My Year Of Altars And Other Sabbat Decorations

david hobbs

Do you celebrate alone or with others or both?

swanlady

I don,t understand when looing at the photos i feel a warm comforting feeling.
I can,t explain it very well. But the photos make me feel as if i,m coming home, if that makes any sense at all. which it does,nt to me.

david hobbs

swanlady

Where do i start?

david hobbs

Start following the Sabbats. Make your equipement. Read up on the subject and find what suits you.

Ask raymond.

beantighe

Yes, it's a lovely feeling, isn't it, Swanny?

You could try making your own Wheel of the Year. These days, 8 main festivals are celebrated, with approximately 6 weeks in between each one, so the Wheel has 8 spokes, one for each festival.

Samhain (31st October) was the old Celtic New Year

Yule (21st Dec) is the Midwinter Solstice

Imbolc (2nd Feb) is variously known as Candlemas, and celebrates the returning light. It is the Feast of Brighid.

Oestara (21st-22nd March) is the Spring Equinox, the time of balance, when day and night are equal, but the light is gaining.

Beltane (31st April-1st May) celebrates Spring in all its glory. The maypole was - and is - a fertility symbol, and the dance in which the ribbons are wound and unwound symbolises the never-ending spiral of life.

Litha (21st June) is Midsummer, when the Sun is at its height, and we celebrate the strength and vigour of the sun, but with a tinge of sadness too, as the sun's strength will begin to wane towards winter from this day on.

Lammas, or Lughnassadh (1st Aug), celebrates the grain harvest, the first harvest of the year. The power of the sun has gone into the grain to ripen it, and the corn is cut down to make into flour for bread to feed the people through the dark days of winter. At this time the sun is seen as a sacrificial king who gives his life for the people's survival, yet is reborn in the spring with the new wheat.

And finally, Mabon ( 21st September) is the Autumn Equinox, when day and night are again equal, but this time the earth is spiralling downwards into the dark, which contains and protects the seeds in the earth which will grow again in the spring.

Thus, the Wheel celebrates the Circle of Life, which has no beginning and no end. This is of necessity only the briefest of outlines, but my intention was to give you an idea of the festivals and what they celebrate. Try researching each festival as it occurs, and add it to your own Wheel, including things which speak of that time of the year to you, and it will help you to forge your own connection with Nature as She is at each season.

Hope this helps!

xxx

david hobbs

I think that just taking pleasure from making these alters is a majical act in itself.

It seems to be to be an act of devotion rather than an act of worship.

Sian

I love your pictures. The altars are a deeply personal thing and it's wonderful that you are sharing them.

I couldn't help smiling when the full size image of the 1st Beltane altar opened on my screen. The one thing that struck me was the plate of Jammie Dodgers :) A priceless and utterly perfect personal touch.

david hobbs

It would be nice if you had the time and inclination to help others less able to make these beautiful things.

Perhaps a charge for them to compensate for your time would be in order.

I am not suggesting a full commercial business but others could certainly enjoy the benefits of what you have created

david hobbs

Here you go.

An abundance of wild flowers taken by me in Tintagel a few weeks ago on the approach to St Pirans Glen.

Click to see full size image

david hobbs

Well not being all huggy Raymond I did think of you when I visited this place and thought how good it would have been for you to be there.

Diana

I love the pics of your altars and the feelings I get are different with every pic, but almost all of them give me a feeling of power, empowerment!

wackyjacky

I agree, the outside is way better then being in a building.

Hey Raymond, why not put up what you would need for the various alters? I look at those that you have put up and as wonderful as they are, I don't know what the meanings for the various items are for. What do you think?

Scott

thnaks for that raymond. that helps a lot. can yo make an alter and leave it there all the time or do you have to change it every time you use one?

Scott

WHat can i use as the altar? a table or something?

Scott

I wont

i saw a little table on monday outside a junk shop near where i live and i really wanted it to make my altar. i never usually go into that shop but i walk past it everyday and something made me want to buy it. so i did. i think that it's meant to be my altar. is it okay to put it in my bedroom? i want it in my living room but i think my friends will use it as a coffee table like you say.

white wolf

Very impressive Raymond indeed.
I too try to do as this but i may say not as great as you do.

I confess my only problem is when my wife tidies up she sometimes removes such items and puts them away .

ww

Diana

I am actually a bit concerned about putting up something like that because the place I live in is rented and I wouldn't want my landlady get scared that I am doing black magic and summoning spirits in her flat:). That's why I am hiding some things that might look funny now when she needs to visit.
I lived in a shared house before and the people I was subrenting from came to my room and looked through my stuff when I wasn't home, they found a notebook I had with spells and shouted I was a bloody witch. (they were that kind of narrowminded brainwashed Christians).

white wolf

At one point my wife thought the same thing accused me of putting the kids lives at risk etc etc.

This is why she know i have interests in such things but she does not know im wiccan,when i go to my coven she thinks i be on an investigation
with my paranormal team.

what the eye does not see the chef gets away with.

ww

Scott

I understand what you both say. I live on my own but sometimes my brother stays with me when he gets work down here. i don't think he would go snooping around my stuff but i know he just wouldn't understand if he found witchcraft stuff lying around.

david hobbs

A witch does not allow what others think stand in the way.

Obviously you do not flaunt it in peoples faces but one thing a witch must be is....................................

True to themself

Scott

thats a good idea. maybe i'll get a box and only use it whenever my brother stays

Scott

LOL

My flat is just as much my brother's home as it is mine

evergreen