Help: How To Set Up An Altar That Doesn't Look Like One

[gimpy1031]

Okay I just started to practice Wicca and my parents dont agree even though I tried to show them just one of my books but the where just being pigheads. But anyway now I am tring to build an altar, but i can't use the normal stuff because my paernts may tamper with my scared things. So what should I ass to my altar. Right now I have a few seashells and an incense burnier and now I just need to find a staue and some other things
What can i put on it so it doesn't look like an altar?

[Eeluna]

You don't necessarily have to have anything that *looks* Pagan, and you don't really need a statue although they can be nice. If you want representations of the Elements, a candle works well for Fire. I have used a lava rock when a candle is not practical. A small statue/picture of a phoenix or a dragon could also be used. An athame represents Fire--mine is actually a letter opener with a nice engraved handle. Of course some people insist on a sharp, double-edged knife. I think it's up to the individual.

Sea shells work well for Water and also a chalice. Perhaps a statue or picture of a dolphin or maybe a turtle would represent Water to you. For Air I use a pretty, white feather I bought in a craft store, but of course, incense or a bell is often used. Also maybe some representation of a bird or a butterfly would be nice. For Earth I use a small, pretty bowl filled with actual dirt. A nice rock would also be appropriate. Actually anything that you associate with a particular Element can be used.

Deities can be represented by candles either a single one or two for God and Goddess. Also you can use pictures that represent Deity to you. Deer are commonly associated with the God. I have used pinecones and nuts for the God and for the Goddess a pretty, large sea shell. You can keep it as simple as a single candle placed on a nice cloth. I have a candle-holder with a sun and moon on it. Since I consider the sun to represent the God and the Moon to represent the Goddess it works nicely as a representation of Deity.

You altar needs to be meaningful to you and can be very personal. Others can look at it and have not idea it's actually sacred to you.

[Myst]

There's several threads on altar setup around here; even how to set up an altar that doesn't look like an altar.

If you go up to the top there, and click the word "search" between F.A.Q. and home, you can search all of our threads for "altar", "altar setup", etc. until you can find something useful.

Here's some particularily helpful threads to start with;

http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8878
http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10353&highlight=altar+parents
http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4537&highlight=altar

And your parents are liable to tamper with them anyway, regardless of whether they're obviously Pagan or not; parents are funny that way :D

[Flar's Freyja]

There's a great article in the first issue of NewWitch magazine on how to set up an altar at work without getting fired that has some good ideas.

Last night, I browed around in one of those All For A Dollar shops and I couldn't believe what I found! This particular store is Christian based and they even play Christian contemporary music in the store. My son collects wizards and they carry some cool ones for $1, so I was doing some Yule shopping. I was looking at some of their female figurines to see if I could find anything that could represent the goddess, and I found some beautiful little figures that could be either Hindu or Egyptian. The one I bought is a dark-skinned woman in a flowing white and gold dress. She immediately spoke Lakshmi to me. Then, I also found a small figurine of the god Vishnu! who is her mate!

From the beginning, I have used a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that my aunt made for my mother on my altar to represent Freyja. I recently found a beautiful, faceless polyresin "angel" in the Goodwill store who spoke Selene to me. She also only cost 99 cents. A while back, I found a female figurine there of a blond woman carrying a jug, and she represents both Bridhid and Hestia to me. Brighid due to a meditation and chant that I love by Starhawk, "The Way to the Well" and Hestia because I've placed her on my kitchen altar. It's taken a while but I'm getting quite a collection! I simply can't afford the beautiful goddess and god statues that are available, and these do the job just fine. The only authentic one I have is a small cast of Hekate, which I got for $4 at my friends "I thought I was going out of business" sale ;)

[Emaleth]

Yeah, I know this problem:) . When I first started practising I was afraid everybody's gonna find out and I'll be in trouble. But I decided I had to have an altar and I have one. And no one is actually suspecting anything.

On my altar I have a picture of the Goddess in a beautiful frame I got for my birthday, an incense burner, a candle and some nice decorative bottles with flowers (artificial at this time of year, I'm too lazy to buy new flowers every several days:p ), they look very pretty. Oh, I also have a standing calendar, where I marked all the moon phases, sabbaths, esbats, and the days for specific deities. I change the Goddess picture every new moon, every month I have a pic of a patron Goddess of the month.

My parents think it's a pretty decoration, I have my walls full of fairy and mythical art. Only when some of my friends come over I'm a bit scared they'll start suspecting something, they're not as ignorant as far as paganism is concerned as my parents (who basically are not aware that something like modern paganism exists).

I also have the texts of the Wiccan Rede and Charge of the Goddess on the wall. They're in English, so I told my parents it's poetry (in a way it is:p ), but all of my friends know English, so when they come to my place I take both texts off the wall and hate myself for my cowardice.

[Lavender]

An altar doesn't have to be very fancy. I have a small one on my bookshelf at work. The items are very low keyed & unobtusive. I have seashells, dried twigs of certain plants, plaits of sweetgrass & sage, a beeswax votive, seeds, etc. People think it's just odds & ends of stuff. No one knows but me & you! :D

[tarotbear]

You can substitute a shadowbox or a shadowbox frame with small objects or pictures of objects and hang it on the wall in your room. If anyone asks, it's "personal art".

[st0rm]

heh.. my whole bedroom looks like an altar :D , got several candles and incense burners placed on different shelves and on my desk...

[tarotbear]

I actually did (Once upon a time) has an entire room for tarot and my witchy stuff..but that's long gone. :-(

[FaerySong]

yeah my mom took down my altar....pissed me off too no end let me tell ya :P so I'll prob. take that advice too. ya mon. lol sry

[Flar's Freyja]

Originally posted by tarotbear
You can substitute a shadowbox or a shadowbox frame with small objects or pictures of objects and hang it on the wall in your room. If anyone asks, it's "personal art".

*nods* My Hecate altar is actually a small wall shelf in my room that is also my ancestor altar, so I have pictures of my mother and others who've passed on and gifts they've given me on it. No one has a clue.

[Amber Ravenstar]

My first Goddess statue was one of Mary with a crescent moon beneath her feet.

I had to have "invisible" altars when I lived at home, too. I had a lot of candles, some incense, feathers, acorns, pinecones, all on my windowsill. My mom came into my room one day and said, "You know, you really should take some of that stuff off of the windowsill. The neighbors are going to think you're a witch or something." I was stunned for a moment. Then I realized she had no idea how close to the truth she had been! :)

[Grey]

Myself I have a "mobile altar" its a peice of walnut about a 14x8 inches. I keep it with me and place my altar things in pouches, I even have some small pewter statues that are the perfect size. It all fits in an area the size of your average womens purse and alows you to keep it all together just not "assembled" before you go to bed or pray, magic, or whatever simply pull out the altar and items and arrange them properly. Aslong as you properly ordained it the first time and dont add anything new it seems to come back together just fine.

[FireryWings]

I'm in the same boat. I have a feeling that my mom and step-father know about my interest in the occult. Goddess knows I've slipped in enough clues. I even slipped the three-fold law in a conversation! :eek: So my alter is a very keyed down thing. I took one of my bedside tables and put two candles, silver and gold, to represent the God and Goddess. I have a red candle, insense burner, river rock, and seashell to represent fire, air, earth, and water, respectively. I also have a items that represent prayers sent to the Lord and Lady. I have an old timy phone to represent my prayer for better communication with my family, a picture from my graduation to represent my prayer for guidence in my future, and a picture of a beautiful child to represent my prayer for a family one day.

Blessed Be!:sunny:

[Stacy]

You can substitute an altar with whatever you feel may serve the purpose.

The use of altar and tools is to help you focus your energy in the right direction.

Anything else that you choose (and it may not be Pagan related at all) will help you in the same way as long as you exept those new tools as paths for your energy.

Hope this helps a little :)

[Demeter]

Here's one for a mantelpiece: Reproduction statue of classical Goddess. At her feet, a bowl of flowers. On either side, candlesticks. Maybe a runner along the top of the mantel or a drapery along the front. Very simple, very discreet, very elegant, would not look out of place in any traditional living room. Or you could do a single pillar candle, seasonal flower ring at its base, god and goddess images to either side. All anybody will know is that you like classical statuary ....

Or: Get one of those little fountains that are so popular now. Put in some nice crystals or tumbled stones, maybe a shell, a little statuette, a candle positioned behind a rock so it is protected from the water but you can see its glow. Add a couple of drops of aromatherapy oil. Consecrate the whole thing. Turn it on. Very relaxing, makes your room smell nice, too.

[BlueFlame]

My first Goddess statue was one of Mary with a crescent moon beneath her feet.

I had to have "invisible" altars when I lived at home, too. I had a lot of candles, some incense, feathers, acorns, pinecones, all on my windowsill. My mom came into my room one day and said, "You know, you really should take some of that stuff off of the windowsill. The neighbors are going to think you're a witch or something." I was stunned for a moment. Then I realized she had no idea how close to the truth she had been! :)

Lol, my mom did that for years, and all I would say is, "Yep, well I am a Witch" and she would laugh or something. It shocked the hell out of her to find out later that I actualy am. LOL

Try building an altar in a drawer or a box. When ever you need it you can just pull it out. I've got all of my "Sacred Stuff" in a big trunk in my room. I don't keep my full altar on it, (And there's no mistaking my full altar for an altar) so I just keep my God and Goddess candles and representations on it, and my wax melting hot pot. It just looks decorative.

A friend of mine (IolightSkyes on http://www.amystickalgrove.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi) Has a great idea for situations like this. Why not build an astral altar? There you never have to worry about keeping candles in stock, or having the incense go out mid ritual. You can have your dream statues and tools, and all the space you could possibly use. All you need is your mind, and a few quiet moments.

[Flar's Freyja]

Bump for Lamoondove :hugz:

[zakzekezedd]

Well..a sneaky way (provided you have a green thumb) would be to collect a potted plants that represent the elements ( Scott Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs has the correspondences), a candle for the Goddess and the God, and an incense burner would be pretty "unpagan" looking. You could even find a bandana or piece of fabric with stars and moons on it for an altar cloth. Basically, anything that has a personal signigicance or connection to that element or deity should actually work for you.

[lauren]

I setup my altar a year ago ontop of a unit where my mirror stands (is this bad luck btw?) but my mum would always move my sacred things when I wasnt in and dust and clean the surface. I didnt like how everything felt different and tampered with :(

So... I kind of let it go, but I am going to cleanse and bless the area and make the altar again, this time cleaning my room twice a week MYSELF to save my mum doing it,and hopefully evrything should stay as it is.

She still had no idea what it was. She is Catholic Christian and has made it quite clear to me several times that Ive to "stay away from the dark side" cos she "wont allow it in her house" so I think if she knew it was my altar she'd do/say something. Technically, I am not disobeying her, cos I am not following any 'dark' path ;)

[[Why do I always feel a warm energy when reading/talking about, thinking about Wicca? I sit here in the silence of my bedroom at 1am with one candle lit, reading this forum.. and I feel that buzz of energy again. Ahh I feel so alive... I dont want to go to bed now. Maybe I will meditate for a while]]

[rain_fallen_tears]

i actually do not keep my alter set up all the time....i have a chest that i keep my tools and candles....everything in...with the exceptions of my books...i'm sorry your parents don't support you...but there always is a period of adjustment...my mom was worried at first(catholic)....but now she accepts it...i just don't keep my alter out for two reasons...1. my bedroom is tiny 2. and more importantly, i feel that my tools hold there energies better when kept contained and away...if i leave them out they tend to take in mundane or negative energies....anyway...i'm just suggesting that you keep your tools somewhere out of sight...until your parents become more comfortable with your lifestyle...blessed be:)

[argento_occhi]

seeing as though my parents are ok with my path, it's not a big issue for me to have an altar. I have it set up in my room, on a shelf of my book-shelf, with lots of egyptian statues, cats, sphinx, etc. it has three candles (6 actually) in front of the naos (shrine) box, two silver ones for Aset and Djehuti, and a larger yellowy-creamy one for Sobek (couldn't find another gold one). I have a small red tealight holder in a silver metal 'cup' which i light for Bast, as well as two other tealights i use as altar candles for light. when i get photos of my altar back tomorrow (hopefully), i'll be able to show everyone what my altar looks like. i've also got a blue box with suns and moons on it that i use to keep my craft things in. it's got piles of stuff on it at the moment, but usually it's easy to get to.

if you're looking for a way to have an altar that's not an altar, you could try a 'miniture' altar. You could set it up on the courner of your desk or a shelf, using small things to represent the elements and the god and goddess, and no one need ever know it's an altar. you could even set it up in a shoebox and get it out when you need to use it.

hope that helps,

bright blessings,
argento_occhi

[amethyst_faerie]

hi gimpy. The reason your parents are intolerant of your chosen faith may be because they don't know much about it. Maybe they think it's all scary black magic and sticking pins into wax images of people. Try to explain that paganism isn't what they think, and explain the wiccan rede to them ('an it harm none, do as ye will') You could be surprised!

[fay]

at the moment i have no problem as my altar is out for all to see (it's very small with not that much on it but that's not the point. it does look kinda altarish and i must admit that when my friends used to come into my room i would always wonder if theyd say anything, especially with my recent ex-boyfriend as, after a time, i told all my friends but i hadn't been going out with him that long and it hadn't come up. i wondered what his reaction would be if he asked what it was and i replied "my altar" :nyah:
anyways, i might need to take on board some of these hints for next year when i go to uni. for one, i have seen my sister's room at uni and i know that most people have tiny rooms so there won't be much space. and also i don't want to be known as 'that wiccan girl', i'd prefer to make friends on a normal basis first and then, if and when i feel ready, tell them.
blessed be

[Fideal]

If it doesn't need to be set up all the time, clear a drawer in your dresser and keep all your alter things in it. When you need to practice, take out the drawer and set it upside down, so it's like a small table, and put every thing on it that you need for ritual.

[elfmage]

Mine is in my cupboard.....

All I did was set up a small bedside chest of drawers (which I keep all of my incense, candles, and other supplies in) in my cupboard, around which are hung clothes, so you can't see it unless you pull away several layers of clothes.

To represent the Goddess and God, I use my cards out of an "archetype" deck that I got, although Tarot cards, or even better, pictures that you drew yourself, work just as well.

When it is all said and done though, as it is your parents house, do you really want to hide such a thing from them? We all know that an altar is not essential: the Gods would rather that you think of them in your prayers than erect some pretty altar that is going to get you in a load of trouble. Maybe save the altar for when you move out of home, and can do as you wish?

Just a thought. Don't kill me! ;)

[Mouse]

I'm not keeping an alter anymore because my house is a dump.. but when i did i never kept my tools (athame, wand, pentacle, chalice) on it because, like someone elce said they seem to keep energy stronger if they are contained.. I don't class things like my incence holder and candel holders as tools because although they have important jobs, i dont use them just for witchcraft.

Hmm, things to put on an alter to make it inconspicuous...a mini garden gnome, statues of rabbits, cats owls and snakes, those mini water features if your alowed to have one, a purfume bottle with water in it, bath salts, just a few ideas..

you could also put "you-see-me-not" type energy around the area to encourage people not to mess with it.

goodluck
Miriam

[sincerebliss]

I have a little wooden table as my altar. My parents don't have a clue about anything. I think my mother just thinks that it's any ole table I decorated w/candles and such. She's Catholic and we have had quite a few religious talks(more like debates about how she is right). Right now, I think she thinks I'm atheist or something. I think she would like it better if I didn't believe in anything rather than telling her I'm a Wiccan/Witch. I don't even want to imagine her reaction! (lol) She thinks I need the Christian god in this time of my life or I'll get depressed and want to kill myself like she did. Grrrr..hehe My father thinks Pagans just worship trees. He doesn't know any basic concepts at all. lol I thought it was funny when he said that. I tried to correct him on what "they" actually do but I didn't really go into it. Yeah, back to the topic. I have a wooden table, 2 white candles w/a moon and sun candle holder to represent the God and Goddess. I also recently bought a cloth to put over my wooden table @ the fabric store. I also have an insense burner, my tarot cards, and some insense sticks on there. It took a little while to get all of it though(even though it's not much). Yeah, my parents don't expect it. You should just tell your parents that your decorating a table as a relaxation place for you to meditate or to create a peaceful atmosphere in a little sec of your room.