Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

Book I: T he Magick Circle 31
the Divine Spirit is always within you! Your Altar is a little home for Spirit/God/Goddess to
dwell with you as an honored guest. Treat Them so, and They will honor you in kind. If you
wish to establish an Altar to a particular deity, consider this carefully. Take the time to study
Them, and learn Their attributes and symbols.
And finally, your personal altar should have representations of yourself and your loved
ones. Photos are the most common way to include them, but some folks use little animal figures
to represent themselves and family members—especially those who strongly identify with particular
Totem critters. Such representations are particularly used in working healing magick.
Other decorations may be added as you like. Pretty stones (especially ones with natural
holes through them, which, resembling yonis, are considered sacred to the Goddess), crystals,
fossils, bones, meteorites, shells, acorns etc. that have the kind of energy you want can be
arranged decoratively. However, remember that your altar is a sacred space, and never casually
put mundane objects (like your hairbrush, a can of soda, or your
wallet) on a consecrated Altar! Keep your Altar clean and fresh.
And when you have it all set up, do a little Rite of Consecration.
Light the candle and incense (if you are using them), and say:
This altar now be sacred space
Of Spirit and of Mystery
May Magick dwell within this place
And all upon it blessed be!
Household Altars
It’s hard to imagine a magickal home without at least one household altar. Around our
place, such altars tend to multiply like tribbles, until every horizontal space has been made into
an Altar, and every vertical space has been converted into a bookcase! In our house, we have
several altars devoted to the various Gods and Goddesses to whom we personally relate, or to
particular purposes. We have, for instance, a special healing altar permanently set up, with a
statue of Kwan Yin. When we’re doing healing work for people we care about, we will try and
get a photo or some object link for that person, and we burn candles for their healing.
We also have altars to Aphrodite and Eros in our bedrooms, an altar to Ganesha to help us
overcome obstacles, an altar to Lakshmi for prosperity (where we keep piles of spare change),
and a little altar in our business office to Tin Hau, Goddess of seafaring commerce and
matron Goddess of Hong Kong.
Seasonal altars are set up in our Gardens (vegetable gardens, flower gardens, herb gardens),
with images of the Green Man and various seasonal goddesses (such as Kore/Persephone, Demeter,
and Hygeia), some of which we’ve gotten at garden shops. Our main herb garden is laid out in
the form of a Celtic Cross/Medicine Wheel of four parts, and we call it our “Garden of Heart’s
Desire.” This is where we work our magick to bring us all our personal hearts’ desires.
And then there is our main family altar, dedicated to Brigit as our patron, benefactor, and
inspiration—overseeing hearth and home and our sacred creative work. At our previous home,
it was on the beautiful Victorian mantle over the fireplace in the center of our house. Over the
top hung our handfasting besom, and two life-sized realistic raven images with real feathers. The
back was a mirror, and the images and arrangements thereon were changed seasonally. This is
where we did our family magick, and various little scrolls with spells, etc. were rolled up and
stuffed into a side compartment after they’d been activated. When we had our large parties and
gatherings (100+ people), especially at Samhain, Yule, and Oimelc/Imbolg/Brigantia, we’d gather
everyone into the living room around the fireplace and present our ritual enactments, hold our
bardics, play music, dance, etc.—all before the great altar.
Household altars may be fairly easily incorporated into bookcases, but they may also be
established on the tops of bureaus, dressers, or cabinets. An altar can be kept in a small
corner of the bedroom, a niche in a sewing room, or a convenient closet. When Morning