Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

[Cerdivae Song]

Hey guys!
My preferred altar is outdoors for a number of reasons: My parents take them down, I feel as though the energy isn't right, it's easier to meditate outside, etc. I've had a few people ask me for advice on how to make one, and I figured I'd just make a post about it.
An outdoor altar should have the same elements as one you would make indoors. I prefer to set up without a cloth, and set it up so that I can sit in front of it. Which for me is on a log over looking a stream bed.
When setting up your altar, keep these things in mind. If you plan on leaving it up, make sure that they are animal safe. For me, that's using bee's wax candles, greens, natural foods, and stones. Make sure whatever you leave, you're fine with loosing. Curious animals like to move or take things.
Above all, make sure that making an altar outdoors feels right and isn't distracting. It works for some, but not for others. c:

[Munin-Hugin]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

I've thought about doing something out of doors as well, but not so much an altar as a walkway around my property. My idea is to get a series of paving or stepping stones, and then to carve into each one a symbol of a deity, sort of creating a meditation/devotional walk.

[Lady Fang]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

I keep a portable alter, that way all the small shinies are out of reach of the small children, as are the pointy things and flammable things. Its also quite functional in that I don't always do my work from home. Not only do I work outdoors in my yard, but there are various water sources in about a 10-15 minute drive that I do working at, and every so often I am called into someone's home. When that occurs, no matter what they tell me is going on, its either not as bad or worse than they think, so I really have no clue what I'll need until I'm there.....on a side note, I wonder at times why I don't make a business of this and charge people.

[Cerdivae Song]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

I've thought about doing something out of doors as well, but not so much an altar as a walkway around my property. My idea is to get a series of paving or stepping stones, and then to carve into each one a symbol of a deity, sort of creating a meditation/devotional walk.

Oh, that sounds so awesome. c:

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I keep a portable alter, that way all the small shinies are out of reach of the small children, as are the pointy things and flammable things. Its also quite functional in that I don't always do my work from home. Not only do I work outdoors in my yard, but there are various water sources in about a 10-15 minute drive that I do working at, and every so often I am called into someone's home. When that occurs, no matter what they tell me is going on, its either not as bad or worse than they think, so I really have no clue what I'll need until I'm there.....on a side note, I wonder at times why I don't make a business of this and charge people.

Hehe, that'd be a pretty good business. c:

[Munin-Hugin]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

This is one of the stones I've made so far.

[Cerdivae Song]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

This is one of the stones I've made so far.

That's so awesome! c:

[Gleb]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

Cardivae Song, can you please upload a picture of your altar? I wonder how it looks like. Making an altar outdoors is a good idea. But I don't have the opportunity at the moment.

[SuperSteffi97]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

An outdoor altar would be beautiful! :bounce::yesss:

[Cerdivae Song]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

Cardivae Song, can you please upload a picture of your altar? I wonder how it looks like. Making an altar outdoors is a good idea. But I don't have the opportunity at the moment.

Yeah! c:
I apologize for the photo quality and lighting, these photos were taken on a laptop at dusk.


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An outdoor altar would be beautiful! :bounce::yesss:

Ah, it is!

[Munin-Hugin]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

Yeah! c:
I apologize for the photo quality and lighting, these photos were taken on a laptop at dusk.
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Ah, it is!

That really looks great! I've really got to get myself working more on my stepping stones.

[Cerdivae Song]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

That really looks great! I've really got to get myself working more on my stepping stones.

Thanks! Building it was very satisfying. Your stepping stones will be too.

[Varga]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

This is more like "Finding your altar from out doors."

This is not my picture. (I don't want to take the camera to the cup stones) I Googled this pic so you can see what cup stones look like. There's ancient cup stones about 15 minutes drive away from my home. It's been evaluated that these cup stones have been made at 800-1050 AD.
Ancient Finns didn't build any temples to their gods like ancient Greeks. (How can you build a temple to forces of nature that are all around you all the time?) Finns had sacred groves and other sanctuaries where they did their rituals and so on, and cup stones were the "altars" where people left their gifts to deities, natural spirits and ancestors.
It's quite a feeling to kneel down at the place where my ancestors have kneeled down, sacrificed food, grains, beer, mead, jewelry... and asked exactly same things i'm asking thousand years later. (Prosperity, good health and protection to my family.)

[Threshold]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

Thanks for the awesome photos of your lovely altars and stones.

I have made outside altars in the past, most temporary for a particular celebrations, event, ritual etc. But some that lasted for a few months.

I used to have several acres of property with outcrops, stream, woods, etc that was very amenable to this.

Once I made a very large labyrinth on my land, and we had it open for a celebration and afterwards kept it up for ourselves for several months. It was amazing how wild critters were drawn to it!

It was in a place that was totally visible from the rest of the yard, and I was out there all the time both before and during the time the labyrinth was there, and we all noticed how the free chickens, wild bunnies, etc would be found at the labyrinth every morning when I went out to feed our animals.

I had also created a number of stone altars, and one outcrop was used as an altar on which offerings were left regularly, animal safe as instructed above.

Now I live in the SW of the United States where there are natural altars etc everywhere. Rocks galore!

I have a sacred oak grove in one forest near by...there is a strange small oak that lives here but only in the shadow of towering pine forests.

I often hike along the rim of the Grand Canyon and create small impromptu altars, acts of worship by arranging small stones into the image of the Sun.

As you can see in my avatar. I leave these often when I hike, they are usually about 12 inches in diameter.

I also have an group of stones in my "yard" (house is basically in the forest) that I leave offerings on regularly. I did not create it, it was a found altar, again, one the wild critters visit all the time. So I am just using what they already recognize as a special place.

There are many Native American ruins, within easy walking distance of my house, and I know one is an altar to the Sun. It is on a little rock column that goes out into the Canyon, it is not in a place that tourists visit. And even though one has to cross a very narrow rock "bridge" to get to it, and there are no real food for deer, elk etc, they go out there, I assume to worship as well.

[Petra Filiz]

Re: Making an Altar Outdoors? Keep in mind...

I believe some nature's voice should be in the garden, out doors.