A is for Altar

Yeah, so I’m behind again. I’m going to post this anyway, because I set a goal for myself. I never said it couldn't be late. ;p

To continue with the letter A, I decided to go with something that I consider easy. There are plenty of excellent posts on altars. I assume that most of you already know what an altar is and what purpose it serves, but you know what they say about assuming. So I’m going to serve up a dish of leftovers and then add my own ideas to the pot.

Dictionary.com offers several definitions of the word altar, the first being:

·         An elevated place or structure, as a mound or platform, at which religious rites are performed or on which sacrifices are offered to gods, ancestors, etc.

That’s pretty cut and dry. If you have your own altar, you know that the work that goes on there is far more meaningful than that pitiful little definition. For the purpose of this post, I will focus on my own pagan altars, their uses, and how they came to be.

I found the spirituality or religion, whichever you prefer, of Wicca during a rather angry and emotional time of my life, my teen years. After first blaming and then denying God for all the perceived injustices in my short life, I stumbled across a bit of graffiti during my senior year. In black magic marker someone had written, “Merry meet and merry part until we meet again” and drawn a pentacle on one of the wooden books stands in keyboarding class.

I immediately thought “How nice,” raced through my work, and then hit the computers with internet access to do a wee bit of research. I was limited, being on campus, but the information I found called to me. I borrowed a few books from classmates who I’d learned were practicing, and then promptly dove in.

I can’t remember much about my first altar other than the fact that is was small, placed on a second hand table held together by that obnoxious silver duct tape, and was pretty much disguised. My father would have blown a gasket had he known that I was dabbling in witchcraft. I know that I followed what was described in the books I read. I had no real clue as to what I was actually doing or why I was doing it. I think I came to the craft in the same manner that many others do. I wanted to change my life and I thought that magick would, well, magically cure everything.

I have since grown, thankfully, learned a bit, and continue to “fill my cup”. I don’t call myself Wiccan anymore, unless I end up in a conversation about religion with someone who is unfamiliar with paganism. It’s just easier that way. I am a witch, and still use many of the techniques and practices I picked up through the Wiccan path, including keeping an altar.

I now have an entire room for my workings. The walls themselves are little shrines, built in dedication to the Elements and their many representations. The room also serves as a space for my crafting. I like to think the magick space helps to inspire my creativity, and well, let’s face it; I’m lucky enough to have an entire room for my magick and worship. I won’t press my luck for a second room for my crafts.

In what I refer to as my “witchy room”, I have my working altar. It’s used for magickal workings, ritual celebration of the Sabbats, healing work and Reiki, communion with the gods, and now for meditation and journey work. I used to have a separate altar for my meditations, but as I've grown I've come to feel that it’s better not to separate the two. This altar changes often. I add little mementos from nature and change the décor for holidays.

The little silver Penguin is a tribute to one of my spirit guides; the drinking horn was a Yule gift a few years ago from my boyfriend. He got me the stand this year. The little tray holds feathers, leaves, stones, shells, moss, and other odd gifts from nature. The ribbon was wrapped around a gift from my little sister. I just love the color and wanted to add it to the pile. ;p The basket is used for healing and contains the names of people I am currently working with. I use the feather in cleansing, the rattle to raise energy, and the wand is a work in progress. After working with Bast awhile, I feel that my altar is a little off kilter. I’ll probably end up switching her to the right side and changing the color of my candles.

I have a “hearth altar” which I use for nightly devotionals. My boyfriend and I share a home, and I consider this the center of it. I built it for protection of our home and in honor of our personal guides – my Matron, Bast, and his totem animal, Fox. The center statue was a much appreciated gift from a friend. It is double-sided with a woman on one and a man on the other. I think it represents the duality of the Divine quite nicely. The stones, pyrite, snowflake obsidian, jet, lava, malachite, pumice, and petrified wood, are for protection and to clear away discordant energies. The little Bast statue was another gift from the boyfriend, handcrafted by a talented Etsy artist. The fox was also handcrafted at my request by my sister and was gifted to my boyfriend.

I also keep a small ancestral altar for my grandmother on my father’s side. She kind of raised my brother and me when we were kids. Her passing was hard on me. I’d like to add my mother’s mum, but I wasn't terribly close to her, and just haven’t gotten around to doing it yet. The little mouse peeking out behind the candle holder was something of my grandmother’s that I saved after she passed away. The ship is there because she loved the ocean and always kept mementos of it. Unfortunately, I was unable to acquire any of the ocean themed items that were actually hers.

I feel that altars are important in my practice. They are a constant reminder of my spirituality. Placing them in areas that I frequent help aid against that nasty little habit we sometimes have - getting too caught up in our day to day lives and forgetting to be thankful of what we have and where it comes from.