How to Decorate a Beltane Altar

How to Decorate a Beltane Altar
The Beltane altar celebrates the gateway into summer, fertility, and the growing season. Beltane is one of the four Great Sabbats that fall on the Wheel of the Year. (The other three are Imbolc, Lammas, and Samhain.) All of the Great Sabbats, including Beltane, are fire festivals. So break out those candles and don’t hold back when it comes to decorating your altar. You might want to go even bigger and build a bonfire in your backyard or in a chimenea or fire-pit on your patio.

Beltane colors include a vibrant Kelly green or leaf green, and gold. You can add other spring pastels or hues in the red and yellow and orange spectrums to represent fire.

Nature-themed decorations include antlers and pine cones to represent the male fertility of the God; acorns and fresh green oak leaves to stand for the Oak King, which is one of the Lord’s personas in summertime; and flowers (especially spring flowers like daffodils and tulips) and a wreath of vines or ivy to represent the female fertility of the Goddess.

For a basic seasonal altar that is not overtly Wiccan, start by draping your altar with a large cloth of vivid green to represent the vigorous growth of new plants in the transition from spring to summer. Think leaf-green (a bright yellow-green) or Kelly green (a vivid medium green). Add a smaller cloth in metallic gold to represent fire, and another one, smaller still, deep yellow to symbolize the Sun. Arrange the altar cloths so you can see all the colors. For a centerpiece, fill a wooden salad bowl or a bright brass bowl with your pine cones, acorns, and oak leaves. Or you could put a pot of blooming daffodils or tulips into your brass bowl. Add figurines of robins, which are birds sacred to the Oak King, and stags, also sacred to the God.

Overtly Wiccan items for your altar include figures of the Lord and Lady in their youthful incarnations. You might want your altar centerpiece to be a cauldron set on a trivet or heat-proof tile in which to build a small fire.

No Beltane altar would be complete without as many candles as you can cram on there in green and gold and yellow. You can place them in your cauldron or in candlesticks of brass or earthenware, or you could use white tea lights. The fire on your altar represents the bonfires through which our ancestors would drive their livestock to bless them during the growing season. Never leave lit candles unattended. The safest to use are in glass jars, which can also reflect the candlelight through their thick glass for a beautiful magnifying effect.

Look here for more Beltane information.

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Join the Discussion!
Ro Longstreet-Wicca:
This is the place to ask questions, make comments, and post your photos of everything relating to how we celebrate the sabbats of the Wheel of the Year.

How to Decorate a Midsummer Altar:

The Midsummer altar celebrates the zenith of summer, fertility, and the growing season. On Midsummer, also known as Litha, the Oak King battles the Holly King and the Holly King wins. Here are some altar decorating ideas: How to Decorate a Midsummer Altar

Ro Longstreet-Wicca:
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Just (barely) in time for Midsummer sabbat, which is tomorrow, I have put together one of my minimalist altars with yellow flowers, apricots, a pine-needle basket with a sun symbol, antlers to represent the God, and altar cloths in yellow.

I would LOVE To see some of your altars if you would like to post some photos. You'll need to have your photo already on a server and accessible through a URL. Here is the code to use in the forums (remember to delete the spaces I had to add to make the code visible):

[img] http://www.url_to_image.com / image_name.gif [/img]






Ro Longstreet-Wicca:
The Lammas altar celebrates the first harvest of wheat. It is still high summer on August 1, but you have reached the gateway to autumn. Lammas is the midpoint between midsummer and fall equinox. You are standing on the threshold between the growing and the great reaping.

How to Decorate a Lammas Altar

Ro Longstreet-Wicca:
Who is John Barleycorn

Who is John Barleycorn? He is an aspect of the God whom we honor especially at the sabbat of Lammas, which is not just focused on wheat but also upon barley and all the alcohol beverages that can be made from it. Think of John Barleycorn as a personification of the cereal crops.

Who is John Barleycorn

Ro Longstreet-Wicca:
Ideas For Your Lammas Party

The sabbat of Lammas, which occurs on August 1, is the First Harvest of wheat, barley, and maize. Lammas sabbat feels like a county fair replete with feasting and good-natured competition. It can be a giddy event infused with the rowdy, high-spirited energy of the young trickster sun-god Lugh.

Ideas For Your Lammas Party

Ro Longstreet-Wicca:
How To Decorate A Mabon Altar
Post Text:
The Mabon altar celebrates the bounty of the second harvest, which is root crops and also grapes. Bring out your tiny pumpkins and decorative gourds and let your creativity run wild.

How To Decorate A Mabon Altar

Ro Longstreet-Wicca:
Guided Meditation for Mabon

This guided meditation puts you together with the God at Mabon, which is the second harvest of the year. Here, the Lord wears the persona of the Steward of the Earth. He shows you how to give of your own abundance to increase it tenfold.

Guided Meditation for Mabon

Ro Longstreet-Wicca:
Mabon Gratitude Ritual

Mabon is the autumn equinox where the Wheel of the Year rests briefly in balance and day and night are of equal length. To help the Wheel roll ahead toward night, you recite a litany of gratitude. This solitary ritual can be adapted for a family or other small group.

Mabon Gratitude Ritual

Ro Longstreet-Wicca:
How to Plan Your Samhain Party
Though Samhain is a deeply spiritual and contemplative time for Wiccans, it also marks the new year and is a great time for a party. Here is a sample plan for a house party that you can adapt to your own circumstances to make your Samhain gathering a night to remember.

How to Plan Your Samhain Party

Deanna - New Age:
I am so excited for the Summer Solstice to get here - and I know it'll be here quicker than I'm prepared for LOL!!

I'm planning a women's gathering on that day here in my home, and inviting ladies I have not seen in a long time! It just seems like the perfect time to do that.

We'll have our ceremony outside - I have a fire pit!!! I am so excited.

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