Do you have an altar in your house?

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[Laura Stamps]

Thanks, Everyone, for talking about your altars....so many beautiful descriptions.  I love them all.   

And so many statues of Bast!!  That really big one sounds glorious! 

Magickal Blessings...

[Kasmira]

I love to hear about other Witches' altars!  Tell me about yours. 

Echoing the "I am not a witch" sentiment I will leave that and move onto my alter.

I only have the one alter in my room, it is mostly kind of hidden away because the shelf it is on is near to the ground (so I can meditate before it) and the shelf above obscures it. My statue of Tara, my statue of Kwan Yin and my favourite rune stone sit at the front surrounded by candels. Behind them is an array of incenses and behind them are all the usefull things, alter cloth (for when I set up a more specific alter), pencils (for rituals that involve writing things down), post its (for the same reason as pencils) and matches.

Basically it is very simple.

[Lily]

I love to hear about other Witches' altars!  Tell me about yours. 

I have a handmade black and gold altar cloth, with a statue of Anpu and a statue of Set (they seem to share well ). The statues don't stay up all the time, though! Sometimes they must have their privacy.

I also have a handmade ceramic bowl filled with sand (a holdover from the days when I tried to represent the elements, but the Boys seem to like it fine), a red candle for Set, a black candle for Anpu, incense (changes daily) and a small cactus that Set asked for (it has a teeny red flower on the top).

[yewberry]

I love to hear about other Witches' altars!  Tell me about yours.

I don't have a permanent altar.  I put them up seasonally.  Dia de los Muertos is always the biggest, with smaller ones for the solstices.  I sometimes make altar-ish offerings for other holy days, but those are the main ones.

Brina

[Marilyn (ABSENTMINDED)]

I'm finding it odd that so many people are saying 'I am not a witch, but...' then going on to describe their altars.  It is as if an altar is a natural thing for a witch, requiring the distinction.

The reason I'm finding it odd is that I am a witch and don't have an altar.  Mind, it's not religious witchcraft I practice, and my religion doesn't really incorporate a lot of the European style magic I find attractive.  Come to think of it, it doesn't really incorporate altars either, although that could be a matter of definition.  A spirit home in the backyard, a very old and creepy fox-face spirit catcher on the wall, that kind of thing, small nexuses (nexxi?) of power/communication.

The closest I come to an altary-looking setup, and this is mainly for show, is the special cloth, candles, etc. I use when doing public readings.  I find that having the 'right stuff' helps put people into the state of focus and open-ness that makes for a good reading.

What I have for witchcraft is a basket, a couple of shelves, and a drawer or two for things I don't want people to see or handle.  Ordinary things out in the open, like chalk and candles, herbs, etc., I don't worry about.

It might be a matter of space.  If I ever decide to move to something larger I might try making some kind of formal altar.  The ones I've read about so far sound really cool.  I don't know if it would be good for my comfort to dignify Old Dog with a statue, but I think I could come up with a meaningful display I liked.

Absent

[Star]

I'm finding it odd that so many people are saying 'I am not a witch, but...' then going on to describe their altars.  It is as if an altar is a natural thing for a witch, requiring the distinction.

Actually, the reason we're all making that distinction is a line from the original post:  "I love to hear about other Witches' altars!" 

[Marilyn (ABSENTMINDED)]

Actually, the reason we're all making that distinction is a line from the original post:  "I love to hear about other Witches' altars!" 

D'oh.  Makes sense.  By the time I decided to reply I had forgotten the wording of the original post and was just going from the answers I had read.  Sloppy me.

And I guess a good argument for going back to the first post and using the quote function.  I didn't bother since I was commenting on the thread rather than answering it.  (I started out that way, anyway.)

Absent

[Aasha]

I love to hear about other Witches' altars!  Tell me about yours. 

I don't consider myself a witch, but I do have two altars.  The first is on a shelf in my living room.  It contains a handmade mandala in honor of Taoism and shelf trim of golden-colored leaves (for prosperity).  It also has a mosaic sea glass vase for offerings to Asherah (my patron goddess).  This is for her epitome as "Lady who walks on the sea." There is also a small collection of animal figurines to represent her role as earth mother, tree of life, and fertility goddess. 

My second altar is on another shelf in my living room.  This one changes with the seasons and generally reflects the upcoming festival on the NeoCeltic Wheel of the Year.  I know the Wheel of the Year is a more a Wiccan construct than actual Celtic reconstruction, but it neatly reflects the year cycles in my part of the world.  It also coincides with the seasonal aspects of goat keeping (which are a major part of my life).

[SunflowerP]

I don't know if it would be good for my comfort to dignify Old Dog with a statue, but I think I could come up with a meaningful display I liked.

When I found one at the dollar store, I couldn't resist.  It's maybe an inch and a half tall, made of who-knows-what metal (dollar store, after all), and is glued to a red glass "rock" that has sparkles on it.  Not too much dignity there.

Sunflower

[SunflowerP]

I know the Wheel of the Year is a more a Wiccan construct than actual Celtic reconstruction, but it neatly reflects the year cycles in my part of the world.

As one e-quaintance of mine elsewhere quipped about the Wheel of the Year, "Gerald Gardner sold it to Ross Nichols (OBOD founder), or vice-versa, for one pound sterling and other valuable considerations."  Apparently, back in the '50s, Gardner's coven and Nichols' group, each of which before that time had been working with a four-holiday model (one used the cross-quarters, the other used the solstices/equinoxes, but I'm not sure which was which), celebrated together a few times, and both groups liked the idea of having more festivals in the year and adopted each other's days.  That the eight-spoked model was in use by not just one but two of the most influential early entrants in the neoPagan movement is probably a big part of why it was so widely adopted as a default parameter.

So while it's definitely not Celtic reconstruction, it's not just a Wiccan construct.

Sunflower

[Kasmira]

I know the Wheel of the Year is a more a Wiccan construct than actual Celtic reconstruction, but it neatly reflects the year cycles in my part of the world. 

I am kind of like this, Wicca was my touch down point into Pagan religions and that part of it has stuck with me for much the same reason as with you. That said, the equinoxes/solstices are only very minor holidays to me compared with the cross-quarters.

[phoukamare]

I have an altar dedicated to Macha and Epona.

Phouka

[violentsound]

I used to have a pimp altar, but I left it behind when I moved away from the city. I miss it - it started life as a dresser, and so not only had a ton of workspace on top but also drawers for all my crap as well. (And I have a lot of crap!)

Oh well.

Currently I have a small table below my bedroom window that serves as the 'working' altar - that is, the altar the physical components of my spellwork wind up on. It is covered with fabric that I change depending on what I'm working on and has a slate pentacle in the center. I keep two wooden crow skulls my grandfather carved on top of it too, and the little Morrigan prayer box my friend Ro made for me. Below the table and hidden by the fabric are boxes of stuff - knives, a wand, stones, feathers, string, extra fabric etc etc.

One of my bookshelves has a nice cloth on top of it, and in the center resides my statues of Thoth and Anubis, while tacked to the wall behind them is a picture of the two of them at the Weighing of the Heart. To one side of the statues is a lovely wooden box I think I got from my mom which holds all my essential oils. To the other is this cheesey little pyramid box in which I store all my Egyptian jewellry. The shelf below houses all my herbs and incenses, tarot cards, and candles and candle holders.

- N

[Renge]

My altar is in my bedroom.  It`s a wooden cabinet with square holes in the door.  These squares I use to insert prayer cards and remember them.  I have a beautiful shell lotus candleholder, an octagonal mirror in the center and black for my water, earth and air holders.  My goddess is Mnemosyne the goddess of memory.  I don`t have anything to represent her because she represents too much.

My other altar is myself.  I have bells I wear around my wrist as a kind of Menemosyne recall technique, a pentical, harmony bell and piece of flourite around my neck.  

[SatAset]

I love to hear about other Witches' altars!  Tell me about yours. 
 

I don't have a witch altar, but I do consider myself a Witch. 

My Kemetic altars are: 
My main one for Aset, which has a naos, statues, incense burner, goblet, bowl, divinitory tools, little box of stones, a picture of Her, a papyrus of Her, candles, blue altar cloth,

Nebet Het's altar I have a statue, a stone and an purple/black altar cloth,

My Two Kites Altar to Aset and Nebet Het which has statues of each of them both in human and bird form and candles,

Sekhmet's altar has two statues of Her, two red chinese lions, a necklace and an red offering cup,

I have a Set statue and red cloth for His altar, I have statues for Hethert, Heru Wer, Wesir, Nit and Yinepu, and Amun-Ra and a picture of Ra. 

Orisha Altars:

Oya's has a statue, two pictures, a mask, two swords, three necklaces, divinitory tools, and a black altar cloth, a purple candle

Oshun's altar has a yellow altar cloth, a statue, necklace, two jars of honey, two pictures and a yellow candle,

Oshoosi's Altar has a blue cloth, a Native American dream catcher and a knife,

Yemaya's altar is a blue candle,

Skadi's altar is a picture of her which I haven't put up yet,

My ancestor altar has books--mostly bibles on it, picture of my grandparents, and some jewelry

All of this is in my bedroom. 

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