Altar Design & SetupBy: FireWind
Posted: April 11th,
2001
Creating and maintaining an altar can be a very rewarding
task. A personal altar or shrine can provide a safe place to meditate, can
be a workspace or ritual area, and more. When you create a personal altar,
you are truly creating what is literally your sacred space. It can be your
place to welcome the sun or meet with the gods. Here are some things you
might want to think about as you design and create your personal altar.
1. Preparation & Finding the Right Place
Before
you begin to plan your altar and space take a minute to think about why
you are creating it. What is your purpose, why are you deciding to build
this now? What kind of things will you be doing with/at/near/on it? Will
it be used for ritual work? Perhaps you plan to meditate or perform ritual
at it. Maybe you will use it to write on when doing your magickal journal.
Do you have ritual tools and will they sit on it? Why? Will you dedicate
it to any particular Deities/Elements? You can have more than one altar if
you wish, or one with many purposes.
When you have completely
thought out the whys and whats of your altar, then begin to plan it.
First, decide where you want to place your altar. Do you want it indoors
or out. If indoors, what room will you be most comfortable in? Will the
altar stay in that place or will you be moving it for rituals, etc? Which
direction will your altar face? This can be an important choice. Many
people like to face their altar East because that is where the sun rises.
Mine faces North as I am comfortable in this ‘home' element. If you need a
certain energy in your life, you may want to face your altar in that
direction . Research and meditate on your element of choice before you
begin because that choice will affect how you feel and what you do there.
2. Construction
Now that you know what you will be
using the altar for and where you will put it, you can decide what to make
it out of. You may decide to build a table from scratch or to buy one
specifically for your altar. But don't think that you absolutely must do
either of these. You may have an old editable or cabinet lying around that
can do perfectly well. A box or even the seat of a chair can suffice if
need be. Mine is a cardboard box with a noteboard on top covered with a
cloth. Keep in mind that the tools of the Craft are practical tools;
household items are just fine. Any flat surface will do really, as long as
you don't mind getting wax on it.
For a permanent altar, you'll
have to take into consideration your preferred position for using it. Will
you be standing, sitting, kneeling, using a chair? You'll need the altar
to be at a comfortable height. And don't neglect safety, either. Ritual
has a way of being interrupted when the curtains hanging above the candles
catch fire. Make sure the surface is secure and safe before using it.
You'll also need a place to keep things handy; books, candles,
incense, etc. You may decide to keep everything handy by having shelves or
drawers on your altar. Or you may prefer keeping a cabinet or bookcase
nearby. Think about this when designing your altar and space.
3. Cleansing & Dedication.
Before setting up
your altar, you should cleanse it in the ordinary way with dustbuster in
hand. It's important to get rid of all the physical dirt before anything
else because no matter how many candles you burn it still isn't "clean" if
it's covered in dirt. When you are finished that, it's a good idea to
purify the space. It's up to you how you want to do this. You can set up
your altar now or after you do this. You can sprinkle with salt, invoke
the elements, or mentally clear out all the "ickies" from the space.
However you choose to do this, the point is to get rid of any unwanted
energies from the space to create a clean working environment.
It's up to you whether or not you want to bless your altar. By
‘bless' I mean to make it sacred, to make it a fitting place for the gods
to visit. You can do this by consecrating the space with the elements, by
doing a dedication or consecration ritual, meditating on the space, or
creating sacred space in another way that is meaningful for you. What's
important is that this is Sacred Space; a place you can come to when you
want to express your spirituality. This is a safe place; a peaceful place.
Treat it with respect and it will always be there for you.
4.
Setup
In writing this article, I am assuming that you are an
Eclectic/Solitary Wiccan/Pagan of some sort. As such, your altar setup is
largely up to you. Do you want God & Goddess candles? Element symbols,
an incense holder, tools? Or perhaps you prefer to simply keep personal
objects on it. Where will everything be placed? Think about the directions
and their meanings. Decide what things will make your altar space most
meaningful for you. Don't just read someone's altar setup and use it
without considering why you're using it. This is your spirituality; not
theirs.
You may decide to keep representatives of the elements in
each of the directions. Maybe statuettes of the Goddess & God might be
nice. Do you use gemstones? How about placing them on your altar. You may
keep divination tools on your altar, or maybe magickal herbs enhance your
space.
Don't feel too limited by what is "supposed" to be on an
altar. Whatever is meaningful for you can be there. That being said,
however, be careful to think things out before scattering objects across
your sacred space. Think about why you are placing this on the left side;
this on the right. Why is that object in the South and why is this one in
the center. Why is that object far from you and why is this one near?
Consider these questions when setting up your altar, and experiment with
it.
That all being said, here is an altar setup based on a popular
solitary method. This is a only a guide for you who have no idea where to
begin. Your idea of what should be where may differ wildly. But again,
please don't just copy this wholesale and use this as your setup. Only
include those objects which have meaning for you, and place them where you
feel is right.
5.
Maintenance
Yes, it's true; you have to maintain your altar
after you create it. Keep in mind that your altar is your sacred space,
and as it gets dusty and the water bowl dries up and the flowers slowly
die so too is your sacred space affected. It's like inviting a guest to
dinner in a room piled with leftovers and dirty dishes. Not quite the
impression you want to make.
If you keep a water bowl make sure to
keep it topped up. If you have flowers or plants on your altar make sure
they aren't dead. Dried, sure. But dead, rotting flowers on an altar isn't
exactly a shining example of your personal sacred space.
And of
course you can change things to match the time of year. Think about the
seasons and the upcoming Sabbat. Do you want your space to reflect this
time? Perhaps an egg at Ostara or a carved turnip at Samhain might help
you find that seasonal mood. Fresh flowers in spring, a green plant in
summer, or dried herbs in winter might be nice. Just remember that if you
have a plant on your altar that it is important to take care of it.
Hopefully you found something interesting or useful in
this article. Having a personal altar can be a wonderful expression of
your Craft. It can provide you with that personal "safe" space you can go
to whenever you are in need of a little bit of peace.
As usual, if
you have any questions, please feel free to email me. (Please mention this
article in the email).
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