Your Altar

Milfoil

Love the mead horn :)
 

tiffer

Thanks! It was actually brought for a viking party I went to! But it is so nice and contains some nice symbolism so I thought I'd pop it on my altar

:)
 

WolfyJames

I’ve finished arranging my altar in my new place. I have now a little corner when I can put pagan stuff on the wall. I have a few but I don’t have the nails necessary to place them on the wall. I also have my bookshelf where I keep my books on Paganism, Wicca and various subjects. I plan to replace it by a taller bookshelf at some point, because I’d like to put there too my books on tarot as well.

There is a statue of the Moon goddess as well as Cernunnos. We often work with Brighid and her cauldron in our tradition, especially for healing, hence my small cauldron. I have put my wand and my athame on my altar. After that are items related to the elements: rock for earth, feather for air, candle for fire, and the seashell for water. We also work with animals to represent the elements in our circles and our work in our coven, so wolf is earth, salmon for water (orca in our circle but orca is not in the deck), raven for air (eagle in our circle but eagle is not in the deck), and frog for fire (salamander in our circle but salamander is not in the deck). The frog represents my power animal, which is the frog. The beads have been made specifically for our coven mantras and prayers. I spent a very long time with no wand, so I put an Ace of Wands of a deck, with a black cat with it, to replace the wand in a way, so I still keep it. As for the Fortuna small pendant and I Ching coin, I put them on prosperity altar/box. The stone with love written on it is a gift that I got when our HP got married.

As for the bookshelf, the witch and black cat are Halloween decorations that my mother gave to me. I put my witch cord there around the bookshelf. The frog painting is a gift from my HP because the frog is my power animal. The celtic wheel of the year is right next to the frog painting. We often use drums and rattles in our circles and coven so here are my two rattles. The round box in the middle contains the paper saying that I've reached the second degree in the coven. I have a fondness for gargoyles and they're protectors so I have one. I have a small turtle thingy that I find lovely and keep it there.

Also, I've recently decided to make a prosperity altar/box, and I bought a Fortuna and Ganesh statues. Unfortunately there was an accident and my Ganesh statue broke. I plan to take pictures of my prosperity altar once it will be final, I plan to buy more stuff for it... and another statue of Ganesh to replace the broken one.
 

Attachments

  • altar-1-1200.jpg
    altar-1-1200.jpg
    162.9 KB · Views: 131
  • altar-2-1200.jpg
    altar-2-1200.jpg
    103.8 KB · Views: 123
  • altar-3-1200.jpg
    altar-3-1200.jpg
    137.7 KB · Views: 124
  • altar-4-1200.jpg
    altar-4-1200.jpg
    112.6 KB · Views: 120

Briar Rose

I love this old thread! When I re-read the original post my first question is, what is it that you want your altar to do for you?

The first thing I thought of is Crystal Grids and how powerful they are.
 

ravenest

My water altar evolved, it was a Vedic mermaid Brass statue on a piece of lapis with shells, bits of coral and an octopus and lobster (fridge magnets) and sat on the shelf behind the kitchen tap (living in a large one-room cabin that is the only place of water).

Now she (and the altar) have a whole kingdom ... I bought a largish fish tank for $5 and set up the inside with river gravel, stones and various rocks with holes and caves in them, 3 types of water plants, some fish and 2 small and one giant water snail. The altar is now on top of that. It sits in front of a window, at night I put t-lights on the window ledge behind the tank and the cabin lights out and the shadows of the altar, mermaid, wavering weed, fish and slow-mo water snails fan out over the walls and ceiling ... I like that ( Neptunian / Cancerian here :)

Ed; Oh yeah ... what it does for me ; relax, calm and stabilize my thoughts and emotions
 

tiffer

What my altar does for me... I see it as a place to go and disconnect from the hecticness (if that's a word!) of life. Some where I can go and relax and connect with my spiritual side and, as everything on my altar has a little story behind it, somewhere I can go and remember happy memories without interference from everyday life :)
 

Disa

What my altar does for me... It reminds me to pay attention to the changing of the seasons and acknowledge them. It reminds me to give thanks for what the season has given me and to look forward to what's to come. It's a place to reflect and to gain strength when I feel I need grounding. It's a place I do candle magic and set other intentions.

I have many altars in my home which represent different things and/or serve different purposes, but my main altar is the one above, which I use most often, as needed.
 

Nemia

I have several spiritual places around home and the garden, too. Some time ago, I saw on the Internet that people build little shrines from Altoid tins. I had some little tins at hand and I was before a journey abroad - so I made a portable shrine that I took with me. It now has found a nice place in my bedroom.

I painted the box in moss silvery green acrylic color. On the front, I put the Ace of Cups and a key. On the back, I glued a photo I took myself some years ago at one of the lovely Matrones temples in the Rhineland, Germany. I love the Matrones and the whole Gallo-Roman culture.

On the inside, I have a little picture that I loved very much as a child - there are not many pieces from my childhood that have survived the desastrous divorce of my parents, so every piece of it is dear to me and reminds me of my inner child. And of course my most beloved symbol, the compass rose with symbols of the directions. I love the piece of coal that I got in a mine where my grandfather used to work, it's a museum today. So it's really from deep inside Earth.

I have a number of little compasses that I decorated as spiritual reminders, and keep them in different places at home. I always take a compass with me. When I feel my energy lagging, I put my face northward and stretch out my arms to east and west and let Earth renew my energies.

My altar itself is evolving. I plan to make a lararium for my and my husband's ancestors, too.

I find it important that my home reflects my beliefs and longings.
 

Milfoil

Very beautiful Nemia. What a lovely contemporary take on the portable altar. :)
 

Glass Owl

My bookcases were once full of books. After several book purges, I was able to dedicate some shelves for various altars. Here is one section.

The object on the blue disc (left side, second shelf) is a piece of dinosaur bone. My daughter bought it at a crystal and rock store so it is technically hers.

UPDATE: I have changed out the picture so it isn't so dark.
 

Attachments

  • 20140514_213444.jpg
    20140514_213444.jpg
    105.3 KB · Views: 101