Help making an altar?

[Kisa]

My religion is a mix of a few different Pagan paths and Buddhism. If this sort of thing bothers you, please hit the back button now and go find another thread to read. I'd rather not check this thread and have top scroll through posts expressing distaste, disagreement or hatred of my beliefs; I've seen it on other sites quite often and I'd rather not be on the business end of that sort of thing. I came here because I've been unable to find anything through web searches and this is the only site I frequent that has a high level of mature people, high activity and little to no drama. Please don't let me down

MOVING ON!!!

My exact religion I'd like to keep a secret because it's not one that is highly accepted so let's just assume for all intensive purposes that I'm a generic Pagan. I have, what basically amounts to, a guardian spirit. I have no idea how long he's been with me but he introduced himself to me several years ago in a dream. Later, I did a web search using what I remembered about him in said dream. I didn't expect to find anything but instead, I found a detailed description and pictures of this man that fit him exactly. I'm a skeptical person by nature so I ignored him for the longest time until several days ago.

I was running way late and had about 20 minutes to drive somewhere that usually takes 30 minutes on average. I was sat at a stoplight, looked at the clock and saw that I had less than 10 minutes to drive 3 miles through traffic and stoplights, park in the parking lot, walk to the building and into my room (it's a decent sized college campus so the walk alone takes 3 minutes IF you get a good spot) and I was in the turn lane with a bunch of cars ahead of me. Now I'll admit what I did next was a bad idea but I did it and it's done. I called my guardian by name and said "If you can get me to class in time, I'll owe you one favor of your choosing."
I expected 1 of 2 things to happen:
1) I'm late thus suggesting that I'm crazy and my "guardian" is just in my head
2) I arrive just in time at the hour, on the nose so it could be luck
I got there with 2 minutes to spare and no, I didn't speed. I did the speed limit and stayed in my lane as usual (I drive like an old woman so I have no clue how I got there that fast). I'm still skeptical as to whether I got there early on my own or with his help, but I feel funny not upholding the bargain because I'm not sure...

...which bring me to the reason of this post. He wants an altar. I have no clue how to make one, what to put on it, where to put it, what to do with it, etc. I want to make something to his liking but it's really hard to get his constant input when he's not a physical being next to me that I can talk openly with. It's not like I can go to the store and say "Oh (name) do you like this? No? Ok how about this?" I'm worried that he won't like the end result or that I'll do something wrong. . .

[TheSHAD0W]

"There are four-and-twenty ways, of building tribal lays, and every single one of them is right."

Without knowing what he thinks an altar should look like you're simply stuck at square one. I suggest surfing on Google Image Search and trying to find a pic of one that's acceptable or that he wants specific modifications to.

[Kisa]

"There are four-and-twenty ways, of building tribal lays, and every single one of them is right."

Without knowing what he thinks an altar should look like you're simply stuck at square one. I suggest surfing on Google Image Search and trying to find a pic of one that's acceptable or that he wants specific modifications to.

I actually did that and found very few images, all of them very different. Some were big, some were small, some had pictures, some had dishes of stuff, some had handmade items, some had candles, some had plants, some had weapons, some took up whole rooms, some were just a little table in a corner. There wasn't really one universal factor binding them together besides the color scheme (they're his colors soooo...yeah). I'm really new at this whole thing and don't even know what an alter DOES let alone what should be on it.

It sounds like it's kind of a "whatever you want to put" sort of thing?

[Parrothead]

I have an altar. It's a folding TV tray with a cloth I made and decorate as the mood strikes. I have a lantern and a figure of the God it's for (I'm not saying Who, for similar reasons), and I place offerings and sacrifices (a small part of my dinner, that is cleaned up when I clear my own dishes, essentially sharing dinner with Him).

That setup suits me, and my relationship with my God. If yours is more formal, a large and more permanent altar would be better. At the simplest, you need a table or shelf of some kind, a cloth, a light source and a small dish.

Get what suits you and your spirit. If he doesn't like it, he'll let you know.

[Seshat]

My recommendation:

Find things which resonate with you, and your relationship with Him or Her (or It).

Start with a small table in a corner somewhere; a place where you can sit or kneel and look at the things you've put there, and think spiritual thoughts. The actual altar can be in an out of the way place, but it should have some kneeling or sitting space (even if that space is otherwise used as a walkway). It should, however, be somewhere you can be undisturbed during meditation.

If the table you have is ugly, cover it with a cloth in His colours. It it's nice, you may still choose to put some sort of cloth decoration on it.
Add something which symbolises your Deity in your mind. It can be an icon of Him, or something significant to Him. Anything which will help you meditate in a frame of mind which He would approve of.
For instance, for a Deity of mathematics, you could put a calculus book on the table. I'm being serious! Or compass and protractors and pencils, or .. well, anything of that order.

If you find that music helps you meditate, put some sort of music player there, with the right type of music. If you like good smells, incense or an essential oil burner or some such. Candles and candle flame help some people.


I hope this helps.

[MoonCat]

An altar is sacred space. It's a place to meditate, to work magic, to set up reminders of things that are important to you, to make offerings, to mark the seasons. It has many uses.

My advice: Meditate a little on your guardian spirit. What form does he take? How does he speak to you/guide you? What things do you feel connect you to him?

Examples: I gave been blessed by Bast, Egyptian goddess of cats. If I were to set up an altar to honor her, it would include a red cloth (Bast is sometimes associated with the color red, which is also a color denoting life); at least one cat figurine; flowers (her festival is in the spring); incense (possibly catnip, although burning catnip makes my cats go nuts ); also pictures of some of my cats who are no longer with us; and a small sistrum (Bast is usually depicted holding one).

Do you associate certain colors with your guardian? Any particular animals, gems, plants/flowers, tools? Set these on your altar so that he'll know this is his space.

If he's a simple sort who doesn't seem into anything fancy, you can't go wrong with a plain white cloth, a candle in a fireproof holder, incense if you like (sandalwood is a good all-purpose one), and an offering such as wine or other spirits (not a pun!). The pictures, flowers, and all the trappings are just there to help you get your mind into the right space and help you focus when you need to commune with him, but it's always nice to offer something like wine or bread. Once the libation has been accepted (you'll know) you can pour the wine outside into the ground and give the bread to the birds.

Another "plus" with a simple altar is that it can be quickly taken down if need be. Personally I prefer a more simple set-up, it helps clear my mind.

[Kheldarson]

My religion doesn't do in house altars, but lots of folks in my faith usually have a designated religious area. My mom always had a bookshelf with religious books that had a cloth over it, religious statues (our patron saints mostly), rosaries, and icons on top, and a crucifix over it all. So that's something to consider (altering for your faith of course).

[Pixilated]

An altar is sacred space. It's a place to meditate, to work magic, to set up reminders of things that are important to you, to make offerings, to mark the seasons. It has many uses.

I was going to say much the same thing: it helps you focus while you meditate/pray/contemplate/whathaveyou.

I have no advice on what to put on it without some more specifics about your guardian spirit, but there's already some excellent advice here.

Examples: I gave been blessed by Bast, Egyptian goddess of cats. If I were to set up an altar to honor her, it would include a red cloth (Bast is sometimes associated with the color red, which is also a color denoting life); at least one cat figurine; flowers (her festival is in the spring); incense (possibly catnip, although burning catnip makes my cats go nuts ); also pictures of some of my cats who are no longer with us; and a small sistrum (Bast is usually depicted holding one).

I would love to think that Bast is looking out for me to some degree, given how many of her children I've taken in over my lifetime so far.

I once had a lovely life-sized figure of an Egyptian cat that was wearing some jewellery (I don't know if the sacred cats actually wore jewellery?) and I always considered it a representative of Bast. Then one of my live cats, doing his Mexican jumping bean impression, sideswiped the statue and sent it flying, resulting in fairly serious damage to it. I've often wondered what Bast thought of the irony of that ...

[fireheart]

Re the "find things which resonate with you" thing, there was a book in the library about teen witches which had a whole section showing four different altars from four different kids and backgrounds.

-one was what you might call a "stereotypical" altar, involving the elements of earth,air, fire and water, as well as sculptures representing the male and female, and something else to represent spirit.
-someone else found that wolves resonated well with him and set his altar around animals and nature. He also included a lot of images of wolves as a result.
-another person lived in a primarily Christian household and simply had a Virgin Mary statue on her desk, with a few items that would be considered bric-a-bra otherwise, as they represented her faith, without it being "in your face" (she also shared her room with her younger sister, so would often have things that she could carry as a "portable" altar of sorts)
-a little girl used stuffed animals for the elements and pictures from magazines to represent the male and female deities.

As for me, my altar was formerly on the windowsill and consisted purely of polished gemstones that represented the elements to me. (For instance obsidian or agate would represent fire) now those gemstones are on my current altar, which is on top of an old chest of drawers.

If you can't have candles or incense for whatever reason, I've heard that feathers and wands are often decent substitutes for those two. (Feather is usually associated with air, wand is sometimes associated with fire, but YMMV)

[Kisa]

That setup suits me, and my relationship with my God. If yours is more formal, a large and more permanent altar would be better. At the simplest, you need a table or shelf of some kind, a cloth, a light source and a small dish.

Get what suits you and your spirit. If he doesn't like it, he'll let you know.

My relationship with him is somewhere between "black-tie" and "ruddy pajamas." It's formal enough for me to worry about messing up around him but really, that's likely just me worrying over nothing. He's pretty lax with me. He knows I try for him so he doesn't tend to get upset over the details.

Yeah I've noticed that he's pretty open with expressing his opinions XD

My recommendation:

Find things which resonate with you, and your relationship with Him or Her (or It).
I hope this helps.

This helps a lot! I was picturing it like trying to pick out a gift for your cousin who lives in Hawaii.
Should I get her a shirt? No I don't know her style. Should I get her jewelry? I don't know what she likes. Does she even wear jewelry? A book? Does she read? A game? A stuffed animal? A gift card for a store? What store does she like?
Then you admit that you know nothing about her really and get her money and a card so she can buy her own gift. The way you described it makes it seem much less stressful like two housemates picking out decorations together vs. one person gift hunting.

My advice: Meditate a little on your guardian spirit. What form does he take? How does he speak to you/guide you? What things do you feel connect you to him?
Do you associate certain colors with your guardian? Any particular animals, gems, plants/flowers, tools? Set these on your altar so that he'll know this is his space.

If he's a simple sort who doesn't seem into anything fancy, you can't go wrong with a plain white cloth, a candle in a fireproof holder, incense if you like (sandalwood is a good all-purpose one), and an offering such as wine or other spirits (not a pun!). The pictures, flowers, and all the trappings are just there to help you get your mind into the right space and help you focus when you need to commune with him, but it's always nice to offer something like wine or bread. Once the libation has been accepted (you'll know) you can pour the wine outside into the ground and give the bread to the birds.

Another "plus" with a simple altar is that it can be quickly taken down if need be. Personally I prefer a more simple set-up, it helps clear my mind.

I've only "seen" him twice. He was human both times. He's very gentle with me and is more "do you need me?" than "this is what you need so this is what you're getting." He usually just hangs around me to make sure I'm ok and calms me when I need him to. There are things/items he is commonly depicted with. Perhaps I could find some of those things for him? He's a very serious, professional man who takes great pride in his appearance but he's much softer toward me for some reason. I'd probably have to dress it up a bit to suit him better. I think he'd like the offering idea thanks!!

My religion doesn't do in house altars, but lots of folks in my faith usually have a designated religious area. My mom always had a bookshelf with religious books that had a cloth over it, religious statues (our patron saints mostly), rosaries, and icons on top, and a crucifix over it all. So that's something to consider (altering for your faith of course).

This is interesting. When I think "altar" my mind tends to go to those big, ornate things decked out in upholstery and decorative carvings with countless knickknacks and other objects positioned carefully all about and a whole room dedicated to lust this one deity and his/her/it's worship. It makes me feel better that an altar can be something as simple as a shelf in a bookcase. I'd like to give him his own room because he deserves it, but I don't have the space to give so I was a bit stressed about that too

I was going to say much the same thing: it helps you focus while you meditate/pray/contemplate/whathaveyou.

I have no advice on what to put on it without some more specifics about your guardian spirit, but there's already some excellent advice here.



I would love to think that Bast is looking out for me to some degree, given how many of her children I've taken in over my lifetime so far.

I once had a lovely life-sized figure of an Egyptian cat that was wearing some jewellery (I don't know if the sacred cats actually wore jewellery?) and I always considered it a representative of Bast. Then one of my live cats, doing his Mexican jumping bean impression, sideswiped the statue and sent it flying, resulting in fairly serious damage to it. I've often wondered what Bast thought of the irony of that ...

Yeah I know I kinda tied your hands by withholding his name but I'm afraid of the reactions I'd get because of how much the religion has been warped by society. What was once simply a religion is now something that strikes fear into the hearts of many. These fears are completely unjustified and built on incorrect stereotypes and myth but it doesn't stop people from getting upset. I'd be uncomfortable posting details about him in the public forums but I'd be willing to go into a bit more detail via PM.

Haha! I'm sure she wasn't upset though she probably found it amusing. I know I would! HeeHee naughty lil fuzzball :3

As for me, my altar was formerly on the windowsill and consisted purely of polished gemstones that represented the elements to me. (For instance obsidian or agate would represent fire) now those gemstones are on my current altar, which is on top of an old chest of drawers.

If you can't have candles or incense for whatever reason, I've heard that feathers and wands are often decent substitutes for those two. (Feather is usually associated with air, wand is sometimes associated with fire, but YMMV)

I have a big box of stones and the like. Maybe I can find things he'd like in there :3

[fireheart]

My mind tends to go to those big, ornate things decked out in upholstery and decorative carvings with countless knickknacks and other objects positioned carefully all about and a whole room dedicated to lust this one deity and his/her/it's worship. It makes me feel better that an altar can be something as simple as a shelf in a bookcase. I'd like to give him his own room because he deserves it, but I don't have the space to give so I was a bit stressed about that too

It doesn't even need to be that expensive. My altar cloth is simply a fat quarter from a craft shop, hemmed in different colours according to the elements (using yellow for air) and blue. My chalice? Purchased from a $2 shop, but it's amazingly beautiful. I can see and feel water within every inch of the chalice, from its design, to the materials, to the construction.

I have a big box of stones and the like. Maybe I can find things he'd like in there :3

That'd be a start. Anything you can get hold of that holds some significance to him would be enough.
Some altars don't even need to LOOK like altars. Fiona Horne (Australian witch) actually made reference to a "Claytons" altar, where someone could easily have an overlooked altar (by others) by finding photos of the elements and sticking them on the wall. To an outsider, my altar LOOKS like a series of objects that I like and have opted to keep out in the open.

[Gizmo]

It should be things that resonate with him and your spiritual state. There are no particulars.

For me my altar is several things around my bedroom which makes the whole room an altar. They are not necessarily special but all resonate with me and a lot of them have to do with hunting and nature as my current path means I am resonating with Herne. Many of them are actually commercial/man made objects and not 'spiritual' as such.

[MoonCat]

I'd like to add some thoughts:

First, an altar doesn't have to be there all the time (unless you think it's what he wants). It doesn't have to be fancy or full of "stuff". It can be as simple as shells and pretty stones on a windowsill, or a tiny corner of a table with a candle on it. It can be a pretty cloth spread out on the grass in a quiet spot, with maybe a candle and incense on it, or whatever things you feel a need for at that time. What matters are your intentions and your purpose. Start small and simple, and see what happens. He'll be pleased that you're making the effort


By the way, here's an ancestor altar I did about 10 years ago for an altar exhibit that a small local museum did for Day of the Dead:

[Seshat]

An altar for Seshat:

Leopard print cloth, because She is a Scribe, and Egyptian scribes wore leopard skins to denote their rank and station.

Writing tools, to designate Her scribing.

A USB stick with a collection of books, neatly categorised. She is Keeper Of The House Of Books: the Divine Librarian.

A measuring tape, or a length of string or rope with precise knots (measuring tape circa Middle Kingdom Egypt). She was called upon for the 'Stretching The Rope' ceremony: ie, determining where foundations of major structures would be, and measuring them out.

A math textbook, or a compass, slide rule, calculator, or other symbol of mathematics. She shared with Toth the credit for the creation of Mathematics.

A feather, a set of scales, or both. She was also called upon to witness the weighing of the soul against a feather.




Now for someone else, to give a wildly different example. How about Baron Samedi?

Rum. GOOD rum. Use it as part of the offering.
Cigars, or tobacco and a good pipe. Also part of the offering.
You can burn some of the tobacco in a suitable container, and set a shot glass of rum nearby, if that would help with the frame of mind.

Cloth in his colours: black, white, purple. Perhaps with a motif symbolic of death, resurrection, and/or healing.

For a worshipper for whom His healing aspect is dominant: betadine, bandages, and other things belonging to a first aid kit would be suitable. Heck, just get a damn first aid kit from the local pharmacy and leave it on the altar for His use.

For a worshipper for whom His aspect as the guardian of the doorway to death is the dominant aspect, funerael elements are more appropriate. But He is death at its appropriate time - you want funerael elements, not morbidity, and definitely nothing implying murder.

If one's relationship is more balanced, you can have elements of both.

Oh. And add a whoopie cushion. No, something more tasteful: a book of quotes from Groucho Marx. He'd like that.

[Fire_on_High]

Since you're on speaking terms, ask.