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!

Celebrating with Friends

Happy Lammastide everyone! I'm ready for more visitors tonight. Just need to set up the table with the bread and beer and other nibbly treats.  Big Daddy chose a few brews and has managed to leave some of the bread alone. I will also put out some charcuterie and cheese and maybe some olives along with the rosemary olive oil and flavored butters I'll be putting out. The table will be adorned with some small bowls of grains, some in-season flowers, red and purple candles, a few knives here and there and perhaps a few tools as well. (Because the holiday is also known as Lughnasadh or Lughnasa- it is also a holiday for the God Lugh, he's the God of craftsman and is also a great warrior. So having some tools or representations of weapons/crafts/or skilled labor is not uncommon for the altar.) I will do a separate post of the actual party and setup.

Yule 2009

I, personally, love to have my friends over for my holidays but I also recognize that many of the symbols found in Wiccan/Pagan beliefs have very negative connotations in modern Christianity, and most of friends are Chirstians. So, I don't make an altar out for the public. In fact, you would NEVER know my altar was there if I didn't point it out to you. It just looks like a display on a table of family pictures, some fruits, stones, shells, and spices as well as some candles and a knife. I keep the pentacle out of sight as it can really upset people and I don't need any religious animosity building in my home. I employ the same technique in my holiday decor. I put out colored candles and no one is the wiser, they ask about the knife or the hammers and I tell them that it's "tradition" that this is the time of year to channel the warrior or to take up a new craft. The word "tradition" seems to really appeal to non-pagans and makes it more palatable to them, sort of like covering family photos, mirrors and clocks when someone passes away- it's not necessarily religious it's "traditional."

Samhain 2011

I want to make something very clear, I'm not ashamed of my religion. It's just that it's mine. I don't want to spend all my time defending my beliefs, nor do I wish to spend time convincing people that I don't worship Satan. That I have zero interest in Satan, that he doesn't factor into my life at all, I neither fear him nor concern myself with him, but I don't disbelieve in his existence. These thoughts seem to be hard for many to wrap their minds around so I don't bother trying to make them. I keep my beliefs on the interior and I while sharing my holidays and traditions with my friends I keep it fun for them, which makes them more receptive and understanding when they finally DO ask about them.

I would love to hear from everyone about this. My only request is that no one be derogatory of anyone else's beliefs, to enjoy tolerance we must exhibit it ourselves.
Do you have friends over for your sabbats that are not of the same persuasion? How have you dealt with this situation? 

"Loaf-Mass" Goodies I baked along with the bread recipe

LOAF-MASS

So the festival of grains is quickly creeping up and I did not accomplish ALL I had hoped to this weekend but I did manage to bake two kinds of bread. Here is the French Bread Recipe (1 loaf has already been completely consumed by Big Daddy.)

The bread recipe I used I found on "Deals to Meals" a blog with a great assortment of recipes, the recipe is here. I had to make some adjustments as I had a different type of yeast so here is what I did.

1/4 c. warm water 

1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/2 tbsp.)

3 Tbsp. sugar

Follow directions on yeast packet (will be frothy and will double in size)

Then add

2 1/4 c. warm water

2 Tbsp white vinegar
1 Tbsp. Salt (adjust to your taste)
1/3 c. oil (I used vegetable oil)

Then mix in:

6-7 c. flour , one cup at a time until dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and it will hold it's shape. I ended up only needing 6 cups- you may need 7 to 7 1/2 cups depending on your elevation and humidity. Worry more about the consistency of the dough and less about the actual amount of flour. 

*You will also need some cornmeal for later.

Place the bowl in a cold oven with pan of boiling water (the steam builds up and keeps the dough moist. I went ahead and also covered it loosely with a large plastic Ziploc bag. Wait for it to rise (double it's size.)

After it rises the first time take it out of the oven and then punch it down, literally. (This creates more air in the bread and made it "fluffy.") Do this 2-5 times for nice fluffy bread. (Big Daddy couldn't help himself and punched more than I was aware of, needless to say, we have really fluffy bread. :)

After the final rise in the bowl (the dough will be near the top of the bowl more than likely) separate it into loaves or rounds as you desire. Place on a greased pan with some cornmeal on the bottom to make it crunchier. Make some slices to allow for expansion.  Allow the loaves to rise again - they need to double in size again. This is a good time to preheat the oven to 375 degrees while the loaves are rising.

(I divided mine into three medium sized loaves about 10" long and 5 inches wide after the last rise.)

These are NOT my hands, they are Big Daddy's. Ha Ha Ha!

Big Daddy made the slices, because mine just weren't up to snuff, I think he enjoyed baking these more than I did.  Now you can brush the tops with an egg wash while they are rising (1 egg plus a little water-about a tsp. beaten in a bowl.) 

Big Daddy posing with the egg wash.

YUMMY

Bake the loaves for about 30 minutes and then take them out of the oven and allow them to cool for about 8-10 minutes. Then get your butter and olive oil dips together because you are going to be UNABLE to stop eating them. :) Happy Lammastide everyone! 

Preparing for Lammas (aka) Lughnasa

Lammas or Lughnasa is right around the corner (August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere and February 1st in the Southern Hemisphere) and I'm getting my party ready.  Sometimes it is difficult to invite my friend's over to my house to celebrate Wiccan/Pagan holidays because they think it sounds crazy and then the question my judgment. However, inviting my friends over to celebrate the first harvest and the last rays of summer is apparently totally normal, especially if I tell them they get to take home homemade canned goods from my garden, yummy homemade breads, and we'll all be getting drunk outside by the fire.  I find that most non-pagans respect the celebration of holidays that earth-related as long as they don't see anything that could be misconstrued as heretic. As much as I want my beliefs to be honored I make it point to respect the beliefs of others as well.

Celebrating the first harvest of the season, all the vegetables will be yielding and getting ready for the fall when harvest time is in full swing.  This year I have figs, tomatoes, cucumbers and mulberries growing in my garden and I'm ready to can them all.  Well, maybe not the mulberries as they are white ones and look disgusting as a jam, but perhaps I can mix them with some raspberries or something.  I'm going to make fig jam and pickles and perhaps, IF I can stop eating all of them right off the vine, then some tomato sauce as well.

 Traditionally, Lammas celebrates the first harvest of grain- it literally means Loaf-mass, it was the day when the bread for the winter was first being baked. So tables full of breads and pies and other baked goods is most traditional.  I'm making fresh french bread from scratch to eat (and freeze) as well as some pie crusts for the upcoming season to satiate my need for tradition. Considering I could just walk to the local bakery and buy bread, for a $1.00 to $4.00 a loaf, I feel that baking it myself is honoring the realization that for hundreds of years this harvest was so crucial that it could literally mean the death of the entire family if there wasn't enough to eat. It's also a mark of the Renaissance Fair season, this was more like a festival of craftsmen a long time ago. A time for warriors to show their strength, farmers to prepare their crops, craftsmen to sell their wares, and the unmarried to embark on "hand-fasting" or "trial-marriages" until the end of the festival to see if they liked each other enough to stay for the whole year. Ha! Sounds like what me and Big Daddy are doing!

To make the french bread I will be following a recipe I found on Pinterest (yes, Pinterest and I are best friends), for the jam I will follow the directions on the package of fruit pectin, and the pie crusts and pickles are recipes that have been in my family for 3 generations.  My friend's all seem to love my pickles and pies and I think that it's because both recipes are imbued with the love of many generations of women preparing them for their families, funny how you  really can taste love. 


I think this year I will honor both Demeter (whose daughter is about to descend into Hades to be with her husband) with the food and John Barleycorn (read his story here) with BEER! Now, I'm just waiting for my friends to show up and bring the beer so we can celebrate THAT grain as well! I do love a good Hefeweizen.


Some holidays that are similar to Lammas: Shavout (Israel), Onam (India), and Lughnasa (Lughnasadh)(Ireland.)

Traditional presents: a pair of gloves (winter is coming as well as more harvesting and this was the perfect time for them)

Traditional Rituals: baking of bread, honoring the spirit of grain (whomever that may be to you- I like John Barleycorn), also the creating of a new corn doll and the burning of last year's corn doll in effigy (I don't do this because I live in NYC- the mice will devour the corn doll no matter WHEN she was made or WHO she represents and they serve no purpose in the "field" (aka my 20'x10' backyard)  because pigeons here fear nothing), also the "last sheaf" has many traditions with it, but considering that I don't actually grow and grains I don't practice any of those traditions.

Feel free to learn more about Lammas and Lughnasa here, there is a free daily class on all the sabbats, I find this site very useful and Patti Wiggington is very knowlegable- but like everything on the internet remember that it's shared info not info from an encyclopedia.

Sources:
http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/lammas.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lammas
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/lammas/a/AllAboutLammas.htm
http://projectbritain.com/year/august.htm