One Pagan's Altar

Brightest Blessings to you all as we begin the New Year! I am hoping to start off this year diving back into the things I love most, and I am beginning with my faith. As this last year was coming to a close, I was feeling very down and drained, like something was missing. I realized that the last time I has seriously sat down and worked out a spell, grounded myself, or even lit a candle for some quiet meditation was right before my youngest daughter was born back in the summer! I just happened to look up a few nights ago as I was letting the dog out and noticed that the moon was reaching full and got right to work. I found some jars for making my version of holy water, some uncharged candles, and a few other items I wanted to charge in the light of the full moon. I dug out some of my favorite go to books for Pagancrafting and found some recipes I had bookmarked for later use. As I sat outside in the chilly light of the magnificent full moon I felt renewed. A huge weight seemed to be lifted off of me and I said a silent thank you to Mother Moon for reminding me of what is important. So here I am now, kicking off what I am hoping is the beginning of a complete Pagan Wheel of the Year and Alphabet.

The Altar

A pagan altar can sometimes bring images of disturbing sacrifices, smoky candles, and an odd array of cliché paraphernalia. A simple definition is an altar is a work space and a sacred place to both worship and create things we hold dear. 

 This is an example of the diagram I used when I first started practicing, a very good start for any beginner. I still use a lot of these basic elements when I have my traditional altar set up.

My personal altar is mainly used for the later, a place for me to pay tribute and worship at. It is also a calming place where I sometimes write spells or work on my book of shadows. I love to change the altar's appearance for the season or the upcoming Sabbat. Making it a place of beauty that I think anyone would want to be around. Over the years my altar has moved and changed, much like myself. It started out as a low to the ground, large table where I placed everything I had on or near that I felt “showed” that I was a witch. As I grew older (and wiser I feel) my altar has gotten smaller and more intimate. I place things that I feel strongly about and use often on it. Since I am not completely “out of the broom closet” so to speak, most visitors didn't even know what it was! This past year I got a surprise blessing of a 4^th daughter, while my then youngest was still small. I had to put my precious altar away almost completely so things couldn't get misplaced, or damaged by tiny hands learning to crawl, walk, and grab everything. I felt saddened by this and once again my altar has morphed into something that better fits my needs at this point in my journey through life. 

Blessings!

Ani