Altars

I just got a book about altars and it has reminded me how much I adore altars. I wish I had more space, because I have plans for dozens of altars ranging from ones that cover a desktop to little itty-bitty shelf-sized ones.

At least I can have fun planning them, even if I can't put them up.

Happy Imbloc!

Today I got up early (for me) and set up my altar. I went shopping and I came home to an AWESOME post by Pagan Culture (aka one of my favorite blogs). I was picked to be Touched by Pagan Culture. The post is here. Read it!


Technical Note: I've noticed my followers widget isn't working. I'm working on it, so keep checking back.

ANYWAY! Onto the fun stuff.

So, this is my altar. Yes, it’s also my desk, which is why there is a lamp. I don’t have much ritual space. In fact, I have the floor and this desk. I would have everything on the floor, but because of my cat, it was better on my desk. As you can see, there are four place settings, I’ll explain them. And yes! Those are Hello Kitty glasses. They are all I had. I got some plain, basic glasses today for ritual use for offerings, along with plain plates.
The altar cloth is a silk scarf with a Western Native (so...British Columbia) image on it. I believe it’s an eagle. I picked it because...I have no idea. My Mayan Square one was too small, so this was my second choice.

This is Quetzalcoatl’s place. He’s my patron God, so I thought it would be nice to put him first. I love them all equally, of course. Anyway, his candle, the red one, felt right, and the blue holder is due to the fact Quetzy’s colour association is traditionally blue. The egg (and stone chunk you can’t really see) are made of malachite, the same colour as Quetzy appeared to me in my dream/vision. He’s got tequila and 70% dark chocolate (which he adores).

This is my welcoming plate to Cama Zotz. Yes, that is a giant Beanie Baby. It was all I could get last minute. His candle is dark purple and fig scented. It smelt dark and forest-y, so I thought of the rainforest. He was the one that asked for this altar, funnily enough. He’s got tequila and 70% dark chocolate.

Moving right along, this is my Egyptian place setting. The three candles are for Thoth, Ptah and Bastet. The stones, which you can’t see, are ones from the bases of each of my four statues, Sobek, Thoth, Anubis and Isis. They have a glass of tequila, and a plate with both milk chocolate Hershey Kisses and some 70% dark chocolate.

My final place setting is for my little flower faerie, Leiko. She is like the traffic controller to my room. She’s small, but she can be deadly if she wants to be. Anyway, the purple agate slab is hers, along with all the purple stones I have, beside the purple candle. Did I mention she liked purple? Anyway, the glass is filled with a pink lemonade cooler called Vex. It’s sweet, and almost like cream soda. She likes sweet things. She has Hershey Kisses. We got her those for Samhain one year, and she loved them. She said they were just the right size.

Presents!
In my shopping adventure, we went to The Weather, and they had a sale! 30% off! It was awesome. So, let me show you what I got. I got some plain clear quartz (not shown).

This is a Smokey quartz ball. Total impulse buy. I did not need it, but damn I wanted it. It’s so pretty, photo’s can’t do it justice.

Obsidian heart for Quetzy. One of Quetzy’s sacred stones is obsidian. I can be a bit of a purist when it comes to which deities have which stones. I follow my intuition at times, like with the malachite, but sometimes I just go with what the book says.

These next three things are for Cama Zotz. He got a slab of obsidian, because he is a God of the night, the underworld, and all manner of darkness. Obsidian is black. See! Connection! The heart is hematite. I was looking through my stones and he wanted a piece of hematite I had. I was like “okay, you can’t have this piece because it’s totally not suited for you, but I’m going out today to get you some.” The hematite I had was okay, but not perfect, and I wanted it to be perfect.
But, the best thing for him was the rose quartz skull I found. See, this is what binds Cama Zotz and me together. The rose quartz is me, my personal stone, and the skull is his, the personification of what he is (being the God of the Underworld and whatnot).


Long post was long, thanks for reading it all!

Egyptian Altar Oil

Use this recipe to create an Egyptian Altar Oil.

4 drops Frankincense oil
2 drops Myrrh oil
1 drop Cedar oil

Sorry about the sort-ish post today, I'm working on my Twelve Days of Yule posts.

Sacred Space

Do you have sacred space designated? Or is it something you only create when you need it? What kind of space do you like to use (indoor, outdoor, etc)? --Pagan Blog Prompts

Sacred spaces are interesting, to me at least. Anywhere can be “sacred”, if you prepare it properly. I had my New Year’s celebration in a hotel, and it worked quite well. When I was really feeling nervous and out of it, I was outside and felt pretty good about it. If I need a big concentration of energy, I sit at my altar.
Usually, I sit on my bedroom floor with a cloth over top of my rug. So, I suppose I create my sacred space. I mean, I do have a permanent altar set up, and I use it as a desk as well. However, I don’t think it’s necessarily suited for actual ritual work. So, I create a space to work on.

The area I use depends greatly on what I’m doing. For my own rituals and spells, I would try to stay in my own bedroom, or go outside if the weather was nice, or I really needed massive amounts of sunlight/rain/snow/whatever. For the more “family” celebrations, my mom and I will probably make some place either outside (she’s a hippie), or at the kitchen table.

I think sacred space is less about the physical area you’re in, but more about the mental space you are in. Sure, there are places that have huge concentrations of energy and are “sacred”, but any place can be made sacred if YOU want it to be sacred. Like with the hotel room. It was a hotel room at a Howard Johnson, which is practically the antithesis of sacred, and managed to make a sacred space for my use. It had to do with my intention, not my location.

Altar, Part Two

Another Pagan Blog Prompt!

What does your altar look like?
What kinds of items do you include, and why?
What does each item symbolize, or what purpose does it serve?

I got this print of the Aztec god Tonatiuh at the Mexican pavilion in Walt Disney World. I got it framed, so I could keep it out.
Beside this is a postcard size print of Quetzalcoatl, a deity who I’ve recently become very attached to.
Though I’m not Aztec in tradition, I found the prints too pretty to pass up, and they were inexpensive and easy to pack...as they were flat. I’m actually really happy I got the Quetzalcoatl print especially, considering he has recently made contact with me. You can read about that in my dream journal.

Okay, next is my stone collection and my deity candles.

My deity candles are my candles that I have dedicated to certain gods. I burn these the most.
The tall green and black striped one is my Thoth candle, the red one is Quetzalcoatl’s, the blue is Ptah and the white is Bast.
I don’t really know why I keep these out, I just kind of started doing it, and I found I liked the arrangement.

These are my miscellaneous stones.
Back row, right to left: Peacock ore, moonstone, dark sunstone, jade
Middle row: Hematite, Smokey quartz, clear quartz
Front row: Howlite, green apatite, snowflake obsidian

These are my two carved wands: Smokey quartz and mookite

My large-ish stones
Back row: Lapis Lazuli, petrified wood
Front row: Sodalite, zebra agate

This is my ammonite

Possibly my pride and joy: my rather large obsidian crystal ball.

My rose quartz, which is “my” stone.

These are the stones of Leiko, my little flower faerie. She likes purple. The stone in the front left hand side is amethyst, and the other three are just dyed that I found in Disney.

Finally, this is a piece of malachite I purchased for Quetzalcoatl. This is the same colour and pattern the god had when he revealed himself to me.

I keep all my stones together on my altar because I play with them when I’m working, and I like having them nearby. I really like using stones every day, so having them nearby and being able to touch them, they will really absorb my own energy so that when the day comes when I really have to use them, I don’t have to really worry about having to recharge my stones.

Well, that’s my altar. It’s a little strange, like me, but it changes almost daily, even just by brushing along the stones.

Altar

Another Pagan Blog Prompt!

What does your altar look like?
What kinds of items do you include, and why?
What does each item symbolize, or what purpose does it serve?

Well, let me show you some pictures!

This is my desk. Yes, it is a desk. From Ikea, which is my favourite store EVER. This desk is, I believe, ALVE desk. In the drawers, we’ve got random junk, my train-case, safety pins, and all sorts of electronic cords.
I do most of my work on this desk. When I’m practising makeup, or watching TV before bed, or working on my USBoS, I sit here.

Over here is my little faerie corner. I bought these for my mom one year for mother’s day, but when we moved, I hijacked them. They don’t balance very well, so they are more often than not laying down. I have a rather close connection to the faeries, or rather...faeries have a close connection to me. I keep them here, and I’m not really sure why...
I mean, they are really cute.

Okay, this is my jewellery spot. I keep all the jewellery that I usually wear here. This is my Isis jewellery box. In here I keep some important papers, and some more of my dressier jewellery like my blue topaz necklace I got for my 16th birthday, and my garnet necklace I got for Christmas one year. Just sitting there, in front, are my 5 rings: a plain black one on my thumb, a tear-drop amethyst and diamond on my index, an ankh on my middle, a pentacle on my third, and a replica of the One Ring from Lord of the Rings on my pinkie. I’m on the hunt for a new pinkie ring. There is also my good ankh necklace (in the box), my plastic Hieroglyph of Ra on a chain, my Egyptian charm necklace with an ankh and the Eye of Horus, my two watches, one has Eeyore on it, and that weird silver thing? That’s a spoon that was made into a bracelet.
I keep all my jewellery on my altar so that it not only has a “spot” where I am sure not to lose them, but also so that there can be an energy exchange. I wear most of these things every day, so at the end of the day when I take them off, my energy can permeate my altar, and my altar’s energy can recharge my jewellery.

Next is collection of Egyptian statues. I have four at the moment, but when I get more, things will be moved around.
First up is Anubis; on his base I keep tiger’s eye, citrine and hematite, because I didn’t have any of the stones that are usually associated with Anubis. Also, I keep a mini plastic statue of Anubis on his base.

Second is Isis. On her base, I keep three pieces of carnelian, which is called the “Blood of Isis”, and a piece of moonstone. Also, she has a miniature plastic version of herself.

Third is my statue of Thoth, who is one of my patron deities. He looks better from the side! Anyway, on his base I keep a malachite obelisk and a piece of uncut and unpolished emerald. He also has a miniature plastic statue of himself.

My fourth and final statue is of Sobek. I love his headdress! On his base are also tiger’s eye, citrine and hematite, because I didn’t have any of the stones that are usually associated with Sobek. On his base, as well, is a miniature plastic statue of Bast, because the tube I got the other plastic statues in didn’t have Sobek.

Here are all four together

Stay tuned for Part Two, coming up right ahead of this post!