Your Altar/Shrine

[Corvus]

Re: Your Altar/Shrine

My altar is um 'a work in progress'. It's on the top of my dresser/desk. My books are stacked up with the smallest on top so I have like steps going to the top. On the bottom 'step' (or the desk) there is an incense burner with stars and a moon on it, my Tarot cards usually sit next to that. The second 'step' has a candle in a white container and my amulet with a depiction of Het-Hert. The top 'step' has a statue of Het-Hert and a candle in a red container. Beside the pile of books which makes up the 'steps' (Because it is still a desk and I need somewhere to put books and being I'm sharing a rather small room with my brother, I don't have much space) there is a long black candle stick with a white candle. All the colors are on purpose and represent important things (Red the sun, Black the fertility of the shores of the Nile, White for purity). On the side opposite the candle stick I have a wicker jar thing filled with herbs (ash leaves, willow bark, some flowers, ect.), bits of ribbon and some jewelry.

I'm hoping to move my altar to a shelf once I have the shelf so that it has it's own space. I think I lost some of my stuff for my altar when I moved or it's in storage. Either way I'm really pressed for space. In my last room I had and entire corner of the room dedicated to deities and magick working. I feel really bad everything is so cluttered and messy. At the moment the altar is for Het-Heru only and I have no other alters.

[Jembru]

Re: Your Altar/Shrine

Erm.. right now it is all decorated for Yule. It might be more useful to you to describe the items I consider a more permanent part of it? I have a statue of the Goddess. She is an ornament of a lady dressed in white (colour I associate with Brigantia, to whom many Romano-Celtic shrines around here are dedicated), God is represented by a chalice shaped candle holder bearing the face of the Green Man and the names of the 4 Sun festivals around the base (the candle representing his connection with the sun). I have an athame and a wand, although I rarely have the wand on show as I only use it for directing healing energy. I feel uncomfortable if my athame isn't on the altar though. My pentacle is wooden and slightly curved at the sides so it can be used to hold yummy cakes, ahem, I mean offerings. I have a few magpie feathers (fear not, this bird is definitely NOT a protected species!), and always have at least one of them on my altar.

As for representing the elements, this really varies from small glass dishes containing the actual element, to using the decorations themselves as representations.

My coven had a prescribed way of setting up an altar and a prescribed way of doing things. For a coven, this is useful, for solitary practise, I scrapped it after just a few months as it just isn't practical. If it interests anyone, I can also describe the coven's way. It's not a secret!