I'm so excited to join the coven! I am a new witch just starting out and was wondering if anyone had any advice for beginners and also guidance on what I should get and set up on my alter? Thank you so much!
Hey, I played the trumpet back in high school, too.
An altar is not a necessity, nor is there any mandate of how to set one up. Some people will make it decorative for the season, for an upcoming observation (like a holiday or celestial event, the changing of seasons, etc.), and some people like to collect anything interesting they believe is related to their practice. It's completely up to you.
My advice to any novice is to ask questions, to read, and develop some knowledge based on the best advice you can find, in order to help filter out the sometimes overwhelming amounts of misinformation floating around.
You're still a teenager, so you've got a lot to learn about life. But scammers and others who find ways to take advantage of others, or people who speak authoritatively about things they know little of, are pretty common in any area of study, and you can learn to recognize signs of the people to avoid.
Thank you for your response. I think I do want to set up an alter for myself just to have a special place to cast my spells and do my meditations, I´m just not sure like you said which information about items for alters online is true or which items draw away from the original purpose of an alter.
For example, the items I've seen people tell me to get are a cauldron, a chalice, mortar and pestle, candles, incense, and a cloth to put under the items. I realize that alters are a personal thing, and that there aren't many "rules", but if you'd be comfortable sharing I'd love to hear what works for you! And if you don't have an alter that's totally ok too. :)
What one has on an altar often depends on its purpose.
As gem said an altar is not a necessity.
Those whom work with herbs may have a mortar and pestle, jars for herbal storage, etc.
A Wiccan altar would look different to that of a traditional which.
A wiccan altar will tend to have the standard chalice, athame, cauldron, deity candles etc.
An altar set for a particular deity or spirit, will have things that represent those deities or spirits, as well as offerings.
It entirely depends on your personal preference, which tools you feel you will actually use, what you can afford, and your practice or religion what your altar looks like and what you choose to have on it.
Currently my altar holds crystals I am drawn to, incense holders, a lamp I love, a tea-light lamp, a few oracle decks, a crystal ball, a vase featuring grapes, a fox skull and a few other things.
How you set yours up is relevant to your craft and preferences.
Re: How to set up my alter? By: Nekoshema / Novice
Post # 5 Apr 10, 2021
As mentioned above, there aren't any rules unless you follow a specific religion. British Traditional Wiccan altars are divided between the masculine and feminine and you should place the items accordingly [a cauldron is seen as feminine, an athame is masculine, therefore cauldron on the feminine side, athame on the masculine] but if you don't follow a strict religious path or the concept of binary division doesn't resonate with you, don't do it.
First, what type of altar are you wanting? If you want it to look like the ones on Instagram, I should warn you, they're meant to look pretty, but not practical. Working altars should have a comfortable space for you to do workings on [think items in a crescent moon shape with a board in the middle for you to work on] If it's a worship altar, you don't need to worry much about workspace, and can place deity statues in the back, with offerings, incense, candles, and whatnot in front of them [kind of like putting items on a shelf for display] Personally, my permanent altar is a worship altar, and I have a psycho cat who's far too curious for his own good, so I keep the incense burner in front of the offering dish so my cat can't get to it [i had it the other way around once, didn't end well lol. I was asleep and my Goddess appeared before me and was all "wake up and do something!" so I shot awake only for my fiance to come into the room with our cat and inform me he just ate the salmon I left for my Goddess]
Also, keep in mind you can play around with your altar. If you're using it [burning incense, casting spells, leaving offerings] it'll get dirty, and you'll need to clean it now and then, so you can move things around whenever [I change my altar cloth with each sabbat, so I redecorate every 6 weeks or so] It can also be as big or as small as you want, and it doesn't have to be permanent. You could have a plant on your desk with some crystals around it and that could be an altar. There's plenty of ways to decorate and design them, do what makes you and your deities happy.
It depends on your religion. More precisely, what deity or deities you worship. For example, if you worship Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, you will need things like an olive branch and an owl feather on your altar.
Thank you all so much for your guidance! I've been working on my alter a lot since I've made my post, and all of your guidance was very helpful. The witch supply shops near my house have been closed, but when they open up I will get the rest of my tools and finishing touches!
