Today, we celebrated Diogennia at HTAZP.
As you can see, we've made a shift in how we set up our festival altar so that the feasting is done at the altar with the God(s) of the festival, rather than removing to a separate area to feast.
In the center of the altar, then, is still Hestia's hearth, composed of candles representing each of us present as well as those who could not be present and would wish to be. The representation of the relevant God(s), in this case Zeus, is on a pedestal adjacent to the table, a seat somewhat above ours, essentially. If you look closely, you can see that we offered some of the crowns from last year's celebration on that pedestal.
Offerings included Bull's Blood wine, chicken a la king, Greek honey cake, and strawberry creams. The bull, of course, is sacred to Zeus, and honey is a theme for this holiday, related to the tale of the cave where Zeus was born being filled with a warm glow.
The next big festivals scheduled are the Theogamia/Gamelia on 22 Gamelion/February 3 and the Festival of Aphrodite on 6 Diasion/February 17.
Until next month!
Peace,
Diane
