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Libation to Alexander the Great
Members and guests of the proto-demos gathered for a libation ritual marking the anniversary of the death of Alexander the Great. We had 3 adults and one minor attending. Unseasonably bad weather kept us indoors that day, but we still had a moving ritual.
Two photos of our altar before we started the ritual (essentially the same photo, just one with more light than the other). In the back is a photo of a bust of Alexander. In front of that is a photo of part of his sarcophagus. On the lower table in front, on the left is a portion of the famous Roman mosaic and to the right is a photo of a bronze statuette of Alexander on his horse Bucephalos. Also on the altar are an incense burner, candle, and libation bowl. Other items, such as the incense we'll be burning, wine, and water have not yet been carried into the ritual space.
Well, the next 3 pictures are obviously all of me ;) I am reciting the opening prayer.
Here we have the 3 adults in attendance pouring the libations. On the left is a guest, center is a soon-to-be member, and right is myself.
And our youngest participant, getting a little help from mama ;)
Offering more libations.
The final libation is offered by the priest.
I apologize that some of the photos are a little dark. I lightened them up with a program as best as I could. There is no electricity in this temple space, and we are requested not to use the flash in the space. As the ritual progressed, however, the sun did come out, so the last pictures are better lighted.
One other thing that I'll note here is about the music we played. I like to have music playing for the procession, if not for the whole ritual. This particular day I was running late, and was getting nervous & frustrated, as we were supposed to hold this in the park, but the weather was so bad we had to change plans at the last minute. Well, to make a long story short, I hadn't picked out the music yet, and so I just grabbed something that I liked, knowing full well that it wasn't Greek music, and someone sure could give me a hard time about it if they wanted to! So, everyone loved it, and wanted to know who this group was. The name is Vas, and as I explained about them, I realized that I could not have picked a more perfect CD if I had tried-- it is a 2 person band. The man is from the US, trained in Western-styled percussion, and the woman is from Iran, trained in classical Persian voice. I have a feeling Alexander enjoyed it :)
The script from the ritual is posted here.