Blessed be Wildlings! Today we are going to be discussing the various benefits behind having, and reasons that you may want to set up, a magickal altar in your home. An altar, for the sake of this discussion, is traditionally a space that honors a person's deities and/or ancestors, and/or which is used to channel magickal energies for spell and ritual work. Altars are also common places to sit for meditation, and hold space with the higher energies of the universe.
Contrary to what some spiritual teachers may say, an altar is not inherently necessary to your craft. If you are raising your eyebrows at the cost of some of the required implements, are limited on space, or are wondering if you even really need an altar in your home or yard, or just want to learn more about altar work, you're in the right place. A companion piece - 5 Reasons to Not Need an Altar - is upcoming next week.
Does that sound interesting or relevant to your path at this time? Let's go!
1. Firm Knowledge
If you have a good knowledge base around what an altar is for and how to set one up, it is probably a good time to try one out! To be honest, the aesthetic of an altar are wonderful, but the actual purpose of a magickal space goes well above and beyond the look of things.
First of all, determining what path you follow will determine how your altar should be set up, and what sort of items should be on it. My altars are based in a blend of Germanic and Celtic magick theory, as well as some modern adaptations made by Wicca and other European based modern magickal practitioners, and the set up differs quite a lot from those in the homes of Santeria or Hoodoo practitioner homes, for instance. The number of altars present in your home, and where they are located, will also be based in the practice or branch of magick you are working with.
Because altar spaces are spaces where spirit energy is being directly channeled or called, being mindful of how they are set up, and what is set up in them, is very important. Only set up an altar if you know what is good or bad to place on it or do with it, how to maintain and upkeep it, and what should be avoided at all costs.
2. Magick Work
One of the primary uses for an altar space is to have an energetic safe space to do various magickal work in. Because some magick is sensitive to outside energies, or may require assistance from energy sources greater than those we contain within ourselves, altar spaces are a necessity for any witch or esoteric practitioner looking into doing more advanced magick work.
Altars can help in magick work, first and foremost, by helping to protect our work and energy from harmful, outside energies, or any potentially adverse energies relating to the work we are doing. By including certain objects, talismans, tools, or materials on our altar, we can greatly improve our ability to protect ourselves from magickal rebound.
Secondly, altar spaces provide a channel for higher levels of energy, usually those directly channeled from source or our deities and spirit guides. Because the energy is being channeled through the altar rather than your self, some negative effects of channeling large amounts of energy can be avoided by doing magick work in and on an altar space.
Altars also help focus our intention in magickal work. This is because we can help solidify the desired intention of the work through the placement and use of various things on the altar. Setting up these altar spaces is in itself an act of intention, as well, which also helps improve the overall efficacy of any spell work done in these spaces.
3. Meditation Space
Altars can make excellent meditation spaces as well. In a previous post of Den Craft, I discussed some means of meditation that involve looking at or interacting with an object. An altar can be an amazing meditation tool and object. The altar as a whole, or the individual components and meaning of the components on the altar itself, can all be used as focus objects for meditation, and the space itself is usually one that I know I personally associate with quiet time, inner peace, community among spirit, and contentment.
One of my favorite ways to meditate is to sit in front of my active altar (for me, this means that there are flames, water, and smoke available among the stones that are always present on my altar spaces) with a notebook or drawing pad, and to take time thinking over and experiencing the energies of each object there. I really enjoy drawing into the physical world the spirits or messages of stones and natural objects on my altar spaces, as well as spending time looking into my water basins, or active flames and smoke whorls.
4. Spiritual Space
An altar is a good space to do spiritual work and maintenance, especially for people who do not have room or use for a desk (tiny life, anyone? lol). There are a lot of activities that can done here that will help improve our overall alignment with our path, and help us advance ourselves in our spiritual journey. From having a space to sit down with our thoughts and organize them, to a living lesson on objects and methods to study and learn about, altars provide a lot of benefits in regard to the spirit.
My altar space is a good spot for me to sit down with a notebook and my thoughts, and to work together with my spirit team and the higher vibrations of the universe to help feel more at peace with my place and active role in the world. I am often very inspired while sitting at my altar with my higher self or inner child, and have come to a lot of wonderful new discoveries about myself. I think this is because it is also an excellent space to sit down with tarot or divination tools, or to simply connect with my spirit team, and is also a place where I have mentally trained myself to do self analysis.
The objects on your altar can always be studied or looked further into, as well, which will help improve walking knowledge of the items there. Crystals, types of wood and metal, the use and history of tools and implements, and more, are all information that can be inspired by taking a look around at the items on your altar. Even if you have done some research into the items, I'm sure there's more to be learned! And definitely some new trinkets to be added to your altar space.
5. Worship Space
An altar space can be an excellent location to set up a spot to worship a specific deity, ancestors, or ancestry as a whole. Altars designed for worship can become powerful tools for those who rely on a close connection to either their deities or ancestors for their work and day to day magick.
Worship altars are great places to leave offerings and meditate with the beings connected to the altar. They can also be used to help channel a specific deity or ancestor, such as those we want to form a closer bond to, or have a petition for.
Specific images and objects are placed in a worship space. It is important to learn about your ancestors or deities, and the ancestors and deities they don't get along with, especially, to avoid inviting them into the same worship spaces.
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