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| Author: Posted: Sep. 8, 2002 | This Page Viewed: 7,120,651 |
Question of the Week: 97 - 2/2/2003 What Natural Objects Are On Your Altar? Do you have sticks or stones or shells on your altar? How did you come by them? What do you use them for? Do you go by the traditional correspondences in using your ritual tools (colors, gemstone properties, elements, etc) or do you let the object ‘tell’ you what it is to be used for? What is your favorite magical/magickal gift or tool from nature? Why? How do you set up your personal altar(s)? |
| Reponses: There are 103 responses posted to this question. | Reverse Sort |
| My Alter | Feb 6th. at 4:06:47 pm EST |
| Manveri Elda (Atlanta GA) | Age: 13 - Email |
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My alter has a piece of cloth on it, that I hand embroidered. I have a bueatiful set of elven bow and arrows that I place on it. I have pieces of trees I know, shells from around the world along with a few gems. I usally place one of my candles in the middle with the bow around it and the arrows in a pentagram. I then place my four favorite deitie statues in the corners, Hathor, Isis, The Mother Goddess of the Celts, and Rhiannon. The other objects fall into place, depending on the times the objects tell me what they are used for. |
| A Sacred Space | Feb 6th. at 4:16:55 pm EST |
| Dolcimer (Kentucky) | Age: 59 - Email |
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My favorite Altar is Mother Earth and Father Sky, but within my home I have been fortunate to have found many objects, many since I was a child of nine. The Lady that I honor is a beautiful piece of driftwood that I found on the beach in California, and within the wood was the lady, the right arm raised and the left arm carrying a small basket. I was able as a child to bring her out into the open by working on her a very little bit, and when she appeared she was lovingly rubbed with linseed oil to preserve her beauty. Natural oils are the only application she has had through the years, and now she is a crone of fifty years. At her feet are many crystal pieces that have been found through the years, along with various beautiful stones of two many types to describe. My athame lays upon a handmade Pentacle (made of twisted wire) upon a mirror. My blade was carved of bone in Mexico. With each season the cloth changes, by color. Antique lace circles are beneath the Lord and Lady candles that stand on each side of my Lady. I have had to add a glass circle upon the top of the Altar Cloths, as I have ruined many with the Spirit moved candles that have been used through time. A found deer antler represents the Lord/Stag and has been used as a candle snuffer. Beeswax candles that have come into my cupboard, are used for many rituals and spells. Beneath the table that is my altar is a storage cabinet that holds many treasures to be added from time to time as the seasons change. During the turning of the wheel, many objects are continuing to be gathered from the woods and ocean to bless this Sacred Space. Oil made by herbs I have gathered from my garden and the wild go into a shell that lays beside another shell containing sea salt. On the right of my Sacred Altar is an old tiny cauldren, painted long ago with enamel paint of cream and decorated with small flowers. Within its recesses, sand from the beach protect and assist the incense that burn in it's center. This Yule a gift of five glass stars were added to the light fixture that is in front of my altar, these stars are able to hang..showing their colors of red, yellow, blue and green. In the center hangs a white star. Through the many seasons I have been blessed with too many objects to list, but all loved and concecrated upon this altar. |
| Transition | Feb 6th. at 5:51:59 pm EST |
| lilith (lost angeles) | Age: 33 - Email |
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my altar is in transition right now, which is probably a good thing, since my old altar has been outgrown in various ways. my new altar will certainly contain the large smooth sea stone that i have always kept in various altar-ish ways since before i was a witch. there is usually a jar of sea water, and sand on or inside my altar as well. now that i have a new one in the works i am going to put a container of some kind for flowers on it. i keep herbs and cornmeal in my altar as well. the structure of my altars has never been table-like-- my original altar was made of two orange crates stacked on top of each other-- the bottom crate housed/es my tarot decks. my new altar is a rolling cart with two doors and two shelves inside-- the bottom shelf will be for my tarot decks again. its larger and works better for me at this time. also the wall behind my altar is going to become part of the piece. i love altars, and the altars that other people make. i think its interesting that almost everyone has some kind of altar in their home, even if they would never call it that. ive always made altars since i was a child. my favorite, in my youth, was one i made inside a plastic box, and it included stones and feathers and a fish i made out of candle wax. |
| My Alter | Feb 6th. at 8:05:18 pm EST |
| Anhi Rosalyn Hanae-so (Pennsylvania) | Age: 16 - Email |
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My Alter has sea shells, dried roses, and stones.I have more candles on my alter than anything else though. |
| Nature's Decorations | Feb 6th. at 9:47:30 pm EST |
| Alandrielle (NC) | Age: 16 - Email |
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I think just about everything on my alter is natural. I have a wooden bowl I found in my cupboard, filled with special little stones and gems I've collected and been given (earth) . I also have feathers in it (air) . Then I have my cacti (I'm on a roll, it's about 3 years old) and some other flowers, african violets (fire) . The last of me elements are seashells that I've collected over my life (water) . Of course there's as many candles as I can get away with. I think my favorite thing is a pentagram that I made with sticks and strings. There's a seashell and beads on it, and all the strings correspond to their elements. I keep it decorated as the seasons change. Theres flowers on in in the spring and summer, leaves in the fall, and anything I come across in the winter. The best I've come across is twining lavender and thyme together around it. I like being close to nature, I like bringing it inside and filling my room with it. |
| On My Altar | Feb 6th. at 10:01:40 pm EST |
| Calitha (Redford, Michigan) | Age: 40 - Email |
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Because i share my life and my altar with a Druid, among the stones and shells on my altar are acorns. Kind of a nice balance! |
| Changing With The Days | Feb 6th. at 11:00:19 pm EST |
| Dragon Heritage (Leesburg, VA) | Age: 18 - Email - Web |
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My altar chagnes as often as I need it to, and is decorated with what my teen tiny budget allows. There is always at least one tea light in a green, flower shapped holder, and pictures of the Moon Goddess and Sun God (conveniently cut from the cover of 2001 Llewellyn Astrological Calendar) . I place my pentacle amulet in front center whenever I am not wearing it, and my three ring-necklace (for the maiden, mother and crone) will replace that when i interchange the two. When spell-working, I often use a geode (earth) that I've had since I was a child, dragon's blood sitck incense from the MD Renaissance Faire - it's my favorite (air) a tes light - what else (fire) and a small baby cauldron I found tucked away with a reasonable price at the local metaphysical store -i either fill it with fresh tap water, or rain/snow if I can manage it. I go walking in fair weather at the nearby park, and will often bring things home that I've found (Once, I found a very large, what I call "hat" of an acorn, and will use it to hold a small amount of salt.) . This is just the formal altar, though. In truth, my entire room encompasses my "altar", as I have on display a lot of what I use on my altar, or what has been placed there - it is all a gift from deity, and its display is my thanks to them. |
| My ALtar Is A Place Of Peace | Feb 6th. at 11:59:27 pm EST |
| Doglady57 (NJ) | Age: 46 - Email - Web |
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My Altar has many natural objects, wooden boxes, oils, ritual tools, magic stones, gemstones, verious brass bells, red cloth, garden bottles line in a row, herbs chalice of spring water, statue of Brigantia, lots of candles, magic seeds, magic botanicals, roses.... I'm always adding when I can. Peace Bright Blessings to all... ciao |
| My Personal Space.. | Feb 7th. at 10:02:42 am EST |
| Mathair Cat (TN, USA) | Age: 29 - Email |
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Everything that I have on my alter (personal space) is something that I have used in the past while casting, meditating or just out with the family on nature walks. I have seas shells, raven & hawk feathers I have found, a deer antler, many pond rocks (skipping like stones) . I have tons of amethyst gems. And last but not least a walking stick that I use. I use simple white candles, I don't follow much on color. Ritual tools that are not from nature--they are just an added bonus IMHO. I do work a lot with the elements and all the pieces I have on my alter I have borrowed their energy in some form of work or another. My favorite "tool" from nature.....hmmmmm. I would have to say the that I love working with sun at noon & full moon nights. My alter is an old hope chest of my mothers. One side is mine, the other side is my husbands. Other than that there is no pattern to how I have it set really, except that it faces the East for when the sun comes up. Now that my kids are old enough to understand something's of paganism, we have started a family alter in the living room. That is pretty much like my personal space but it's basically made up of things that the kids find outside. |
| Turtles And Babies | Feb 7th. at 11:33:19 am EST |
| Kelly RavenCrow (Pennsylvania) | Age: 31 - Email |
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My altar contains many natural items discovered by me, my sister witch, or my sons (I have four) .I have a piece of braided wheat stalk given to me by my sister witch after we went through the loss of a child together.I also have a small, beautiful piece of driftwood from a magical day in the woods with my fiance.I have many arrowheads found by my sons and I, and my son, Gage, has a wonderful gift of finding gorgeous crystals on his adventures.These are all placed carefully on my grandmothers mirrored tray.But my favorite?A whole turtle shell I found one day when I climbed inside a tree.Eight months later, I gave birth to my third son!Blessings to all... |
| Believe It Or Not... | Feb 7th. at 2:19:56 pm EST |
| Kate (at work) | Age: 27 - Email |
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But my altarspace seems to (all on it's own) collect rocks and tea. I'm not kidding, I am almost always looking for my loose-leaf Double Bergamot Earl Grey Extra, and without fail, it's in the cupboard with the altar (it's in my kitchen) and there is usually a new rock somewhere in the near vicinity as well. They're not pretty crystals in regular shapes and bright colors either, they're just rocks, like the kind of thing a child might have in his pocket for whatever reason kids do whatever it is that they do when they come home with rocks in thier pockets. Rocks appear all over my apartment, all the time, but there more often than anywhere else. I have recently begun testing them and they all seem to have relatively high vibrations or maybe i'm just sensitive to them, so I've got to assume that they're there for a reason, but it beats all the hell out of me. So I leave them where they lie, and my altar, which started out as the middle part of the middle shelf, has now taken over the cupboard entirely. |
| What I Find... | Feb 7th. at 2:35:10 pm EST |
| Valhaltia (Indiana, PA) | Age: 21 - Email - Web |
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Rose petals dried A wooden bowl Acorns Cinnamon sticks Several stones |
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