Litha Altar

Here is my Litha Altar, I added some dried herbs from my own garden - Wormwood and Lavender, both of my plants are growing spectaculary well - I have 4 lavender plants, I think they're lovely.

Halloween Altar

I don't usually celebrate Halloween but I thought this year I might give a little nod to one of the oldest Pagan holidays.

Beltane Altar

My Beltane Altar, isn't the cow just the cutest? I've been thinking about decorating my little broom there, maybe with some ribbons and dried herbs - I haven't decided yet.

Ostara Altar

I decided to have a little fun with this altar and popped a stuffed rabbit on it to symbolise the joy and fun of Ostara.

My Imbolc Altar

This is my Family Altar. I thought this time round I would keep it nice and simple. In the background is the Kitchen Witch's Creed I printed out for my Mum. We haven't hung it up yet but given that Imbolc is for the Goddess Brighid and she is a Hearth Goddess, it seemed appropriate to place this with the altar. The altar itself is sitting right next to the stove top, another ode to the hearth aspect.

It has 2 white church pillar candles, a purple scented taper and a rose scented square pillar. I love the little rose one, I got it from Cheap As Chips (with two other scents) they often have a great range of candles there. I also decorated it with my little cauldron, a besom, a little dragon and 2 white roses from the Garden.

It's a very simple altar, but I think it captures the mood of the Sabbat. I like my decorations to be simple and easy, I'm not one for flashy or overdone.

I'm still piecing together my personal altar but hopefully it will be completed in time.

My Yule Altar

I'm of the firm belief that Sabbat Altars don't need to be so serious and absolutely decorated to represent every little detail of a holiday. I take the more fun approach I have to admit. This year I chose to have a little fun and so as you can see above, I have one of those little troll toys to represent the magical creature aspect of Yule. I also added:

Pinecone
Chunk of Frankincense Resin
Chunk of Myrrh Resin
My Bast Statue
Yule Fairy Ring
My Bell
Myrrh incense stick
Bloodstone
Carnelian
Emerald
Shiny Gold Xmas ornament
A fun plastic holly/ivy pot I bought last year at Xmas
Metallic Silver, Red and Green Candle

I have to say I think it looks great, it represents what Yule means to me, wintery fun and excitement. I haven't done the family altar yet, I usually do that closer to the holiday. We live in a small country cottage so space is limited.

If you haven't created your Yule or Litha Altar (for our northern hemisphere counterparts), I would advise to have a little fun, after all, your altar should represent how you celebrate the holiday.

Here is my family Yule altar, in respect for tradition, I thought why not give it a Xmasy feel. I think it looks fun and fab and captures the mood of Yule!

My Samhain Altar

It is nearly April 30th, time to celebrate Samhain. When putting together my altar, I realized this is my first time celebrating this Sabbat so I tried to keep things simple. To start with I added a pumpkin candle – I got them last year at Halloween because I thought they were really neat. I added a red, black and orange candle to the arrangement, as well as dried oak leaves, an owl and bat – 2 totem animals of Samhain, tarot cards and a pendulum to represent the veil between worlds, honouring divination as an aspect of this holiday.

I also added Obsidian, Onyx and Carnelian, gemstones for protection, clearing negativity and strength. Lastly I added a figurine of Bast, cats are another totem animal of Samhain, mostly because of the imagery given of a Witch and her cat, I think it is nice to honour that and celebrate the stereotype in a positive and personal way.

Below is the Family Altar. Even though my parents are not Pagan, they appreciate and respect my beliefs. Each Sabbat I cook a three course meal for my entire family, and this year my Stepfather read the Samhain invocation before we ate, it was really nice and meant a lot.

I decorated it with a white pillar candle, smaller red and black candles, a pumpkin candle (I love the symbolism of it), there was also my besom, a cat in a Witches Hat (again, another ode to the history of this holiday), there were Oak leaves, Myrrh incense, my Cauldron and a Crystal Ball. All in all I think it looks great and has a really natural symbolic feel to it.

My Altar

Above is a picture of my altar, as you can see I haven’t really paid any mind to the rules of setting up an altar. I do have the candles representing feminine and masculine in the right spot but otherwise I placed things where they suited me. Like my athame being in the south, I like it there, as well as my cauldron being in the North and my crystal ball right beside it. My little Dragon also sits to the North which I guess is proper, but my censer is in the centre, my bell is south west, I don’t have my chalice on there, nor my BOS, but I pretty much placed all the other stuff there. My besom lies beside my altar but as yet I haven’t decided where to put it. I don’t have an altar cloth, the Celtic Pentagram tile that everything is sitting on was a gift from my parents, handcrafted by my stepdad, so this makes it extra special.

My altar isn’t book perfect but I have to say it is a representation of me and my practices.

Creating An Altar

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.

Elemental Altars

An altar is a great way to pay tribute to the elements. You could have a single altar with items only devoted to the Elements, or if you have the space, you could have altars devoted to each of the elements in your home. I put together some Elemental Altars to give you an idea of what could be achieved, I didn’t buy anything new or special, I worked with what I had within my own ritual supplies. Once you know what to look for, it becomes surprisingly easy to put together.

AIR ALTAR

To represent Air I have chosen Incense, Crystal Ball and Tarot cards for the intuitive/divination aspect of Air, Lavender, an Air Herb, Feathers and candles in yellow, white and purple, colours associated with the element of Air and the gemstones Amethyst, Sodalite and Aventurine.

EARTH ALTAR

To represent Earth I have chosen a green candle, a cow figurine, oak and pine cones from the Earth, Salt, a Pentagram a symbol of earth, quartz crystal and a Venus of Willendorf statue to represent fertility.

FIRE ALTAR

For Fire I chose a lantern, Horus – the Egyptian God associated with Fire, Cacti – a fire plant, A Dragon, gemstones of Carnelian, Tiger’s Eye and Bloodstone, my wand and candles in the colours of red, yellow and gold. Also my claddagh ring which is made of gold – a metal associated with Fire.

WATER ALTAR

For Water I chose a bowl of water – the element in its purest form, a chalice, a Dolphin plaque – the majestic creatures of the deep, 2 oyster shells – these could also be used as offering bowls if one chose to, silver, blue and white candles, colours associated with Water and gemstones of amethyst, sodalite and aquamarine.

It is really quite easy to find small things to help represent the elements either on your personal altar, their own special altar or just around the home. For more info read the section on the Elements, it will help give you a basic understanding of the elements and provide a starting point to begin building your own elemental altars.

Initiation Altar

Recently I completed my initiation into the Firefly Outer Circle of the Council of Elders. It was a wonderful and deeply personal experience and I don’t think I can really put in to words how it felt and what it meant to do this. I felt such a sense of accomplishment that all of my hard work had paid off, and I was truly committed to walking this path, alone and with Firefly, to learn and grow and become.

I thought I would post a picture of my altar, how it was set up for my half of the initiation.

There is a candle for each cardinal point or element, and at the centre is a purple candle for spirit. As you can see there is a pentagram on the tile, this is the top of my altar, I took everything else off to perform this ritual. There was a candle for the Goddess (silver) and God (gold) also but since I am not a Witch who worships Deity, they were there more for the symbolism and the representation of balance.