My altar
The theme for one of my online Pagan groups was altars last week. As my journal has more and more been becoming a spiritual journal as well, I figured that I'd post my response here as well.
What do you have on your altar? Currently, I have a chalice (water), a metal athame, a wooden athame that I use more like a wand, a salt dish (earth), a tealight candle (fire), a bundle of sage (air), a silver candle and a gold candle (my current Goddess/God representation). I generally don't use the metal athame for cutting anything, but I will use it for carving runes during candle magic. There is also a glass plate surrounded by a wreath of dried flowers and a water-holder that I use to either consecrate items with salt water or hold fresh flowers.
Are some items seasonal? Yep. I have a pinecone on my altar now as a representation of the God and summer, and the wreath of flowers changes to a garland of silk leaves in the autumn. I also will use seasonal flowers on my altar, and seasonal fruits now and again.
What do you do with the items during ritual (do some stay and some go)? Generally, the standard altar fare stays, but some things come and go-- items that are being purified or charged, herb charms, bits and pieces of workings I'm doing.
What are some general things to keep in mind when building one? I like to keep at least one item representing each element on my altar at all times. As I'm at college, I don't have room for statues and the like, so size of items is also a consideration. I don't tend to worry about placement of items too much. I arrange things visually and instinctively.
Do you allow others to touch it (this might be a strange question)? My altar's been jokingly used to hold orange juice glasses every now and again (sacred to Oshun! :P), but generally, people don't really ask to touch it. When they do, it's generally to get a better look at the wooden athame. That's okay with me, in general. But I'd say overall, it depends on the person.
How is it set up in your home? In any room on campus I'm moved to, it generally goes wherever it fits. I prefer not to be in front of a window directly, and currently, it's placed between the foot of my bed and my closet.
My altar currently constitutes the top and first two shelves of my bookshelf.
I described the contents above, and here is how they are currently laid out.
Right beneath the water holder is a tiny red Buddha I bought on the shore this weekend. His pose in this figurine represents spiritual awakening, and since a lot of that's been going on with me lately, I got him to put on my altar. I also hope he'll be a focusing influence as I teach myself to meditate more effectively.
This is the wooden athame that my friend Bridget hand carved me, including my personal runes, Neid, Peorth, and Dagaz. It's too light to use as an athame, so I use it as an alternative to a wand. It has immense personal value to me.
The first shelf includes my favorite Pagan books, plus some oils, stone chips, and my rune bag.
My second shelf includes tools like incense, my oil cabinet, a bowl of stones, a bag of herbs, herb charms, dried rosepetals, shells I collected on the shore, and the candles that I use in candle magic.
This beautiful marble bowl was sent to me by
bathsweaver, and it has a few of my stones in it, including three different types of goldstone, which I use for energy raising.
This ivory Celtic cross was also given to me by Bridget a few Christmases ago. It's so beautiful.
A closer view of some of the stuff on my second shelf.
Some of the herbs I use most commonly:: mugwort, damiana leaf, hyssop, powdered sage, cedar chips...
My altar acts as a daily reminder of my spiritual life and as a calming influence as well as a place to store my tools. Two great books I've read about everyday altars are Altars : Bringing Sacred Shrines Into Your Everyday Life by Denise Linn and A Book of Women's Altars : How to Create Sacred Spaces for Art, Worship, Solace, Celebration by Nancy Brady Cunningham.
What do you have on your altar? Currently, I have a chalice (water), a metal athame, a wooden athame that I use more like a wand, a salt dish (earth), a tealight candle (fire), a bundle of sage (air), a silver candle and a gold candle (my current Goddess/God representation). I generally don't use the metal athame for cutting anything, but I will use it for carving runes during candle magic. There is also a glass plate surrounded by a wreath of dried flowers and a water-holder that I use to either consecrate items with salt water or hold fresh flowers.
Are some items seasonal? Yep. I have a pinecone on my altar now as a representation of the God and summer, and the wreath of flowers changes to a garland of silk leaves in the autumn. I also will use seasonal flowers on my altar, and seasonal fruits now and again.
What do you do with the items during ritual (do some stay and some go)? Generally, the standard altar fare stays, but some things come and go-- items that are being purified or charged, herb charms, bits and pieces of workings I'm doing.
What are some general things to keep in mind when building one? I like to keep at least one item representing each element on my altar at all times. As I'm at college, I don't have room for statues and the like, so size of items is also a consideration. I don't tend to worry about placement of items too much. I arrange things visually and instinctively.
Do you allow others to touch it (this might be a strange question)? My altar's been jokingly used to hold orange juice glasses every now and again (sacred to Oshun! :P), but generally, people don't really ask to touch it. When they do, it's generally to get a better look at the wooden athame. That's okay with me, in general. But I'd say overall, it depends on the person.
How is it set up in your home? In any room on campus I'm moved to, it generally goes wherever it fits. I prefer not to be in front of a window directly, and currently, it's placed between the foot of my bed and my closet.
My altar currently constitutes the top and first two shelves of my bookshelf.
I described the contents above, and here is how they are currently laid out.
Right beneath the water holder is a tiny red Buddha I bought on the shore this weekend. His pose in this figurine represents spiritual awakening, and since a lot of that's been going on with me lately, I got him to put on my altar. I also hope he'll be a focusing influence as I teach myself to meditate more effectively.
This is the wooden athame that my friend Bridget hand carved me, including my personal runes, Neid, Peorth, and Dagaz. It's too light to use as an athame, so I use it as an alternative to a wand. It has immense personal value to me.
The first shelf includes my favorite Pagan books, plus some oils, stone chips, and my rune bag.
My second shelf includes tools like incense, my oil cabinet, a bowl of stones, a bag of herbs, herb charms, dried rosepetals, shells I collected on the shore, and the candles that I use in candle magic.
This beautiful marble bowl was sent to me by
bathsweaver, and it has a few of my stones in it, including three different types of goldstone, which I use for energy raising.This ivory Celtic cross was also given to me by Bridget a few Christmases ago. It's so beautiful.
A closer view of some of the stuff on my second shelf.
Some of the herbs I use most commonly:: mugwort, damiana leaf, hyssop, powdered sage, cedar chips...
My altar acts as a daily reminder of my spiritual life and as a calming influence as well as a place to store my tools. Two great books I've read about everyday altars are Altars : Bringing Sacred Shrines Into Your Everyday Life by Denise Linn and A Book of Women's Altars : How to Create Sacred Spaces for Art, Worship, Solace, Celebration by Nancy Brady Cunningham.