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Altars: A Home for the Gods

The most obvious way to maintain a spiritual connection to the Gods is to have a permanent altar.  Altars make the abstract concept of spirituality into something concrete -- a visual reminder to honor the Gods, and a way to make Them feel welcome in your home and everyday life.  A properly maintained altar becomes a "power spot" in the home, where energy feels brighter and cleaner, or at least more intense.  On an altar, offerings can be made to the Gods: candles, incense, libations, even small bits of food.  Magick can be worked, as well.

I am fortunate enough to have living space now where I can maintain multiple altars (my other half and I have jokingly referred to this as "All Your Space Are Belong To 'Them'"), but this wasn't always the case.  I have shared living quarters with parents and roommates not really accepting of my religious practices; I have also at times lived in a group home or stayed long-term in a hospital where I didn't have a lot of space, let alone understanding roommates and staff.

For those disabled Pagans who may be in group homes, or hospitals or nursing homes (it happens), I think having a pocket shrine would be ideal.  It's also good for Pagans who are traveling or work in an office and can't take their altar with them, or for Pagans in a disability living arrangement who can't keep a regular altar, but still would like a small and discrete sacred space to meditate upon and bring some God/dess energy along. An Altoids tin (as one example) can be decorated as simply or elaborately as your preferences dictate.

If you live in a very small apartment or with parents/roommates who are not very tolerant, an altar-in-a-box is another good idea.  You can construct something a bit more tasteful than a certain Teen Witch Kit on the market, for under $20.  Wooden boxes can be bought at craft stores such as Michaels in the US for approximately $2-5, with just enough space to have a small Deity image or figurine, a small offering bowl (IKEA has a very good deal on 4 tiny stainless steel bowls for $4), and you can easily use a small tree branch or twig as a wand, draw a pentacle on a flat round-ish rock, or whatever you like.

If you have the space and the inclination, you can, of course, have multiple elaborate altars.  We are finally fortunate enough to have a real altar room, as you can see from the pictures below.



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This is a general view of the ritual room as it looks from the doorway.  To the left is the working altar, then Frey and Gerda's shrine and the Jotnar/Vanir/Aesir tree is in the center, with a bookshelf and my trance chair to the right.

 

This is the "working altar", for spells and rituals.  It is an old dresser, with multiple drawers for supplies (you can never have enough candles and incense).  The setup is simple, and not at all traditional.  There is a sledgehammer consecrated to Thor; candles; an incense burner and an herb burner.  On the left side is an offering bowl to the Jotnar, on the right an offering bowl to the Aesir; in the center is a cauldron for offering to the Vanir and/or charging magickal objects.  There is anointing oil, and a combination of amethyst, clear quartz, and green calcite crystals, plus a small clay sunwheel dish for other charging or offering purposes. 

On the far right is an altar to the Fae, including glass baubles and shiny coins, lavender incense, and bubbles, and two butterfly cups for offerings.  This helps both to keep the Fae happy, and occupied, so they don't play with our stuff ;)


  

This is a close-up of Frey and Gerda's shrine.  The picture in the frame is art of Frey and Gerda by the talented Grace D. Palmer.  Behind the picture is the test copy of Gifts of the Golden God, the devotional anthology I did for Frey.  There's an antler, and a vase of flowers.  On the left hand side is an incense burner; behind Frey's picture on the left is a hog figurine and a small stone boar that my friend Ayla sent me - on the right is a grey (anatomically correct!) stallion figurine.  (Obviously the boar is one of His sacred animals, and horses were known to be kept to Frey in Norway as well as Anglo-Saxon England).  The goblet is one of the things I got when I married Frey and recently took it back from CT when I visited there.  In the center is a bowl with antlered stags on the side, a gift from my friend Gunnlod-Hjarta.  There's a green tealight holder, a gold dollar coin for prosperity, a rose quartz stone for loving energies, a mirror, a piece of citrine for bringing light, a green jade pendulum, and a bottle of Lammas blend essential oil.  On the far right is my wand, Leohtbora.

  

My altar to the Vanadis; 13" statue by Paul Borda in the center, ringed by an amber-citrine-gold pearl necklace I made in Her honor, and another amber/other stones necklace a dear friend gifted me. To the left is a heart-shaped bottle of red glass in back, in front a bowl with dried red rosebuds, red rose petals, and herbs; on the right is a tealight in a frosted holder, and a greenish-brown heavy glass chalice. Freyja's altar cloth is purple and white.

  

This is the Rokkr altar as of 7/21/08.  Originally the Jotnar altar had a wide assortment of Deities there, but due to a recent edict from Nerthus to become "Vanir only" (including Gerda and Skadhi considered Vanir by marriage) after this year's Etinmoot, I made some significant changes, so the Jotnar altar has been pared down to just Loki + Kin, that is, the Rokkr. Framed painting of Narvi and Vali by Grace D. Palmer, with my Rokkr necklace over it, which I feel represents Bound Fenris; there is a vase of dried roses on the left hand side given in mourning. Hela is to the left with an offering bowl in front, Marvel Loki with Jormundgand wrapped around his foot and His own offering bowl, Angrboda, and Sigyn with Her own offering bowl. Hela, Angrboda, and Sigyn are all pictures glued onto rocks, which I think emphasizes the primordial ancient nature of the Rokkr.

  

This is the Vanir altar as of 7/21/08, and what will likely be the final version.  Deities from left to right: Eir (who gets Her own portable pocket shrine w/ offering bowl, crystals, and pendulum, for when I have to do healing work on the go), Herne, Holda, a plaque of Njord and Nerthus, Idunna, Ullr, Sif, and Gullveig. There is an abalone shell on the left and a lion's paw shell on the right as offering bowls, the ceramic vessel in front of Njord and Nerthus surrounded by beach stones + shells, and a glass holder for three tealights.

  

This corner of the altar room has my "trance chair" and a drum I received from a friend made of elk hide over a birch frame.  There is a bookshelf, books currently showcased including "Feeding the Flame" and "Full Fathom Five" by my friend Galina Krasskova; Swain Wodening's book on spae; and our Book of Shadows.  Beneath that are other reference books including the Eddas.  You can also see our mascot, Freyfaxi, wearing one of my hats :)





  

This is my shrine to Frigga and our house-wight, in the kitchen (natch).  My Sculpey of Frigga as a "house", on which rests a set of nine iron keys as Her symbol (also my "tool" for Otherworld journeying), and a rose quartz for gentle, loving energies.  Frigga has an offering bowl, and sitting next to Her on the right is a bowl that holds offerings for my house-wight.   To the left is a Witch's bottle and a bag that holds blue corn to give regular offerings to the land-wights around my property.  A ring of blue and pink candles surrounds the setup to provide comforting light and warmth, and enhance feelings of coziness in my home.  Not featured in the photo is a 3-ring blue binder with a picture of Frigga spinning on the front, that has to-do lists of daily, monthly, and weekly chores, as well as recipes for food and making household cleaners from scratch.