BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Wicca Altar Pictures

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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