Altar (CG)

This thread already exist on the main forums for spells of magic but I figured I should post it here for ease of access.

What is an altar"? An altar is a space which is used for three main purposes in common modern practice. These are: as a place to make sacrifices to deities, as a place of worship, as a place to cast spells and channel energy. Often in the latter two the place also serves as a place to leave ones ritual tools in times of nonuse.

I am often asked "what should be sacrificed on an altar"? That largely depends on what you are worshiping. Someone for instance who is making an offer to elemental air may burn incense at the place. Someone who is worshiping an ancestor may leave a food item that the ancestor in question liked. It all depends on the purpose of the altar.

Now on to construction. A traditional altar is usually made from stone and is adorned with symbols of the faith it represents. an example would be a Christian altar which is draped in crimson and has crosses on it plus more. Altars are cleansed spaces that have been blessed. Altars do not have to be set in one location. they can be moved.

Picking a space or object to act as an altar. Despite tradition altars can be set up on almost anything. I wood tabletop might serve as an altar or even something as simple as a board you slide under your bed when done. Once you have where the altar is going to be set up the question becomes what should I put there.

Most altars have a few common objects that help in channeling energy. These are a bowl or place to burn sacrifices such as incense. A place for candles. A chalice for liquid offerings. A symbol appropriate for the religion. Some have stones attributed to the deities that the altar is dedicated to such as bloodstone for Christianity. Most altars have a cloth to separate these items from touching the base the altar is made on, aka the table/board.
what else goes on the altar is again based on the deity of the altar. For altars that don't follow a particular deity many of the above items would be great for the altar as well as things that represent ideas you believe in. Things such as athames and wands are often put there as well.

when you have everything together it is time for a ritual cleansing of the items and area. There are many ways to cleanse areas so I wont cover it here. if you have any question please ask below.

Once the area is cleansed it can be blessed. this is an important part of altar construction but it can vary greatly on belief. For this article ill show a simple elemental blessing as well as giving tips for other belief systems. For the elemental blessing the first step is obtaining something to represent the four elements. An example would be a lit candle for fire, water in the chalice for water, burning incense for air, and a rock for earth. I would then say an elemental prayer while directing energy in the area to push back the negative and retain the positive. The prayer is most useful if written by yourself. You may also decide to hold each object that is going to be on the altar and bless them each separately.

When my prayer has been said and the items and space blessed I would take each of the offerings and bury them in the night. In This way a show an end to the ritual and I don't use those objects as blessings again. This above is just an example of my own beliefs but are not truly necessary to do and each belief has different ways of ending a ritual.

Other belief systems follow similar methods but replace the sacrifice with some appropriate for it and change the prayers. Those who follow deities may ask that deity to come and protect the altar or in other ways the person may dedicate the altar firmly to the deity.

The altar is now finished.

Feel free to add to this or recommend a topic for me to cover.

For elemental blessings you could also use a Japanese/Chinese fan for air, a wand can represent fire, a bowl of water for water, and some sand for earth. That's the beauty of it, so many ways to represent elements. Just gotta get creative with it.

For me, I have a few altars. My main one is for Ares. Well, the left side is his altar and the right side is my workspace. I use a coffee table with a stool stacked on the left side and a small entertainment center with a lot of cubby holes on the right. The coffee table has a drawer and space underneath it as well. Over the entertainment center I have a purple cloth. I chose purple because it is the color of Salii of Mars. For his side I have a green cloth underneath because he is also an agricultural God. On top of the stool is a red one because blood, anger, passion, and all that.

The cubby holes I keep smaller things like gemstones, sachets, incense, matches, a lighter, lighter fluid, etc. In the drawer I keep a lot of candles. Underneath I have larger items like big jugs of fragrance oils for meditation, candles too tall to fit above, taller bulky candle holders, etc. I also have several colored plastic containers to keep extra materials together like my essential oils, ribbons, yarn, shiny decrotive rocks, etc.

To the left of my Ares altar is one for Aphrodite, Enyo, and Harmonia. But because it is so small I will be expanding and giving them each their own altar soon. They deserve it and I prefer not to keep things cramped if at all possible. It has a pink cloth on it with gold and orange vases, special anointed candles, Greek looking ceramics and a special floral tea cup for libation. My husband will be finishing my Hermes altar soon. He just needs to put a little wood glue and some nails into it. I will then spray paint it black and paint some Greek words on it. It's a little coffee table. For his altar because I want the symbols to show I will not be using an altar cloth. Hermes is both Ouranic and Khthonic but because he is Khthonic I like to not use cloths for Khthonic Deities.

I also wanted to build one for Artemis and Apollon as well as one for Deimos and Phobos. I originally was going to put Deimos and Phobos with Ares since they are his sons but again...too cramped. Artemis and Apollon will go together since they are twins as will Deimos and Phobos though. Hmm, I have a tall bookshelf with a few levels I will use for them, that should work! Since it has three levels I will put Artemis and Apollon on top, Aphrodite and Harmonia on the secon level, then Deimos and Phobos on the third! Yes, that will be perfect.