunflower in flower arrangment

You can see that I put some flowers in the center (all currently in season) with 2 orange candles, 1 red and 1 white (it was also an esbat so the the white was for the moon.)  I place some of the bread in the center on my mother's cake plate, which you can't really see but TRUST me, it'll pop up over and over again as well as a loaf off to the side. I also placed a bowl of strawberries to represent the bounty of the summer. Then the two goblets of beer for Big Daddy and I.  Then I also placed some cold cuts, cheese, some potato chips (what's a party without chips?!), homemade jam, and homemade honey butter.

What did you do for Lammas? I'd love to see pictures and hear about the rituals from your celebration!