What purpose do an altar serve? In almost all religions the altar is the focus of the worship or the service. For Christians, the altar is at the front of the church, and depending on the branch of Christianity, the alter may be very elaborate holding the religious tools of the worship, or quite plain. During the Middle Ages, it was the practice for Christians to bury the relics of martyrs and saints under the altar due to a misinterpretation of a Biblical passage. For Hindus, the altar is quite elaborate with an image of the deity at the center. Buddhists face an alter with an image of Buddha for their meditations. The Hindus and Buddhists are not worshiping the statue itself, but what it represents.
For Pagans and Wiccans, the altar holds the tools of our craft and it is a focal point for our spells, ritual, or worship. The altar is often called ?The Deep Mind? or ?Henge Between the Worlds.? It is a corner of the room set aside to help us connect with the spirit. The altar helps to separate the spirit from the mundane, yet it also helps make the mundane spiritual. I know this is a paradox, but that is how I have experienced altars. Your altar is also your power spot. A place for you to sit and meditate, and connect with your inner power, higher self, and your Gods.
The altar is also a tool, just like casting the circle is a tool. It helps to focus the mind before you begin your ritual or meditation. In Starhawk?s terminology, the altar keeps Talking Self busy lighting candles, and Younger Self is attracted by the candle light, incense and other symbols you have placed on your altar. This helps set the stage for your work and opens your mind to the psyche and spirit.
Over time your altar, and the items on it will begin to develop energy. I really learned this when I had to rearrange the room my altar is in. After 4 years in the same space I took it down, blessed and cleansed it and moved it to a new blessed space three feet away from where it had been. Even so, the first few times I was before my altar, it felt very awkward and the energy was different. Now it has returned to a more normal feel.
Now you know what purpose an altar has, how do you build one? This is very easy. Any one can build an altar. The PN has a portable altar that began as a piece of cloth, a statue and a braided piece of yarn done during one of our first rituals. Today it also has two candle holders, another goddess image and a stone from CAW sacred land Annwfn. Your altar will grow over time.
One of the first things to consider when creating an altar is placement. Where are you going to put it? What room? What corner of the room? These are important questions to answer. When I was just starting out building my own altars I kept moving my about until I found the right place. At one point I had it in a small room that also had the cat box. It is not a good idea to share the room with a smelly cat box! Emerald at one point placed her altar in front of a window thinking how nice it would be to look out into the green world while she meditated. Her three cats also had the same idea and would sit on the altar and knock over things. Her alter didn't stay there too long before she moved it to a less cat attracting place.
As you go about gathering items for your first altar or adding things to an already existing altar, it is a good idea to cleanse and bless them. This includes the stand or table you use as a base. The reason is that cleansing and blessing new items helps set the idea in your head that these are sacred items, no longer mundane, and should be treated as such. Also, as you go about gathering things for your altar, you want to keep in mind what is meaningful to you.
Your altar, as your power spot, needs to be meaningful and beautiful to YOU. Make it individual, to fit your likes and needs. I almost always have some sort of cloth draped over my altar, yet I met a woman onetime who saw no need for altar cloths. People with asthma or allergies may not burn incense or smudge, they may use diffusers with essential oils or herbs in warm water. I keep my athame on my altar at home, however, if I had small children, that athame would be placed in a safe place from little hands. You need to make your altar to suit your situation and needs.
Often times, at group rituals you may be asked to bring altar decorations. Consider what you choose to take from your personal altar, the item will pick up the energy of other altar objects and the energy of the people and ritual. When you take it back home and place on your altar it may change the feel of your power spot, you may like it or you may not. Also consider the size of the object you are bringing to a group altar. Big rocks are suitable for outside shrines, but maybe difficult to carry from location to location. Some items you just make the sacrifice of inconvenience because you feel they are so necessary to the ritual...like very large cauldrons or drums.
A general Wiccan altar will have on it items representing the 4 Elements and the Goddess and God. For the 4 Elements people often use the tools of that Element, the athame for the East, wand for the South and so on. Other people may use whatever appeals to them as representative of that Element. Perhaps you found a butterfly that died but is not damaged and that speaks of Air to you, or maybe shells for the Water. As long as it has meaning to you and speaks to you. Often the Goddess and God are symbolized as candles on the altar, black and white, or silver and gold to represent the Lady and Lord.
What follows is a short list of some of the thing I have seen on altars: stones, holy stones, crystals, geodes, potted plants, cut flowers, harvested fruit or vegetables and other plant parts, candles in every shape size and color, chalices, cups, cauldrons, bowls shells, pocket knives, plain athames, elaborate athames, and awesome swords, incense, diffusers, herbs in water, tarot cards, oracle cards and runes..... and I could go on and on. This is not a definitive list.
It is very important to remember that you altar is a sacred spot, to place sacred items. It is not a place to lay your car keys when you come home from work, they are a mundane object. If you are doing car magick, then the keys may be an appropriate symbol for what you are doing, but otherwise keep them off the altar. Only sacred and holy items on the altar, no trash, no dirty underwear flung on it, this detracts from its sacredness. It is often hard to get guests to understand that an altar is not a place for them to set their drink or ashtray. I have two altars in my house. One I do 90% of my spiritual work, and is in a separate room, the other is the top of a book case by my chair in the living room where I do a lot of reading and such. The main altar I can shut away in the room, the other I can't and must explain (and explain again) is an alter and not for mundane ashtrays.
OK, you have your altar built, so how do you care and feed it? In my mind the care is cleaning the altar from time to time. I mean dust items off, shake the altar cloth or put a fresh one on, pick wax dripping off candle holders an d so on. Basic cleaning. However, you can also do a spiritual cleaning at the same time. As you wash off something, visualize negative grime being washed away and see it filled with clean energy. You can smudge or aspurge items before you put them back on the altar. Or, you can do a verbal blessing, or chant as you clean your altar to spiritually cleanse it and the items laid there.
Feeding your altar consists of doing stuff in front of your altar. Meditate there, do spells and rituals there. As you get new ritual tools and items for your altar, cleanse and bless them at your altar. This builds up the energy of the altar and the items on it. This is why I felt such a change in energy when I moved my altar 3 ft. after 4 years of being in the same place. All of this activity builds up vibrations and psychic energy around your power spot. Do as much magickal stuff as possible at your altar. As you use it and grow with it, you will find that it helps you set the stage in your mind and reach that meditative state easier. Each time you step in front of your altar, your Younger Self perks up, and Talking Self is less troublesome.
Your altar is a tool, a 'Henge Between the Worlds' your 'Deep Mind' to help you connect with deity, and your higher self. It takes on energy and like anything else require some upkeep. But I have always found an altar well worth the effort.
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