The Altar Space
Josefine
Self-proclaimed witch and heathen.
Enthusiast of everything occult, folkloric and paranormal
Pices Sun, Aquarius Moon and Leo Rising.
Ryomgård, Denmark
IG: @Soestersmilet
I have the honor of writing this piece on altars, as I see them. This will be a piece about how to set up an altar and why it can be beneficial to a magickal practice to do so. I hope you will like it!
An altar is set up with the intent of creating a magickal space. Therefore, this space is also sacred to many magickal practitioners. It is a space where laundry piles, homework, and clutter should not sit, because these will disturb the whole idea and meaning of creating such a space. But why create an altar in the first place? Is it something you'll need at all, or is it just another one of those things blown up by social media and the idea of "witchtok"? Let's dive in.
Photo by Josefine
The Altar Space
If we look back to the 1600s, witches were a hot topic (no pun intended), but not in the fun way. It was not something you would go around and call yourself for the sake of popularity. Witches were scary to many people, and in fact, from the year 1617, it was forbidden to do any kind of magick (light or dark, good, or evil) in Denmark. Therefore, having a big altar space in your house probably wasn't the best idea, at least if you wanted to stay alive. The people who practiced witchcraft, or trolddom as we say in Scandinavia, most definitely had some sort of "kit" and ingredients they would turn to when doing their magick. Some even had a cyprianus (a witch's book, dark book, or book of shadows).
“But doing magick, harmful or not, was best done in the shadows or in a way that wasn't obvious. Small hex bags, chanting words, prayers, lucky amulets, or little shrines with a few magickal and meaningful things in them—these are the sorts of things one could do without letting everyone know what you were up to, at least if you were cunning.”
In the middle of the 1900s, Gerald Gardner created the religion Wicca. In Wicca, the altar space is a crucial part of the Wiccan's practice. The Wiccan often places the altar facing a specific direction, most often the east. The altar contains a variety of sacred items such as an athame, a chalice, candles, and a pentacle, sometimes placed in specific positions.
I'm not a Wiccan, nor am I a witch from the 1600s. But I do have an altar. I'm a practitioner from Denmark, and I tend to create my own personal practice with both historically recognized magickal items and my own interpretation spiced with modern witchcraft. When it comes to witchcraft or a magickal practice in general, I think it is extremely important to personalize your craft as much as possible. I also think it benefits your practice in the most potent way. If your craft, grimoire, or altar space isn't a reflection of yourself and isn't something you enjoy, why even bother? Therefore, I will further in this text bring up some ideas or possibilities with altar spaces to give you, the readers, an idea of how to personalize this part of your craft or get started with it in the first place.
Photo by Josefine
To Create an Altar or Not to Create an Altar, That Is the Question
The altar space can be a really nice way of connecting with your own craft, at least if your altar space looks like something you enjoy. Therefore, it is extremely important to create your altar in a way that suits you. But what the heck does an altar look like? I'm glad you asked!
An altar can be a huge old-school-looking desk with lots of space and drawers filled with herbs and candles. It could also be a windowsill, a box in your nightstand drawer, a chest beneath your bed, a single shelf, or a jewelry box. Because it doesn't matter what the outside looks like if it contains something that is an extension of you and your craft.
“If it is helpful to you when doing your rituals, chants, tarot readings, or whatever you want your altar to help you with, you have been successful in creating an altar. It's completely up to your own interpretation, that is, if you allow it to be so.”
Some people have a lot of rules and meanings about altars, but that goes for pretty much everything in witchcraft, spirituality, and in life generally. These rules are something you will need to navigate and think about so that you can create your own opinion. Tarot decks are a fine example when it comes to rules, you'll have to navigate and translate into your own belief system. Some say that a tarot deck must be given to you as a gift and therefore you can't buy it yourself. Is this something you believe to be true? Both yes and no are correct answers because it all depends on your own practice, belief system, and interpretation of what you see and hear. The same goes for altars.
By creating an altar, you are creating a magickal workspace with the single intent of being a space to work your magick. Therefore, you should not mix up your magickal practices and mundane tasks like doing laundry on the altar. When you are filling your altar with trinkets and symbols for your own practice, you are also filling the altar with a distinct energy and direction. The things you place there and what you do with them give the altar life and purpose. This is something to be respected by you and the people you live with. You can always clean the altar, do a smoke cleanse, and redecorate if you feel like the space needs some fresh energy or a new feel to it. It is, after all, your space. This can be done with the changing seasons, the moon cycle, or just as you please. When your own practice changes, your altar will probably also change a bit. It's an extension of you.
“When you are creating an altar space, you can introduce yourself politely, or tell the altar that you are its master, depending on whatever type of witch you are.”
You can anoint it with oils, breathe life into it with your own breath, or you can make a ritual to declare the place sacred and yours. For this ritual, meditation, some incense, and a few words on what you are doing and what kind of space you have created might just do the trick.
When creating an altar, you put something on it or in it, depending on its form. These things could be closer to you than you think. Candles, herbs from the kitchen, and a bowl for incense are a good start. Maybe ask your grandmother for a beautiful tablecloth and your mom for some pictures of lost ones. A lot of items can also be found in secondhand stores, like candleholders, cloths, bells, keys, mirrors, and frames. And many things like stones, branches, and herbs can be found out in nature. There is no such thing as a wrong item when it comes to your altar. If the things have some residual energy from their previous owners, then give them a scrub and maybe even a smoke cleanse.
“Your own hands, your breath, your will, and your presence—these are the most important things in your craft. Remember this when going forward with any sort of subject in your magickal practice.”
Photo by Josefine
How to Use an Altar
Having an altar to sit by when doing your magickal workings is also a really effective way of tuning in to another state of consciousness, into that place where you are most connected to your higher self and therefore also connected to your magick. An altar is like a portal, a gateway into somewhere different from your mundane and everyday life. When you are sitting with your altar, you are making a shift of consciousness and connecting to something bigger than yourself.
“As time goes by and your altar becomes more and more personalized, you will probably feel this shift more strongly. It's a way of manifesting your magick into something material and physical.”
Altars can serve as a general place for your overall magickal practice, but you can also create several altars for different "themes" within your magickal practice. Some people have an altar space specifically for their ancestors. This is a place that often contains pictures of deceased loved ones, offerings in the form of foods and drinks, candles, and even some memento mori symbols. Mexico is a place well known for their ancestral altars (ofrendas), especially during Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. On my own main altar, I keep a corner of the working space for my ancestral practice and offerings to my ancestors. That's also one way to do it, and it works fine for me. Altars can also be for self-love, tarot readings only, money magick specifically, or an ode to nature. An outdoor altar is a wonderful way of creating something beautiful for nature or land spirits and a good place for delivering offerings to the outside realm. An outdoor altar can also serve as a sacred place in the garden for meditation purposes.
Photo by Josefine
If you're really into kitchen witchery, an altar can be beside the stove with lots of good luck charms, herbs, or whatever you love having beside you when you do your magick with the pots and pans. The use of an altar is completely up to you. Why do you want an altar, and what do you want to do with it? These questions are the first things to consider when creating your own altar space.
“For me, it is a magickal working space. It is within this space that I tend to do most of my magickal workings, such as spells, offerings, research on the occult, tarot readings, pendulum swings, and all that jazz. I have created this space with the intent of creating magick here.”
My altar reflects my own practice, my own spiritual and magickal journey, and it looks very different now from when I first started creating my first altar. This is fine, because I don't see my altar as a static place—I allow myself and my space to evolve and change. This is all subjective, though. What the altar looks like, what to put on it, what the altar is for, and what you do with it is so individual. You do you.
And with that, just get started if this is something you want to pursue. You can always start with a small bag, box, or cloth that you can unfold and place before you. Keep a few items that you feel would be useful in your practice or useful to you when creating magick.
I hope this post was helpful, inspirational, or just fun to read.
/Josefine, @soestersmilet