It is always difficult for me to begin writing anything because there are so many things that I want to say. I guess, for me, my altar is my ritual space; it's the space set aside for my spirit both to recharge and reach out and embrace the mystery. The items that you put on your altar are tools to help with focus and increase your relationship to the elements, your own energy, your spirit and the earth herself. As such, the tools can be most anything that aids in opening your mind and spirit in ritual space that is meaningful to you. Certainly, there are traditional tools (although to be honest, I'm not sure exactly which traditions the tools come from since there is no real written record of these spiritual practices). We have found goddesses from all over the world (e.g. The Venus of Willendorf found in Austria) and we have found cave paintings that indicate altar setups and we have found remnants of old altars themselves so this practice of creating a focused space has been going on for millenia. Since there is no definitive written historical record that is publicly available, we can learn either from an oral tradition, books or perhaps why not create our own traditions? Even if there is no written record to show neo-pagans, wiccans, etc., what to do or how to do it, there is no reason that we can't learn either by reading (Starhawk's Spiral Dance, Patricia Telesco's Urban Pagan are great for ideas) or joining a circle or just following our intuition to help guide us in what is appropriate for our altar.

I began practicing about 15 years ago, and have read and studied both as a solitary practitioner and as a member and priestess of circles/covens. And so I have set up and maintained many altars. One of the important things that I've learned is that there doesn't appear to be a wrong or right way to do that for me. As long as I am not hurting anyone and have positive intentions, pretty much anything goes. There are traditions out there in which things are more specific and there are rules about how and what to do. And , there has been quite a bit written about these traditions and their practices so I will not go into any of that here. I wish to concentrate on how someone who does not follow a particular path (Gardnerian, Alexandrian, etc.) can create, maintain and develop her/his own altar/ritual space. This article will be about how to create an altar that speaks to you and is a place of spiritual peace and energy that is personalized. By that, I mean that I believe that, as much as possible, it is best to create your own tools and ritual items. That is not always possible, I realize. However, you'd be surprised at how much you can do to personalize your altar and make it so it is connected to you and you to it.

Before I go any further, let me say that I believe that there are a lot of different ways to create an altar. I think that an altar can be anything that is meaningful to you. But, a more traditional approach might be to have at least some if not all of the following items on your altar.

• chalice (as you can see from the autumn altar, it can be just about any kind of cup, but usually a chalice is a bowllike cup set atop a conical base)
• wand (you can make your own or purchase one, but I heartily recommend that you make one if you can. I know someone who used and still uses an oak branch for her wand. It d oesn't have to be ornate.)
• athame (ritual blade, some folks say that you have to have two, one for magick and one for actual use. I use my one for both because I believe that our tools are just that, tools, and they are to be used for all things not just magic. The more we use them and bind ourselves to them the more powerful and meaningful they become.)
• pentacle (to me this is optional. I put one on some of my altars but not all.)
• incense burner (can be a five-dollar one from Pier 1 or something really ornate) and some kind of ash receptacle
• crystal (also optional to me but it does help with focus)
• some kind of representation of what you think is sacred (I have my elemental goddesses and I've also made a fertility goddess, moon goddesses)

These tools tend to be the tools that folks have on their altars for ritual purposes. Again, I have to say that I believe that these tools are just that - tools to help with focus (as Starhawk says in Spiral Dance Younger Self [the subconscious or inner child if you will] really loves symbols and they are the best way to access that inner vision. So the tools of the altar are an inroad into that particular sacred/ritual space.)

Certainly, there are plenty of places (online and otherwise [please, always che ck your sources if you're purchasing either by mail order or online. Check with other folks to learn about the quality of the stuff these places sell]) where you can purchase everything that you need to put together a terrific altar. And when I first began to study the Craft, that was what I did. I purchased the Willendorf Goddess and the Nile River Goddess and a ritual blade and a chalice. And as I worked with them, I began to realize that while they held great energy and attraction for me, I wasn't as connected with them as I'd like. So, I began to search for a way to make some of my own altar tools.

I'm not particularly talented in a lot of arts and crafts and so I thought that I'd have a difficult time making my own tools. However, I found that not to be the case. For example, I ran across an oak branch on the ground at the local Renaissance Festival, and it became my wand. I found the wood in the forest and stripped, sanded and polished it til it shone. I embedded a quartz crystal on one end and a lapis on the other. I have braided and entwined silver wire on the wand and have hung various charms and crystals from it. I also inscribed the Witches' Rede, "An it harm none, do what thou wilt," in runes on the wand.

Next thing I did was to look for a way to make my own representations of goddesses. It's possible to make things out of air-drying c lay or a water/flour mixture or sculpey for example. I chose sculpey because I love color and that was the easiest way for me to have different color goddesses without having to buy glazes or find a kiln.

I've made my own chalice thanks to my great friend Gina who showed me how to throw on the potter's wheel (photos coming soon). I cannot describe the experience except to say that I invited all of the elements to join me before I started (the clay is the earth, the water is present because the clay is wet, the fire of the kiln, and the air is the spinning of the potter's wheel) and it came out incredible. I was able to make it just how I wanted it and the glaze is a beautiful blue/green mix. Altar cloths are another is thing to find rather inexpensively and they can add incredible meaning to your alt ar. Go to your local fabric store after various holidays and look at the remnants table. After Halloween, for example, you'll be able to find many theme fabrics and often there are harvest themed fabrics on the remnants table in the quilt fabric section. After the December holidays it'll be the same and after Easter still more. Seasonal fabrics make wonderful altar cloths. You can charge them energetically and use them. You can sew up and finish the edges or leave them undone: either way works although it looks a bit better if they are finished (to be honest, I don't finish mine although I know I should).

Natural objects: in the autuman, fallen leaves add a wonderful, vibrant touch to altars and are a great way to connect with the earth. Feathers (I only use ones I find), stones, fruits, etc. also add to an altar depending on what you are setting the altar up for. There is also the beauty of buying from secondhand shops (cauldrons especially) but remember to clean and cleanse all your tools.

You can also put tarot cards that connect with what you are celebrating: e.g., the Hecate card from "The Goddess Oracle" by Hrana Janto and Marcia Marashinsky is a wonderfully symbolic card to have on your Samhain al tar. A number of these tools can be made either by you or by someone you know who may have inclincations to the artistic. I believe that there are no two altars alike because there are so many ways to have an altar.

In the end, your altar is an expression of what you believe is important in your spiritual practice. Some people have one altar that they never change, and some keep adding to their altar (see the link below), and some change their altar depending on their current spiritual focus. Since your altar is an extension of you and your beliefs, your energy and personality will be reflected in it. Have fun and joy in the creation of your altar, and make sure that you enjoy looking at and feeling the ritual items on it. If you do, then you will be much more likely to enjoy the altar and your spirit will fly.

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Below are a few of photos of altars that I've had over the past few years. There are a lot of books that come to mind that give lots of ideas about altars. Laurie Cabott's "Power of the Witch" and Starhawk's "Spiral Dance" give some great ideas. Also, Patricia Telesco's "Urban Pagan" and "Victorian Grimoire" are really good for getting creativity stimulated. I thought it would be fun to get some photos up so someone who is just starting out might get an idea of what some stuff is and how to go about getting/making it. Actually, that brings up a good point. There is/has been a debate going on for some time about which is better buying your magical tools or making them. Well, I sort of do both. There are lots of magical tools that I've made and I love them dearly (a little more than I love the ones I've bought? Yes, I'd have to say so). But, I am not a silversmith, and I am not blacksmith, and I can't do ceramics to save my life so some of my tools have been purchased. They are still wonderful, and I love them, but I would love to have all my tools be handmade by my hand. In the photos you will see, I'll point out how I made the ones I made and at some later time, I'll put up instructions on this page. In the meantime, if you have some altar photos to share that you'd like to see go up, please email me at the address below and I'll be happy to put them up for you. I'd love to have a library for people to come to to see what kinds of stuff other people are doing with their altars.

Here is my last year's autumn altar. I usually put my autumn altar together right at the autumnal equinox (Mabon or whateve r you wish to call it). It's right at the second harvest festival and you can see by the altar cloth, that's what I am celebrating. There are a number of handmade items on the altar. First, in the center is one of my most prized possessions. My dear friend Eryq (you can see how creative he is from other parts of this page or you can go to his page. He's amazingly talented.) made this stained glass box for me. He knew of my love for opals and that my rune is the Ing, and he created this Ing box out of opalscent black and white glass. You can kind of see the rainbows he created by laying out the Ing rune glass so that it goes from red to yellow to blue to violet.

If you look around the box, you will see five little sculptures. They are the elemental goddesses and the horned god that I made out of sculpey. The one on the right, lying in the east is the Air goddess. She is white and silver and winged. Moving down to the south is the Fire goddess. She is vibrant and yellow and orange and red and she has the light rune, Sowelu, carved on her belly. She is the most simple of the goddesses I've made and she is very special to me. The next one, in the west, is the Water Goddess. She is in blues and she has a mermaid's tale. Her cloak is flowing water. The next one around to the north is the Earth Goddess. She is a tree with leaves just sprouting on her hands . The last figurine is the horned god. He is antlered and he wears a green vine. At some point, I'll put up instructions on how to make your own goddesses or god out of sculpey. It's a lot of fun and it is meaningful and inexpensive. (Up at the top of the altar, there is a dolphin that I made out sculpey as well.)

My chalice, at the time (I have a new one now) was a blue cup that we found in the woods behind our house. The incense burner was the wind blowing from the Heinecke booth at the MD Renaissance Festival. The candle sticks were a gift from my friend Michele, and the tarot deck is Mary Hanson-Roberts' incredible deck. The copper cop I found in a shop and the athame Rich found in the street. The clo th came from a Minnesota fabrics. It was a remnant. I heartily recommend that if you are altar cloth shopping, go to a fabric store and check out the remnant table. You won't belive some of the great fabrics there.

This altar sits on the same altar cabinet and this time I used no altar cloth so everything could be firmly connected to the wood of the cabinet. I have a silver chalice, my fire, water, and earth sculpey goddesses, a representation of the Venus Willendorf, gold en leaves, a letteropener that I was using as an athame for a while, candle holders and my wand. The Star (which I colored in) from the Daughters of the Moon Tarot deck sits in the background and a wind incense burner is at the east.

My cat Ariadne loves altars and anything having to do with tarot, holidays, divination and ritual. So, of course she had to sit in on me putting together my Samhain altar. Lots of stones and crystals (the shiny one on the left is my little crystal ball) are on the altar. My friend Michele gave me the copper celtic knotwork pentacle, and the deck I used for this is the Mythic tarot. Hecate, the Moon card in that deck, is on top. I have black and white candles for the light and the dark and there were purple and green for a spell I was casting. Of course, the wand is always present as well.

Hmm, for this altar, we all brought everything to put on the altar and decided that we should indeed use everything we brought. There are five chalices, lots of stones, apples, gourds, candles, oils, photos or other images of the elders in our lives, corn dollies, tarot cards, wands, and lots of incense. It was a wonderful ritual.

I tried to carve the triple moon goddess on this pumpkin and it worked pretty well. The technique is to carve away the skin but don't cut all the way through the pumpkin. That way you can get various shades of orange and yellow as each portion is different thicknesses.

It's really wonderful to have an altar celebrating you, your gender and what it means to you. If you have place in your house, dedicate a little spot to yourself. The altar cloth is a silk scarf given to me by my mother. The standing goddesses were made from sculpey. The full moon goddess is red for life's blood and fertility and she has a full moon in her belly. The crystal goddess was also made from sculpey and she shows the power of growth. In the center is a menstrual goddess. I created her to celebrate my moon time. We found the fea ther in the woods, and the necklace is an opal (my stone) that I could not resist for its brilliance and beauty. The tarot card is the hanged man from the "Herbal Tarot."

This is a much simpler version of a woman altar. I have a representation of the Nile River Goddess, a yoni rose, a menstrual goddess and some incense and a wand in a wood bowl.

There are a number of images of fire (including candles and the fire goddess I made being on the center of the altar). Also, there are suns, the horned god, and the altar cloth is very fiery. I had lots of fertility symbols on this particular altar. The Venus of Willendorf, the horned god, the couple statue are some examples.

This is another version of a summertime altar. Lots of goddess, fire, and sun imagery here. There are: a Willendorf Goddess, a Nile River Goddess, and the earth and fire goddesses that I made.

This is a spring altar, right around Beltane. There are lots of woman symbols on here. The yoni rose makes an appearance as well as both the earth and fire goddess I made. Plus, lots of crystals and a red candle round out the altar. Below is another view of the same altar.

Here are two photos of our harvest moon altar.

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These are two views of the same altar. This was a harvest moon altar, and it had a number of different facets that I find both interesting and fascinating. We didn't pay much attention to the directions for the elements; it ended up being a more organic altar than that. To celebrate the harvest, we had flowers and herbs from a garden. We also had the red full moon goddess, Sophia the Goddess of Wisdom from the Goddess Oracle deck, candles, Frog from Jamie Sams' Medicine Cards, a yoni rose, crystals and other stones, a sand dollar an apple, and a stone I brought back from the coast of Maine. Since we didn't pay much attention to where things were placed, there ended up being a real circular rather than a directional feel to the altar for me.

Here is a solstice altar.

This was a particularly meaningful winter solstice altar for me. My beloved kitty, Belly was fighting cancer and his photo was prominently displayed on the altar. Also, there are lots of sun symbols including a sun box and sun/star-shaped candle holders (holding red and green candles) made by my friend Colleen. There are also the elemental goddesses (and the horned god) made of sculpy, , round amber beads, a chalice, an incense burner, an at hame, a container of melted snow, tarot cards, my wand, a chalice, the wonderful rune stained glass box made by Eryq, and a dolphin mirror (also made by Colleen). Some of these are traditional altar tools and some wer e made for my personal use. I like having the center box on my altar (it is in almost every one) because it gives an energetic focus to ritual for me.

A Samhain altar.

In honor of the current season, here is another Samhain altar. A lot of the same pieces show up in this one again. The elemental goddesses and horned god as well as the chalice, the dolphin mirror, the center box, and pics of Belly and Ariadne. There is also a card of Hecate from the Goddess Oracle. I love this altar cloth; it really speaks the season to me.

Personal altar

This last one is a personal altar. It is really for my own space and meditation. I think it's a good idea to have a personal altar set up all the time. That way, if I ever need to have some grounding, it's right there and ready for me.

I think that it's a great idea to make things for your altar. For example, a few years ago, I discovered sculpey. I've made a lot of my symbols since then. The fire and earth goddesses as well as the yoni rose mean a lot to me because I made them. Eventually, I'll put up some instructions on how folks might go about making their own.

If you have any ideas or photos that you'd like to get up on the web, please email them to me, and I'll be more than happy to put them up here. As I said above, I'd love to have a photo library where people can get ideas for their own altars.

Oh and here's a great thing to do on Samhain or just about any time there are punkins to be carved. We did these at Art Night (more on that later).

Here are two images of an incredible altar by the hermit. They are kind of sizeable images (in order to fit in as much as possible) and they are really worth checking out. He's been building and adding to this magnificent altar for years: Full altar and closeup. One of my favorite things about the altar is the triple candle holder with one white, one red, and one black taper. Just wonderful.

One last thing. I mentioned above that I'm going to try eventually to have all handmade altar tools. Well, my great friend Gina showed me how to throw on the potter's wheel, and I've made my own chalice. What an incredible feeling it was to work with the clay and shape it and pour in my intentions for its presence. It has been on my altar for years now and I just treasure it. Here is a photo of it, in process, after it was fired the first time but before it was glazed. It's been finished for quite some time now, but I haven't had the oomph to take photos. I'll be sure to put up photos of it soon.

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Last Updated: February 24, 2004