Would anyone like to share pictures of their altars? I find it a beautiful and very interesting thing to look upon another's altar. I hope I don't offend anyone on here by asking this. I don't mean to offend. I only wish to share and learn more about others on here. That's all.

Here is a picture of my altar. Mine has a lot of Banded Onyx on it. I have a special affection for Banded Onyx. Since this picture was taken I have even gotten a Banded Onyx Goblet and two small Banded Onyx candle Holder used for illumination purposes only. Since my altar is Christian Wiccan in nature, if anyone has any questions about it, I'll be happy to answer them.

How very lovely! What is the little letter opener or knife used for?

It is an unsharpened ritual knife called an athame.

An athame is traditionally a double edged, black handled knife used for casting the circle for ritual. Some perfer a wand to cast a circle, others an athame. Bother work well. I prefer an athame.

An Athame is never to be used for cutting. A Boline is used for such purposes. A Boline is a shapened, white handled knife used only for cutting or carving in prepartion of rituals or within a ritual itself. It is to never be used for anything else such as everyday use.

I have a Boline, it is just not shown in this picture. I keep it in a box under my altar with other ritual supplies.

What a gorgeous altar, Lady Valkyrie!

My husband offered to make me one a year or so ago, but having a rambunctious, nosy son (LOL), I figured he'd get into my stuff. He liked to play in my tabletop Zen sand garden that I had on my dresser, so I couldn't imagine what he'd do to an altar! Maybe in the future. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

lol Would you believe that I have 3 children and 3 cats? Indeed I do. From the moment my kids could walk I was firm in teaching them what they could and could not touch. In the beginning I was pretty poor. So anytime I got something nice I didn't want my children to mess it up by breaking it. Now that I am out of the poor house, so to speak, I am able to afford nice things. My children know that they are not to touch mom's things. I have banded onyx vases, banded onyx statues, banded onyx candle holders, banded onyx goblets, banded onyx bowls with banded onyx eggs in them all over my house. My children know not to touch them, ever.

I am fortunate that my cats are graceful and haven't knocked over anything, so far. I trained them to not get on tables anyway, by use of a spray bottle filled with water. They hate that.

So, actually, with a little bit of training of the child you too can have your own permanant altar.

Also I was just wondering, Are you a Wiccan? If so do you have a temporay altar? One that you set up for rituals or meditaions and then are able to put away out of sight?

Hi Lady Valkyrie,

My son has/had some developmental delays so "training" him not to touch certain things is easier said than done. It's all good, though, because I'm realizing more and more that everything that surrounds me in life is my "altar".

No, I am not a Wiccan. I'm allergic to formal religion and rules/rituals (LOL), but I love learning from all spiritual paths--as well as incorporating insights that I find useful to my own path. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm really intrigued that you incorporate Christianity and Wicca. How do you do that, if you don't mind me asking? I consider myself a Christian in many respects, but because I'm of a New Age, mystical, and Gnostic persuasion (gee...sounds like Jesus!), I don't call myself a Christian. Too many have a cut and dried view of the word, and because I'm not a literalist or exclusionary dogmatist, I feel that the word "Christian" doesn't represent me, especially considering what the word usually represents...

What a beautiful altar!! thank you for sharing <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I love all of the banded onyx!

I have 3 main altars in my house. One is my general altar, one is a prosperity altar and the third is my fiance's altar which is very Buddhist in nature.

All of the altars are permanent and I dont have too much trouble with my cats ( I have 3) getting onto them.

Unfortunately I dont have any photos right now. I should post some though!

I do understand about your son's challenges. My oldest son, who is now 13, is ADHD and Bipolar, so hyperactivity along with rage has been an issue in my household. He was the hardest to train in this respect. He was indeed everywhere and did not focus well at all. It all paid off in the end. He truely understand how much such things mean to me and respects my things, especially my altar.

Blending the two religions is not hard for me at all. I believe in Father God of the Judeo/Christian belief. I believe in Mother Goddess, which for me is the Holy Spirit of the Christian belief. I believe in Jesus the Christ the son who Father God and Mother Goddess bore together through the human virgin Mary.

I believe in the teachings of Jesus, not so much the teachings of Paul as the modern day church often base their doctrines on.

I study not only the Holy Bible but also The Apocropha, The Dead Sea Scrolls, and The Nag Hammadi Library. I believe that out of all the sacred texts the connonized Holy Bible as we know it today has been tampered with the most by mankind to fulfill their own agendas. However I do believe that the original Holy Texts that I have mentioned above were inspired by The Divine but written by imperfect men.

I believe in the fundamental basics of Wicca in general not adhereing to one specific tradition. I observe and celebrate the Wiccan Whell of the Year as well as most of the Christian holidays celebrations that coincide these Pagan celebrations.

I practice crystal and gemstone magic, tarot, runes, and scrying. I am also a kitchen witch. I am an avide reader and try to learn as much as I can on many religious beliefs, especially things on Wicca, witchcraft, herbalism, etc.

So you see it is very easy to blend the two religions if you could just get past "titles" and "names." Such things only hinder us growing spiritually.

I make very non-traditional altars. As a San Francisco apartment-dweller, they have to be crammed in with everything else. In my last apartment, my multi-level plant stand became the main altar, with each of the five shelves being the various elements from bottom to top (earth, water, fire, air, spirit).

Here's how the air shelf looked,
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hello i have been a wiccan for 2 months now and proud of it. I was wondering if the sword and dagger could have a substitution.

What an excellent idea! I don't have any pictures of my own altar, but found these on one of my favourite websites:

http://www.avalonia.co.uk/hekate/who_is_hekate.htm
for an altar to the Goddess Hecate.

http://www.avalonia.co.uk/contact/avalonia_photographs.htm
Scroll down for a Wiccan altar.

I am going to try and take some of my own and post that too. I have a love for altars too.

Joanna

Welcome to the boards Faithful_wiccan_eyes and Joanna!

Faithful: are you looking for a susbstitution to place on your altar? Depending on which element you associate them (Fire or Air) you can represent those elements on your altar a myriad of ways, For air you can place feathers or bird figures, etc. For fire candles are always good, or dragons, etc. If you are looking for a substitution to actually use for casting circle etc., a wand can be used in the same way. It is common for those who dont have an athame to also use their hands. Pointer finger being the wand substitute and pointer and middlefinger together to symbolize athame.

Tools are not always as important as the intent so use what is available to you. For example, it took me a couple years to find the athame that was right for me, so I had to improvise a lot.

Joanna: I also have a love for altars. I have several in my house, just no photos!

Your altar is absolutely beautiful! I wish I had a table that was that big... :-( oh well.

Please excuse the quality of these pictures.. they were the best I could get... I'm not a photographer obviously lol. I hope you can see everything alright, they are kinda dark:

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Niamh

Your altar is gorgeous! I love the pentacle... Is it beaded?

no, but I painted it myself. Its one of those wooden shapes that you get from the craft isle in WalMart. When I bought it, it was a plain wooden star, then I painted it and thats what I got. It may look beeded because I have stones placed on top of it.

I also did the wall hanging... I drew that about 2-3 years ago.

The two wands in front are hand made. The darker one is an oak branch that I got about 2 years ago in the forest in Northern CA (where my druid friend lived- he just passed away last Samhain). I put a quartz at the tip and tied it with hemp (I had to glue the quartz down :-( but thats ok). I forget what tree the other wand came from (silly me), but it is just a small branch with nothing else on it. I got it as a wedding gift from an old spiritual Pagan hippie (lol). Maybe someday I will add some ribbons to it. :-D

Oh yeah, and I also made that little cauldron. I made it in high school art class out of clay. You cant really see, but it has a purple triple goddess symbol on the front of it.

Beautiful work all of it!

I have 2 wands. One was made for me and is maple with leather wrap and a quartz on it

the other is willow and I made it, quartz and leather and copper wire

Most everything else on my altar was bought or gifted. Though i am in the process of refinishing the handle on my athame <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

the other is willow and I made it, quartz and leather and copper wire

your wands sound beautiful! :-) My druid friend that I was telling you about was about to make me a besom out of willow, but unfortunately he never got the chance. If I get the chance to make my own willow besom I would dedicate it to his memory.

Though i am in the process of refinishing the handle on my athame

My husband, Gwyddion wants to start getting into blacksmithing and make his own athames/bollines/swords. I am going to college right now for business so that one day I can own my own metaphysical shop in which we would sell his swords and such. *glee cant wait* lol. That wont be for many more years to come though. Anywho... I have a tendency to ramble... so I'll stop now lol.

BB!

I actually made a besom with apiece of driftwood. I also have a wayward Elder tree that will need some trimming this year and I am hoping to make another besom and wand with a branch of that.

ooo! a besom made from Elder! If only I didnt live in the desert... but alas I do...

My first wand and besom were made from willow that a storm dumped all over my yard. I remember feeling the magic! especially when I read Cunningham's interpretation that willow symbolizes "gifts from the moon."

I still have them. I only used my wand once because I felt like an idiot standing there waving it around, lol, but I keep it in my magical chest. The besom still hangs on my bedroom wall. I have used it to cleanse my altar and it packs a punch!

A wand for me is a hard tool to use.. Idont focus energy as well with it as I do with an athame. I think someof it has to do with that feeling of looking like I am playing around or feeling silly. So I know what you mean.

stupid question time, whats a besom?

Not a stupid question at all!

A besom is a ritual broom used primarily for cleansing sacred space

thats kind of odd...I was looking through a catalogue and it said that a pair of pants had besom pockets, hence my confusion. I love fashions uninhibited barrowing nature of whatever if likes. =]

I'm curious.....How would I add a picture to this thread? <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

jazzmin - use the full reply form and you'll see some buttons below the message window. click the one that says "image" and the forum will tell you what info to enter.

and for those of debating the use of the word "besom" in fashion, besom pocket - n. - A flapless pocket trimmed with welting or reinforced stitching

Thanks Rae! I had never heard the word besom used in sewing before.

Rae, I love your altar! I have "little altars everywhere," literally. A shelf in my bedroom holds mementos and pictures of ancestors and Hekate, a candle and figurine near the stove honor Hestia, another shelf is the money/household altar and yet another is the main house altar that honors the season and sabbats. The faerie garden outdoors is my gratitude altar.

I wish we could post attachments <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I have some pics on my hard drive but not online.

Our minds and bodies are the most important altars of all. By taking care of ourselves in every way possible, we honor deity.

I had to throw one in of my own. This was from a Lammas Ritual that I attended last year. I love taking altar pictures. I'll have to take some shots of my personal ones as well.



There is a website called Photo Bucket where you can upload pictures from your computer and then post them in places like this.

These are great! I have no room at all, although never thought of what Rae did using shelves! I have a little 10"x10" black metal type thing that came with a set of 3 large pillar candles. I keep it on my computer desk, my ONLY space that is MINE. I just have a little Buddah (cuz I think he is so dang cute) candles, sea shell, rock, sea salt and my own beaded "thingy" I made to hold when wanting to focus. I always liked the idea of the catholic rosary so I stole the idea from that. I also have a bell I keep by it. The little things on it vary according to mood more than anything, but it works for me!

I sure have enjoyed the photos.

AM~

how to get pics on post ?
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