Many witches choose to create an altar, which is the focus of many magickal rituals. Here is an essay on creating one for yourself.
Creating an Altar for your Home, by Kellie Jo Conn
You may ask why would I want to make an altar? There are as many reasons for making an altar as there are altar styles. Creating an altar in your home is like a small shrine, which not only brings the sacred into your home, but also can provide a focal point for connecting with the spirit world and our higher selves. People like to create altars to celebrate holidays, to assist
healing, to bring meaning to life events such as a birth or family members passing. Other reasons to make a home altar maybe to celebrate graduations, marriages, career changes, relationships, baptisms, changing of the seasons, and other important turning points in one's life. Today we are going to learn how to make an 'abundance altar,' (I figured we could all use abundance in our lives)!
When we think of the word abundance, the first thing that may pop into your head is material items, such as a new home, car, or furniture. If this is what abundance means to you, great! However, abundance can mean many things other than material possessions. To some, abundance may mean having more time to do the things you love, or the means to travel, or maybe that perfect career which is your life's passion. One man may feel wealthy because he is a news reporter and gets to travel around the world, while another may feel this man has a poor life because he is away from home so often. The second person's idea of wealth maybe to live in a secluded cottage in the woods far from the rat race of a large city, where they have room to walk in the woods and bond with nature.
I would like you to think about abundance and what it means to you.
The first thing we need to do is to decide where we should place our altar in our home. You will want to take into account the amount of space you have. An altar does not need to be huge in order for it to be effective. Anyone can make an altar, it does not matter if you live in a mansion or an apartment, use the space you have, but most important of all, use your intuition.
Where do you spend most of your time at home? Is it in your living room, bedroom, or den? I suggest you use a place that is convenient for you. Remember, this is not rocket science, choose a place that suits you. For example: My altar is in my bedroom/office because this is where I spend most of my time.
Once you decide where in your home the altar will be placed, we need to think of what we are going to build our altar on. It can be anything from a dresser, a nightstand, table, or even a wall. I happen to use a dresser because I am tight for room. Again, keep in mind that you do not need to go out and purchase a special table or anything fancy, so do not worry about this. (I have a close friend who uses an apple box draped in silk cloth.) The main thing is that you build one!
Now it is time to think about the special objects that you have around your house, which have meaning to you. This can be anything and everything, just keep in mind that whatever you choose to use is important because it has significance for you. These items generate the life force of your altar. Every altar should have an object placed on it that represents the spirit world or the Divine realms. Being that we are creating an altar for abundance, you may wish to place a deity such as the god of abundance Daikoku in the center of your altar. I personally use a carved wooden Buddha for all of my altar designs. However any sacred statue or even a picture of a deity will do. Think of Kuan Yin, Mother Mary, Jesus, St. Christopher, Gabriel, White Buffalo Calf woman, etc. It can even be a picture of a teacher, no matter what your spiritual beliefs are we each need to believe in something larger than ourselves. I think you get the idea.
Now we can add our special treasures and items that are significant to us. A few examples would be a sea shell, stones or crystals, a bird feather, a pretty twig, bones and horns, metals, plants and flowers, dried plants, herbs, fruit and grains, pine cones, leaves, animal symbols, essential oils, candles, pictures of pets or loved ones, a medicine pouch, special gifts or even a table top water fountain. For our altar we may wish to place a bowl of rice, symbolizing abundance, fitting huh?
Before we can begin creating our altar, we need to purify the spiritual energy in the room and the altar area. To do this simply burn incense or sage while asking the higher forces to cleanse this area of unwanted energies. Some like to use drumming to rid the room of negative vibrations, others like to chant or use bells and rattles to do the same. After a thorough cleansing you will be able to sense a change in the energy of the room, it will feel more light and airy. I like to chant the Reiki symbols while blowing the smoke around my sacred objects.
We now have our altar area and table ready, we have placed our cloth and deity in the center, we have our small bowl of rice and are now deciding on other sacred objects to place on the altar. Let's go with a green candle, again symbolizing abundance. Beautiful polished stones such as quartz, chrysoprase, and citrine would be nice. If you have a certain crystal that you love, place this on the altar too, again, use your intuition and let your inner-self tell you what to place. I like to add a pretty vase of flowers or a small potted plant to the altar to bring living, vital energy.! Finally, place all of your sacred treasures on the altar as well. Arrange them the way you feel fit. Some like to make patterns with their gemstone choices; a circle means completion, a spiral signifies movement of energy, a cross means intersection of heaven and earth or Christianity, and of course the triangle is about divine trinity or a path toward higher unity. Take your time arranging and rearranging your objects until you feel they are
placed just right.
Copyright 1999, by Kellie Jo Conn, GG-Avalon Crystals, all rights reserved
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