Altars

Building Altars

Although some altars just seem to build themselves or just spring up with no planning or forethought,
the planned or working altar usually follows steps that resemble the following: -

Purpose: - The purpose or reason for constructing a particular altar is usually the first step.
You may like to consider naming or labeling the building of your altar.
It begins with a desire to honor, celebrate or change something in your life. Examples may include the following: -

· Honouring your Goddess or in other powers that be.

· Celebrating separations, unions, anniversaries, milestones, new beginnings or a completion within your life.

· Paying homage to a special person or persons, either alive or passed.

· Celebrating or connecting to the aspects or roles in your life, such a: -
.maiden, mother/father, matron, mid-life, crone/aging, inner child, warrior, provider, healer, teacher/mentor etc.

· Healing mind, body or spirit.

· Working altars that could be designed to affect changes in your life……..growth, status, attitudes or even circumstances.

· Altars to aid in your long term magick

· Creating a space to use for specific needs, such as peace, tranquility, creativity etc.

Once you have decided what your focus will be, it is important to state the purpose in a clear and concise way.
For working altars, especially, you will want to understand the exact nature of your purpose.
You should write down in a clear statement that could be something like this: -

· The purpose of this altar will be to build a place where I can honour the….God/Goddess, Spirit,
grandmother, job, marriage, education etc.

· I build this altar to represent my desire and commitment to enhance or increase (or decrease), a habit
or quality or talent, in my life.

· I name this altar ‘Peaceful Space’ (or whatever name you choose), and construct it as a safe and
comforting place, where I will come to know peace and the quiet of being with myself.
Whatever name you choose should be in keeping with the purpose of the altars’ use.

Choosing Space: -

Choosing the place to set your altar is an important consideration. Some of the things to consider: -

· Will this place accommodate the size and number of objects I will be placing there?

· Do I need this altar to be in an area where I will see it often?

· Does it need to be in a more private area?

· Will I be burning incense or candles and is it in a safe place to do so?

· Is the area I’m choosing safe from disruption of pets, children or visitors?

Suggestions: -

· Shelves, Cupboards, Closets, Dresser Tops, Stands, Tables, Nightstands, Coffee tables, Desks,
Windowsills or even Book Shelves.

· Virtually any place can be an altar, including porches and corners of your yard or garden. Just be inventive!

Colours: -

Colours are important to set the mood and enhance the properties you wish to represent on your altar.
You may use the colours from the following list, but keep in mind that although colours
tend to be universal in their symbolism, you should always think about
what the colour means to you personally, when you think about it.

· White….protection, peace, truth, purity, sincerity

· Green….healing, money, prosperity, fertility, finance, luck.

· Pink….emotional love, harmony, honour, and morality.

· Red….love, passion, energy, courage, health, sexual love, strength, vigor.

· Yellow….friendship, learning, clairvoyance, attraction, and protection.

· Purple….spiritual shield, dignity, ambition, power, tension.

· Blue….forgiveness, healing, tranquility health, patience, and understanding.

· Orange….stimulation, creativity, encouragement.

· Black….quiet power, self-control, power to absorb, depression, re-births.

Altar Cloths: -
Cloths, linens and coverings are an important part of many altars and although not a necessity
they do add colour, texture and mood to any setting. Cloths can be purchased as tablecloths,
doilies, or scarves. They can be made at home and embroidered or taken from trunks in the attic.
Many yard, car boot or shop sales, even mill shops can offer a variety of cloth, in all colours, shapes and sizes.
Linen hankies make wonderful additions to altars. Choose your coverings with colours that
correspond to the workings of you altar. Choose textures by the mood, they enhance
according to the purpose you have in mind.

Candles: -
You will not always want or need candles for you altar, but they are popular and are often used to: -

· Draw or dispense energy

· Focus during meditation, chants or prayers

· Represent colours

· Establish mood

· Used for symbolism

The style, size and shape of candles can be chosen based on need, cost, associations and convenience.

· Large Pillars….when you need to burn the same candle continuously or re-light several times.

· Seven-Day….usually in glass containers so they can be left unattended for long periods of time.

· Small Pillars….convenient and more economical than larger ones.

· Votives and Tea-Lights….very economical, plentiful, can be used in a variety of holders,
require less supervision than tapers and pillars.

· Tapers….plentiful, versatile, available in many shades of colour, but do require close supervision.

· Special Shapes….can be poured at home into moulds or purchased in various shapes, you can then
can maximize the properties of the shape with colour and burning.

Some popular shapes and their meanings: -

· SKULL: -healing, mental and emotional disturbances, developing psychic powers and other plane awareness, enhancing telepathy, draws and dissipates nightmares.

· CAT: -wisdom, requesting aid of spirit helper or familiar.

· OWL : -wisdom and insight.

· DRAGON : - power and protection.

· UNICORN : -connects with magickal and faery realms, protects the innocent

· DOLPHIN : - ocean and water magick, promotes oneness with nature and harmony with natural forces on all levels.

· MOON : - lunar magick, to represent the Goddess figures and feminine aspects.

· WIZARD : - spirit guide and guardian.

· PYRAMID : - alignment with higher plane energies, banishing or drawing energies.

Candle Holders: -
The holders the you choose to use for your candles, serve not only to make your candles burn
more safely, but also add height, shape and depth to your altar space. They can be quite elaborate,
or very simple, matching or sensible or to any extreme of unique.

Herbs, Incense and Oils: -
The lists, properties and uses of herbs, incense and oils is very long and can be quite
complex and may also vary from one user to the next. For an informal and simple
list of these, please click on these links below, to go to the relevant sections within
Tranquil Earth for information and help.

Herbs Incense Oils

Objects: -
The objects that you choose for your altar will be entirely personal to yourself. You may choose
things from list of representations and symbols, but it is most important that you choose things that are
right for you. Remember, the altar is a tool that connects the conscious mind to the sub-conscious.
The point is to make a connection between these two realms. The reason for choosing items is to
bridge this gap, send massages back and forth between them and it therefore must speak a language
that is understood by both, the conscious and sub-conscious parts of your mind.
Everything you place on your altar has to make sense to you and speak to you on some level.
Here are just a few items that you might use on your altar: -

· Pictures – photos – drawings.

· Statues – miniatures – carvings.

· Written words – poems – essays – affirmations

· Flowers – plants – seeds

· Post/greetings cards – newspaper clippings – magazine articles.

· Needlework – jewelry – stones – shells.

· Mementos – collectibles – trade tools.

· Coins – charms – amulets – books

Using Your Altar: -
In general the way to use an altar is to charge it to gather and focus specific energy or to
keep an open working channel between the conscious and sub-conscious mind.
This can be accomplished in several ways depending on the type of altar and the individuals’
personal ways of using energy. Some altars are best left quietly to work while others will
need to be tended everyday.

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