The Altar and You

"The most powerful place that a Witch works is at his or her altar."
- Christian Day, "Magnificent Obsessions"

Last October a member of my family asked me about altars and how to make one. I tried to explain via text and phone call, but I wasn't completely sure she understood me. Finally, as I begin changing my altar for the Spring Equinox, I'm able to make a post that will hopefully clarify what I originally tried to communicate.

So, what exactly is an altar? An altar is a flat surface upon which a Witch places the tools of his or her craft. It's a place where spells are cast, rituals are performed, sacrifices (See here)/offerings are made, and where one would sit and meditate (if it's part of your practice and if you're not like me who "meditates" better when moving), among other things. It can be large and fabulous (like the altar at Hex: Old World Witchery, which is pretty damn fabulous) or it can be small and simple enough to fit into a shoe box and be slipped under the bed. It can be super obvious and have all of the witchy goodies from your favorite occult shops, or it can be discreet and look like a collection of stuff on your bedside table.

I think an altar is important and something that all members of the craft should have in one form or another, even if it's a travel altar small enough to fit in a Altoids container. If you don't have to hide your practice, I suggest setting up a permanent altar. Temporary altars, or altars that you can take out when you need it and put it away when you're done, are a better choice if you happen to be in the broom closet with the people you live with (unless your altar is "hidden in plain sight"). When I made my first altars, they were temporary and I was able to take it down and hide it away before my parents came home.

Now, what do you need for your altar? Well, that's pretty much up to you. Although there do seem to be some general "must-haves" for a basic altar. This post's main picture (above) is what I consider to be a very basic altar set-up. Notice the lack of athame, altar pentacle, and wand.

First, lets take a look at the back of the altar...

Altar Candles: 

These candles give you extra light, as most of the time the lights will be off and you may find yourself doing more work at night (which is simply practical for the busy Witch). The colors can vary depending on your ritual purpose/preferences. The ones shown here are red and may be changed to a yellow or white on the solstice. Before I used candles for light I used a fairy lamp.

Deity Representations: 

You should include some sort of representation for the deity/deities that you honor and/or worship. Here I have a silver candle for the Goddess (on the Left) and a gold candle for the God (on the Right). Not a good picture for color, but it looks that way in person. Your representations don't have to be candles. Some alternatives include statues (either of the deity/deities or an animal or symbol sacred to them), tarot cards, pictures of your deity, or natural objects (ex: A round stone or a seashell for the Goddess, and some acorns or piece of antler for the God). In general, the Goddess is usually placed on the left side of your altar and the God is placed on the right.

Working/Devotional Candle:

Placed in the center is your working or devotional candle. White, black or purple tend to be the most popular colors for this. A working candle is pretty much what it says on the tin; a candle lit whenever you do spellwork, etc. at your altar. A devotional candle is a candle lit during morning/night "daily devotion" rituals (which I may cover in a later post). It symbolizes you and your dedication to the craft. The one I have is purple because, to me, purple symbolizes the fifth element of Spirit, spirituality, personal power, mastery, and the "universal forces of magick".

Salt and Water:

On your altar, you will also want a vessel of salt and a vessel of water. These will both be blessed and combined to create holy water. The salt should be either sea salt or kosher salt, not table salt. Tap water can be used in a pinch, but spring or rain water is preferable. It's used to cleanse and bless your space and yourself.

Now onto the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Pagans consider these four elements to be the building blocks of all life. The chant "Earth My Body" is a simple, yet effective, example of this belief:

Earth my body,

Water my blood,

Air my breath and

Fire my spirit.

Thus having these energies of nature represented on the altar is important. The elements are placed at certain directions (South - Fire, East - Air, North - Earth, West - Water) and they are called into circle during the part of ritual called "Calling the Quarters".

South - Fire (passion/motivation/will):

The obvious representation for fire is a candle. Usually the candle would be red for the element of fire, but you can use any color significant to you. I tend to use a different fire candle for every Sabbat season. This is my candle for Summer Solstice, complete with a bee - a clear sign of summer here in Massachusetts.
Alternatives to a candle include pictures of fiery places like a volcano or a dessert, a dragon statue, ash from burnt wood, or even red glitter. Don't forget to have a lighter or matches nearby for your candle!

Candle Snuffer:

Also shown in a candle snuffer. Some people say that you shouldn't blow out candles for one reason or another. Such as "blowing out a candle offends the spirits of fire" and "blowing out candles ends the spell". I'm not sure how much merit I put into those beliefs but, I use a candle snuffer because I feel it's more practical than leaning over the candle and blowing it out.

...I may or may not have had a hair-on-fire incident because of it *cough cough*

I've seen snuffers in dollar stores, and you can substitute a small terracotta flower pot if you can't find one.

East - Air (communication/intellect/inspiration): 

My representation for the element of air is my smudging feather. I have it propped up in an old, cleaned out oil diffuser bottle because my altar is small and it's a space saver, plus it looks cool. ...Don't judge. Any kind of feather is a good representation of air, as is incense and hand fans. Pictures of windy places like mountain tops and statues of fairies would work as well. You can even use a yellow candle for air!

Incense Burner:

Incense plays a big part in my rituals. It scents the air, setting the mood for your work. It cleanses you and your sacred space along with the holy water mentioned above. It adds appropriate energy to your magick and rites, and can be used as a spell on its own to lift your prayers to the gods.  My burner of choice is a cast iron cauldron (with lid) from Omen: Psychic Parlor and Witchcraft Emporium with sand in the bottom of it. I like that it's multi-functional in that I can burn stick incense, cone incense and loose incense. I have a separate little burner/tealight holder that I use for incense cone offerings (so I can save the ash), and the incense from Lucky Mojo Curio Co. that I have is burned in a small soapstone dish.

When picking out an incense burner, think of what kind of incense you want to burn. There are incense burners made just for stick incense, which are fairly cheap and can be found at drugstores and dollar stores in Massachusetts. There are also ones just for cone incense, and hanging burners that can be used for cones, loose incense, and stick incense (depending on the size). Anything with a handle tends to make cleansing a space easier.

North - Earth (stability/growth/prosperity):

I chose three stones I picked up from a beach in Matunuck, Rhode Island. Bonus? Two are green, the color associated with earth! And one's all sparkly! Some other choices include soil, a plant, crystals, salt, a bowl dried herbs, a green candle, a picture of forests or other "earthy" places, or a small statue of a (non-travel) gnome.

Cup/Chalice and Dish/Plate:

One part of many a ritual include "Simple Feast" or "Cakes and Ale/Wine". At this point in your ritual, you have an appropriate drink (Wine, water, mead, milk, cider, etc) and some sort of cake (Cookies, bread, muffin, cupcake, etc) that you bless. Some is left for the gods - poured directly on the ground if you're outside - and you consume the rest, taking their nurturing energies and blessings into you as you do. In groups, it can also be a unifying act as you pass the wine and cakes around with the blessing "may you never thirst" and "may you never hunger".

You're cup and plate can be anything from a paper or glass cup and a napkin from the kitchen to a chalice and bowl like you see in the picture.

West - Water (emotion/healing/intuition):

Representations for water are fairly simple. Seashells from the beach, river stones, a glass or bowl of water, a picture of the ocean/a river/waterfall/pond, a mermaid statue, a blue candle. I collect seashells when we go to the beach in the summer, so I used them for my representation.

Altar Cloth:

I'm going to include the altar cloth here. An altar cloth goes on top of your altar to protect it from things like wax spills. It also helps to dress up the altar depending on the occasion. Black, white, purple and green seem to be the more popular colors for daily altars. They can be changed up depending on the season/holiday/moon ritual/spellwork to add an extra layer of festivity and symbolism. Here I have a white altar cloth with blue seashell print. It's crisp and fresh, and reminds me of summer.

**You can also think of animals that represent each of the four elements and use pictures or figurines to represent them.

If you have the four tools: Athame, Wand, Altar Pentacle and Chalice (mine shown with my bowl above), you can place them on the altar. The athame represents fire and the God, the wand represents air and the God, the altar pentacle represents earth and the Goddess, and the chalice represents water and the Goddess.

Word of advise. Anything you add to your altar, make sure you know why it's there. Knowing why something is there gives it meaning in your practice. If something is just there because you read it in a book or online, and you can't explain *why* and *what purpose* it serves for you, don't put it on your altar.

I'm actually debating on whether or not I should put away my wand, athame and pentacle and work from the basics like I use to. We'll have to see what happens.

I hope this post was helpful for you. Blessed be!