A Witches Altar: How To Decorate Your Altar for Sabbats or Holidays
Last week we talked about basic altar set ups and this week we are going to talk about special set ups for the Sabbats, Esbats or Holidays and other special occasions. There are several holidays that any of the various sects under paganism celebrate. I'm going to go over those that are typically celebrated in the wheel of the year as shown in the illustration below.
There are 8 Sabbats that make up the Wheel of the Year. The Sabbats are solar, seasonal and represent the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. These days are Samhain, Yule (Winter Solstice), Imbolc, Ostara (Spring Equinox), Beltane, Litha (Summer Solstice), Lughnasadh (or Lammas), and Mabon (Fall Equinox). As you can see, there are multiple names (and sometimes spellings) for the holidays. Typically it's the Solstice or Equinox that have a second name but Lammas is a seasonal holiday with a different name. I know it can get confusing but will use the formal names rather than fall, spring, winter to help keep it organized and easy. Especially when it comes to Lammas because Lughnasadh is just so hard to spell!
Sabbats are celebrated in honor of the God, since it is His sacrifice of birth, life, death and rebirth that are represented by the Sabbats. Esbats are the celebration of the 13 full moons that occur every year. The Esbats are lunar and represent the Goddess at her height of power. These are the times when Her magick is more potent than on any other day of the month. These are the ones that are not as focused on when it comes to altar presentation and decor.
So first I am going to show you some holiday themed altars and then I'm just going to give you a listing of things you'll need to prep your altar for Holiday rituals straight out of my personal Book of Shadows. Then I will go over some other ways to prepare your altar. Can you handle the excitement? Here we go!
Your altar can be as elaborate or as simple as you please. I adore the altar above for it's simplicity but when it comes to Samhain I myself like to be a little more stereotypical with my decor. I like my altar to look creepy and demented with all sorts of subtle pokes and jabs at the way modern day casts us Witches. I do not always ride my broom or dance naked under the moon. I don't have warts, nor is my skin green and when I cackle it's not because I'm up to no good but because I'm actually amused by something. Yet on this day, the day where it is cool to be a witch and people even dress up and celebrate it I like to just bask in the glow of "for one day, everyone in the world is OK with who I am" and enjoy it before I return back to "Oh, she's a witch? Stay away from that devil worshiper."
Here are some of my decorations this year for my Samhain altar:
I love this "Skeleton Tonic" it's good for your bones! (See what I did there?) I purchased the bottle for $5 from Michaels and put in a few drops of peppermint essential oil, a small portion of my Scope mouth wash, water and a few drops of green food color. VIOLA! An herbal cocktail that ultra creepy for my altar. It even has a little handle so I could hang it over my altar, easily and readily available at a moments notice.
Ok, ok back to pretty altars!
Alright, enough of the pretty altars. Let's get down to business. Here's a shopping list if you will, of the things you'll need for your altar for each holiday.
**As a reminder these are just guidelines. These are the items needed for my specific rituals. Whatever ritual you have, you find, you make up and decided to do for each holiday will ultimately decide what you place on your altar and how you decorate it for each sabbat. Again, this is merely a reference for you to use if you are lost and not sure what to do. **
Samhain
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
Yule
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
Imbolc
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
**You may want to make or find the potpourri blend a few days before doing this ritual.
Ostara
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
*I use plastic eggs from the store that I've decorated but you could dye real eggs and decorate them if you wish.
** For my ritual I plant something every Ostara. If you do not wish to do this, then you won't need seeds, the soil or the pot. ;)
Beltane
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
Litha
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
For the Spring Water I just go to the store and find one of the gallons that say "Spring water" on them as I'm not typically near a natural spring.
The Sun and Earth candles are not a special type of candle, FYI. I just use those big fat pillar candles and carve the symbol for "Sun" and "Earth" into them.
I also have a recipe for "Midsummer Cookies" that I make the night before and use in this ritual but I am not going to post that recipe yet.
Lammas
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
Mabon
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
WEEEEEE! That was a lot of information and I hope that some of it helped. If nothing else now you know what color candles and altar cloth to use for each holiday right? Everything else you can and probably will do differently.
NOTE: After writing this out I have decided that starting with Samhain, I'm going to post the rituals that I have in there entirety for you guys to have about 3 or 4 days before the holiday. I think that would benefit you all greatly and it will give me a spot where I have my rituals written out in case something should happen to my book. As I've said, I'd be completely destroyed if something happened to these particular pages of my book as I don't have them written down anywhere else. Just the one time I typed them up to print them out and that's it. I somehow lost the files. This way, they are online and accessible anywhere, for any time and for anyone. I enjoy sharing my practice with the world. I want people to see that I don't sacrifice animals, worship the devil or do any of the things said in those stereotypical and hurtful accusations that go around.
The next blog will be about the esbats and how to decorate your altars when there isn't anything going or for special occasions or special rituals! As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns please do share them.
Sabbats are celebrated in honor of the God, since it is His sacrifice of birth, life, death and rebirth that are represented by the Sabbats. Esbats are the celebration of the 13 full moons that occur every year. The Esbats are lunar and represent the Goddess at her height of power. These are the times when Her magick is more potent than on any other day of the month. These are the ones that are not as focused on when it comes to altar presentation and decor.
So first I am going to show you some holiday themed altars and then I'm just going to give you a listing of things you'll need to prep your altar for Holiday rituals straight out of my personal Book of Shadows. Then I will go over some other ways to prepare your altar. Can you handle the excitement? Here we go!
 |
| This is an altar set up for Summer Solstice or Midsummer |
 |
| This is my mother's altar set up for Mabon a few years ago. She didn't have an altar cloth that was appropriate so she substituted white, which you can use as a stand in for any color (this includes candles!) |
 |
| This is an altar decorated for Samhain or Halloween |
Your altar can be as elaborate or as simple as you please. I adore the altar above for it's simplicity but when it comes to Samhain I myself like to be a little more stereotypical with my decor. I like my altar to look creepy and demented with all sorts of subtle pokes and jabs at the way modern day casts us Witches. I do not always ride my broom or dance naked under the moon. I don't have warts, nor is my skin green and when I cackle it's not because I'm up to no good but because I'm actually amused by something. Yet on this day, the day where it is cool to be a witch and people even dress up and celebrate it I like to just bask in the glow of "for one day, everyone in the world is OK with who I am" and enjoy it before I return back to "Oh, she's a witch? Stay away from that devil worshiper."
Here are some of my decorations this year for my Samhain altar:
I love this "Skeleton Tonic" it's good for your bones! (See what I did there?) I purchased the bottle for $5 from Michaels and put in a few drops of peppermint essential oil, a small portion of my Scope mouth wash, water and a few drops of green food color. VIOLA! An herbal cocktail that ultra creepy for my altar. It even has a little handle so I could hang it over my altar, easily and readily available at a moments notice.
Ok, ok back to pretty altars!
 |
| This is an Ostara Altar set up |
Alright, enough of the pretty altars. Let's get down to business. Here's a shopping list if you will, of the things you'll need for your altar for each holiday.
**As a reminder these are just guidelines. These are the items needed for my specific rituals. Whatever ritual you have, you find, you make up and decided to do for each holiday will ultimately decide what you place on your altar and how you decorate it for each sabbat. Again, this is merely a reference for you to use if you are lost and not sure what to do. **
Samhain
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
- Orange altar cloth
- Cauldron
- 1 black taper Goddess candle
- 1 black taper God candle
- 2 candle holders
- My ritual says "carved turnip" candle holders - but I actually use pumpkin candle holders
- 1 Black votive candle
- 1 white pillar candle
- 1 apple
- a bolline
- a plate of fruit
- vegetables and breads
- pictures and mementos of departed loved ones
- Samhain incense (mint, nutmeg, apple)
Yule
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
- Green Altar Cloth
- Cauldron with lid or cover plate
- Holly Sprig Wreath
- 12 Low Vibration Stones (flat oval river rocks work well)
- 1 Black Votive Candle
- 1 Green 12" Taper Candle
- 1 White 12" Taper Candle
- 1 Gold (12 Hour - means it burns for 12 hours) Pillar Candle
- Pine Incense
- Bowl of water with Pine spring in it
- Plate of Sand
- Athame
Imbolc
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
- White Altar Cloth
- Light Green Taper Goddess Candle
- Light Yellow Taper God Candle
- 13 White 4" Stick Candles
- Brideo'ga*
- Small Woven Basket with White Flowers
- Pentacle Candle Wheel
- Handful of Acorns
- Cauldron
- Snow/Crushed Ice
- Potpourri Holder
- Tea Light
- Basil, Bay, Heather Flowers, Cinnamon and Vanilla Potpourri Blend**
- Long Wood Stick Matches
**You may want to make or find the potpourri blend a few days before doing this ritual.
Ostara
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
- White, Light Green, Yellow or Pale Pink Altar Cloth
- Spring Basket
- Brightly-colored Ostara Eggs*
- Spring Flowers (Decoration)
- Seeds to be planted**
- Some soil and a pot
- Pen and Paper
- Cauldron
- Bell
- Ostara Incense (Jasemine, Rose, Sage)
*I use plastic eggs from the store that I've decorated but you could dye real eggs and decorate them if you wish.
** For my ritual I plant something every Ostara. If you do not wish to do this, then you won't need seeds, the soil or the pot. ;)
Beltane
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
- Yellow Altar Cloth
- Cauldron
- 2 Yellow Candles
- Kindling fire (If outdoors or if you have a fire place or fire pit)
- Small wreath of flowers
Litha
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
- A Golden Yellow Altar Cloth (Gold or yellow will work too)
- Small Pouch of Summertime Herbs
- Cauldron
- 1 Cup Fresh Spring Water
- Red Sun God Candle
- Green Earth Goddess Candle
- Summer Blend Incense (Jasmine, Rose, Lotus, Wisteria or combination of all of them)
For the Spring Water I just go to the store and find one of the gallons that say "Spring water" on them as I'm not typically near a natural spring.
The Sun and Earth candles are not a special type of candle, FYI. I just use those big fat pillar candles and carve the symbol for "Sun" and "Earth" into them.
I also have a recipe for "Midsummer Cookies" that I make the night before and use in this ritual but I am not going to post that recipe yet.
Lammas
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
- Golden Yellow Altar Cloth
- 1 Gold Candle
- 1 Silver Candle
- Summer Blend Incense (Same as Litha Ritual)
- Harvest Vegetables
- Golden Stones or other sun Symbols
- Cornbread Cupcakes
- Cauldron
- Apple Cider
Mabon
In addition to your magickal tools, you will need:
- Red Altar Cloth
- Wicker Basket
- Red Apple
- Assorted fruits and vegetables of the 2nd harvest (Berries, Corn, Squash, ect)
- Bell
- Fallen Tree Branch
- Bolline
- Sprigs of Ivy
- An Autumn Blend Incense
WEEEEEE! That was a lot of information and I hope that some of it helped. If nothing else now you know what color candles and altar cloth to use for each holiday right? Everything else you can and probably will do differently.
NOTE: After writing this out I have decided that starting with Samhain, I'm going to post the rituals that I have in there entirety for you guys to have about 3 or 4 days before the holiday. I think that would benefit you all greatly and it will give me a spot where I have my rituals written out in case something should happen to my book. As I've said, I'd be completely destroyed if something happened to these particular pages of my book as I don't have them written down anywhere else. Just the one time I typed them up to print them out and that's it. I somehow lost the files. This way, they are online and accessible anywhere, for any time and for anyone. I enjoy sharing my practice with the world. I want people to see that I don't sacrifice animals, worship the devil or do any of the things said in those stereotypical and hurtful accusations that go around.
The next blog will be about the esbats and how to decorate your altars when there isn't anything going or for special occasions or special rituals! As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns please do share them.
Blessed Be! )O(
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