October 30, 2024
The Community Altar
By Pamela Alexander
Illuminated Samhain Altar with momentos and remembrances, Samhain 2019
The Community Altar is one of the most special things we do each year at Samhain at Four Quarters. As a community, we bring our photographs, mementos, altar pieces, and offerings to our Beloved Departed, and together we build the Community Altar on the beautiful Stone South Altar in the Stone Circle.
This Altar completes the circle of the living and the dead, joining us all in communion. We find ourselves standing around it, pointing out photographs, and sharing the stories of Those Who Have Gone Before. And it's amazing how sharing those stories, those precious memories, can bring back our Beloved Departed so vividly.
It's a beautiful expression of how we can join together with our brothers and sisters, share the pains of loss, and lore, and see the circle of our humanity expand to include not only those who are still among the living, but also to include the wisdom and guidance of our ancestors.
The Community Altar receives tokens, remembranes, photos, sacred objects as the people gather to celebrate Samhain.
Please, feel welcome to bring YOUR photos, mementos, altar pieces, flowers, fruits, and offerings to the Departed, to contribute to the Community Altar. We will be constructing the Altar on Friday afternoon at 4 pm, and on Saturday morning at 11 am, if you wish to work with the group, or, if you wish to make your contribution privately, that's okay, too! Just step into the Sacred Space and add what you are moved to add. It's all part of the magic of Samhain at Four Quarters as we welcome the Ancestors Home!