About

Altars are used by people of all religions as personal sacred space, a place to pray, meditate, a place to get in touch with self and the Divine. Personal altars can be set up anywhere- from the top of a dresser to a shoe box. Some people are lucky enough to have a permanent place to put their altars, others must put them away after use.

Some altars are set in a special way for a ritual or in a manner that is prescribed by a denomination or tradition. Some people keep Goddess altars, some keep altars for saints, some keep altars for people. The quality that cuts across all faiths is Devotion. Altars represent the devotion of the one who creates them and act as a focus for their spiritual work.

One can find many things on altars: Statues of deities, prayer cards, candles, incense, offerings, found objects that hold special meaning to the finder, crystals, flowers, pictures of loved ones.

My Altar

My altar has been in the same place for many years. Some of the statues have come and gone, depending where my spiritual focus is at the time. At the present, I have a Strength Goddess, an Affirmation Goddess, White Tara, Quan Yin, Archangel Raphael, and a Spiral Goddess. I keep at least two candles on the altar, a medallion of Brighid, various crystals, at least one acorn, a piece of driftwood, an incense plate, and a quiach for offerings.