Creating An Altar
One of the most important tools you will have as a practicing Witch will be your altar. Setting one up can be confusing, especially if you don’t know what to put on one. The problem is, you could research until the cows come home and every site/book/person will have a different way of doing things. So let’ start with the basics.
An Altar Cloth – this is the base of your altar so to speak, the foundation on which everything else will sit. However it is not mandatory to have an altar cloth, it could be a lovely piece of wood, a flat surface that suits you – my altar has a handcrafted Celtic tile, this was made by my parents as a gift so it is very special to me. I do however have a black altar cloth on the wall above my altar, it has the cardinal points and glows in the dark.
Left Side for the Goddess:
White or Silver candle to represent the Goddess
A Statue of a Goddess if you intend to represent her that way
Your Chalice
Bowl of Water
Cauldron
Pentacle
Bell
Now I don’t think a person needs all of this on their left side. I am a Witch not Wiccan so I don’t represent the Goddess with a statue, but I do have a silver candle, this is to simply represent the feminine energy, likewise I have a gold candle to represent masculine energy.
Right Side for the God
Candle either Gold or Yellow
God Statue if you wish to represent him that way
Wand
Censor
Bowl of Salt
Athame
Boline
To represent the elements you could have:
Earth: Pentacle, Bowl of Salt, Stones, Plants, Flowers, Green Candle
Water: Bowl of Water, Seashell, Chalice with Wine, Blue Candle, Cauldron
Fire: Red Candle, Athame, Boline, Candle Snuffer
Air: Incense, Feather, Bell, Wand, Yellow Candle
Again, I don’t think you need every single thing to represent the Elements, I would suggest picking one item that suits you. Also make sure you have them in the right spot. North and South Hemisphere are opposite so Fire in NH is South but in the SH it is North.
In the centre you could also have your statues or Book of Shadows. My BOS lies underneath my altar on a shelf, there just isn’t that much room to put it since it is a three ring binder.
The best advice I can give for building an altar is have the basics to represent elements and so forth, but always personalize it. After all it will be a reflection of you and your own spiritual practices, you will be working with it and that is the most important thing – it has to be right for you.
One of the most important tools you will have as a practicing Witch will be your altar. Setting one up can be confusing, especially if you don’t know what to put on one. The problem is, you could research until the cows come home and every site/book/person will have a different way of doing things. So let’ start with the basics.
An Altar Cloth – this is the base of your altar so to speak, the foundation on which everything else will sit. However it is not mandatory to have an altar cloth, it could be a lovely piece of wood, a flat surface that suits you – my altar has a handcrafted Celtic tile, this was made by my parents as a gift so it is very special to me. I do however have a black altar cloth on the wall above my altar, it has the cardinal points and glows in the dark.
Left Side for the Goddess:
White or Silver candle to represent the Goddess
A Statue of a Goddess if you intend to represent her that way
Your Chalice
Bowl of Water
Cauldron
Pentacle
Bell
Now I don’t think a person needs all of this on their left side. I am a Witch not Wiccan so I don’t represent the Goddess with a statue, but I do have a silver candle, this is to simply represent the feminine energy, likewise I have a gold candle to represent masculine energy.
Right Side for the God
Candle either Gold or Yellow
God Statue if you wish to represent him that way
Wand
Censor
Bowl of Salt
Athame
Boline
To represent the elements you could have:
Earth: Pentacle, Bowl of Salt, Stones, Plants, Flowers, Green Candle
Water: Bowl of Water, Seashell, Chalice with Wine, Blue Candle, Cauldron
Fire: Red Candle, Athame, Boline, Candle Snuffer
Air: Incense, Feather, Bell, Wand, Yellow Candle
Again, I don’t think you need every single thing to represent the Elements, I would suggest picking one item that suits you. Also make sure you have them in the right spot. North and South Hemisphere are opposite so Fire in NH is South but in the SH it is North.
In the centre you could also have your statues or Book of Shadows. My BOS lies underneath my altar on a shelf, there just isn’t that much room to put it since it is a three ring binder.
The best advice I can give for building an altar is have the basics to represent elements and so forth, but always personalize it. After all it will be a reflection of you and your own spiritual practices, you will be working with it and that is the most important thing – it has to be right for you.
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