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Author Topic: Altar setup: how to do it?  (Read 1661 times)

Mewtini

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Altar setup: how to do it?
« on: April 13, 2016, 12:08:24 am »
Hello again.  Given that I've recently gotten serious about the whole paganism thing, it feels only natural for me that I should make a place of worship to Veles, as well as the other gods on certain occasions.  The only problem is, most rituals require an alter of some sort...and I dont really have anything.  I dont even have the proper candles!  I do have a Slavic drinking horn and some sticks of incense, but that's about it.

I'd like to be able to honor the gods properly, and I think the best way to do that is to give prayers, offerings, and do magical work at a personalized alter.  Are there any specific supplies that are a must have for this kind of thing?  I currently have the following list of things that I can think of that would be part of a proper alter to Veles:

A cup or drinking horn
A wooden or stone idol of him, centrally positioned
Candles, and a nice candle holder (I found this one that looks like a dragon)
Incense and herbs, plus a ritual bowl to burn them in
A couple of bones, preferably of a wolf, but I'll take what I can get

Anything I'm missing?  What stuff do you have on your alters, if you have one?  It would be helpful if you could post links to where I could find particular items you might recommend, so that I may shop for them when I have some free time.  Thank you in advance!

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Re: Alter setup: how to do it?
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2016, 11:18:18 am »
Quote from: Mewtini;190027
Are there any specific supplies that are a must have for this kind of thing?

What stuff do you have on your alters, if you have one?

 
While I know some paths have items that are considered necessary to have on one's altar, I think that is path specific.  For me, there is no one thing that I feel needs to be there for it to be an altar.

I have two dedicated altars in my house right now.  One is in the bedroom, and I consider it my main altar.  The other is on my computer desk, and is probably the one I use most in a daily manner (as hubby sometimes works nights, and so I don't always have access to the bedroom).

My bedroom altar changes with the Sabbats, but there is almost always a candle, my drinking horn, a hanging cup (it's actually a candle holder, but I don't put candles in it, instead it holds bits and bobs that I gather and want to put on my altar).  Right now, there is an altar cloth, two salt-dough snakes, a painted egg, a decorated stick (painted, with charms and tied on bits of string from previous craft projects), a sprig of fake flowers.

I have a small set of shelves hanging over this altar, which houses my tools, so I don't actually keep them on my altar but they are close.  It also has a personal amulet pouch, a string of tobacco bundles that a friend made for me, some sacred jewelry and my altar pentacle.  Sometimes some of these things will be on my altar, but most of the time they are on display above it.

My computer altar holds a lot of things that I use regularly, plus my growing collection of deity and honorary statues.  I do change things out here as I feel they need to change.  This altar also has candles, but as it is over my computer, I don't actually burn them on the altar, if I want to burn a candle, I'll burn it on the table behind me.  The largest piece on it is a statue of a black robed angel surrounded by skulls.  She doesn't represent any particular deity, but my own darkness.  Sometimes I'll have a tarot or oracle card leaning against her if I am working with a particular card for several days.  There is a small statue of Odin I made from salt dough.  A wolf head and cat that I also sculpted.  There is a small wooden laughing Buddha and a resin medicine Buddha.  An Elegua statue gifted by a friend.  A glass token I made several moon cycles ago and an origami flower charm I made.  There are a variety of stones.  I have a vial of Viniq (which is a lavender liqueur with glitter in it).  An iron spear head, a small jade wand, my rose quartz rune wand and a set of rune dice that a friend made (and that I use for daily rune draws).  Hanging from the front of the shelf is a set of Tibetan prayer flags.

Almost everything on my altar is either hand made or was gifted.  Other than the stones, there is only one thing there that I bought for myself (the laughing Buddha).  I absolutely do not have anything against buying things to put on your altar (just mentioning it as you had asked for links to items, but I don't have them for my stuff).

What I think matters most, is that the items on my altar feel right.  That is typically how things make their way on and off of my altar.  I will look at it one day and just not want a certain thing there right then, so I will move it somewhere else (either on another shelf for random display, or I have multiple storage areas for stones and other altar things).  Or I will come across an item, either in my house or out and about and just know it needs to be on my altar.
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Re: Alter setup: how to do it?
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2016, 12:05:29 pm »
Quote from: Mewtini;190027

Anything I'm missing?  What stuff do you have on your alters, if you have one?  It would be helpful if you could post links to where I could find particular items you might recommend, so that I may shop for them when I have some free time.  Thank you in advance!

 
There's another recent thread you might want to check out, where people have described some of their altars. (I made a longish post in there, and nothing's changed in the last week.) You might also want to check out a longrunning thread on altar and shrine photos.

I do want to reiterate what I said in there, that a number of people and traditions make a distinction between 'shrine' and 'altar' and that an altar as a working tool is going to have more limitations on it usually than a shrine.

A shrine is, functionally, whatever makes you and the entities it's honouring happy. There are often common features (shrines honouring a particular deity may well have symbols, colours, etc. in common) but also a lot of space for your own personality, or specifics of your interactions with that particular entity.

An altar as a working tool is going to want to have the things you need to do the work on it. What that is varies by path and practice, but is often pretty practical in at least some dimensions.

(If your practice includes drinking things, you want something suitable that can hold liquid. If it involves lighting incense, you're going to want something to hold the incense so you don't burn things. If it involves candles, you're going to want a suitable number of candles. Etc.)

In terms of where to find objects, places I've found useful:
- IKEA, if you have one within range. (Really good for inexpensive candle holders, small plates and dishes, and if you're the kind of person who goes through lots of tealights, you can buy a hundred at a time.)

- Etsy (for specific items, beeswax candles, and other handmade stuff that I really want to know was handmade. Also really good for not-deity-specific statuary or symbols, like animals.)

- Local co-op groceries, craft co-ops, art fairs, etc: especially for small pottery dish type things, sometimes also candle holders. Sometimes also beeswax candles.

- Pagan stores (though often this is pure luck for me: I don't go in for some of the more common forms of statuary. However, can be very handy for things like incense, incense ingredients, small amounts of suitable herbs to have on an altar, etc.)

- Lots of people also have great luck with thrift shops, flea markets, etc. I've found these work best for me if I keep a mental list of stuff I'd maybe like (like : "I'd like a couple more pottery offering bowls" or "Plate on which I can put offerings" or "Candleholder that will take a larger pillar")
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Re: Alter setup: how to do it?
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2016, 12:08:37 pm »
Quote from: Mewtini;190027
Hello again.  Given that I've recently gotten serious about the whole paganism thing, it feels only natural for me that I should make a place of worship to Veles, as well as the other gods on certain occasions.  The only problem is, most rituals require an alter of some sort...and I dont really have anything.  I dont even have the proper candles!  I do have a Slavic drinking horn and some sticks of incense, but that's about it.



Anything I'm missing?  What stuff do you have on your alters, if you have one?  It would be helpful if you could post links to where I could find particular items you might recommend, so that I may shop for them when I have some free time.  Thank you in advance!

 
hi , my alter is currently being redone, the only things on it right now are a new alter cloth (new velvet scarf i got at goodwill), some pagan books, an owl bell (a gift from a dear friend), small owl statue, amethyst and other stone/crystals, stag candleholder (represents cern), flameless candle and regular candle, celtic stone box, and several animal cards, (from a deck of u.s. animal flash cards), almost all of the things i put on my alters come from goodwill, the dollar stores like dollar tree, so the best advice i can give you is think outside the box, lol and shop at these kind of stores before shopping online and breaking your budget if you have one. I also recommend searching alters on pintrest, i get a lot of good ideas there by being able to see pics of other peoples alters, we also have an alter thread on here somewhere of pics of members alters, sorry i dont have exact link to it but it should be easy enough for you to find, i hope this helps some.

Mewtini

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Re: Alter setup: how to do it?
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2016, 11:16:04 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;190043
There's another recent thread you might want to check out, where people have described some of their altars. (I made a longish post in there, and nothing's changed in the last week.) You might also want to check out a longrunning thread on altar and shrine photos.

I do want to reiterate what I said in there, that a number of people and traditions make a distinction between 'shrine' and 'altar' and that an altar as a working tool is going to have more limitations on it usually than a shrine.

A shrine is, functionally, whatever makes you and the entities it's honouring happy. There are often common features (shrines honouring a particular deity may well have symbols, colours, etc. in common) but also a lot of space for your own personality, or specifics of your interactions with that particular entity.

An altar as a working tool is going to want to have the things you need to do the work on it. What that is varies by path and practice, but is often pretty practical in at least some dimensions.

(If your practice includes drinking things, you want something suitable that can hold liquid. If it involves lighting incense, you're going to want something to hold the incense so you don't burn things. If it involves candles, you're going to want a suitable number of candles. Etc.)

In terms of where to find objects, places I've found useful:
- IKEA, if you have one within range. (Really good for inexpensive candle holders, small plates and dishes, and if you're the kind of person who goes through lots of tealights, you can buy a hundred at a time.)

- Etsy (for specific items, beeswax candles, and other handmade stuff that I really want to know was handmade. Also really good for not-deity-specific statuary or symbols, like animals.)

- Local co-op groceries, craft co-ops, art fairs, etc: especially for small pottery dish type things, sometimes also candle holders. Sometimes also beeswax candles.

- Pagan stores (though often this is pure luck for me: I don't go in for some of the more common forms of statuary. However, can be very handy for things like incense, incense ingredients, small amounts of suitable herbs to have on an altar, etc.)

- Lots of people also have great luck with thrift shops, flea markets, etc. I've found these work best for me if I keep a mental list of stuff I'd maybe like (like : "I'd like a couple more pottery offering bowls" or "Plate on which I can put offerings" or "Candleholder that will take a larger pillar")

 
Thank you very much for the thread links!  I shall read them thoroughly.

You know, I hadn't thought about whether I'm looking for an alter or a shrine, so it's good that you guys brought it up.  Honestly, for my purposes, it'll probably be more of a shrine to Veles, appropriately set up outdoors.  After all, the wilderness is where the Slavic gods were traditionally worshiped, and we have a nice expanse of woods in our backyard, since I dont live in the city.

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Re: Alter setup: how to do it?
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2016, 11:28:18 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;190043
Lots of people also have great luck with thrift shops, flea markets, etc. I've found these work best for me if I keep a mental list of stuff I'd maybe like (like : "I'd like a couple more pottery offering bowls" or "Plate on which I can put offerings" or "Candleholder that will take a larger pillar")

 
Seconding this. I'm fortunate to have some extensive thrift shops in the area, and I can find any number of offering bowls, candles and candleholders, and miscellaneous decorative objects there.
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Re: Altar setup: how to do it?
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2016, 08:59:18 pm »
Quote from: Mewtini;190027
Hello again.  Given that I've recently gotten serious about the whole paganism thing, it feels only natural for me that I should make a place of worship to Veles, as well as the other gods on certain occasions.  The only problem is, most rituals require an alter of some sort...and I dont really have anything.  I dont even have the proper candles!  I do have a Slavic drinking horn and some sticks of incense, but that's about it.

I'd like to be able to honor the gods properly, and I think the best way to do that is to give prayers, offerings, and do magical work at a personalized alter.  Are there any specific supplies that are a must have for this kind of thing?  I currently have the following list of things that I can think of that would be part of a proper alter to Veles:

A cup or drinking horn
A wooden or stone idol of him, centrally positioned
Candles, and a nice candle holder (I found this one that looks like a dragon)
Incense and herbs, plus a ritual bowl to burn them in
A couple of bones, preferably of a wolf, but I'll take what I can get

Anything I'm missing?  What stuff do you have on your alters, if you have one?  It would be helpful if you could post links to where I could find particular items you might recommend, so that I may shop for them when I have some free time.  Thank you in advance!

 
Alter set-up is something that really concerns me. I don't actually have a proper alter at the moment, and I have to make do with a bookcase and a box to store my gear in. And it will have to remain that way until I eventually move house.

So I am always interested in looking for an eventual alter set up, but without any models/examples to play with I find it hard to place/comprehend the ergonomics. I want something I can store all my stuff in, but with the minimal of moving stuff, for convenience and to reduce the risk of breaking anything. I've seen some stuff at IKEA that looks to fit the bill, but there is usually always a slight problem like shelves that are too small (I have some very big idols).

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