your sacred space.

[SnugglePumpkin]

how close a bond do you have with your magickal tools and your altar?
do you get angry if anyone touches your sacred things?

a long time ago, before my husband and i were married and while we were
living in a small apartment, i kept my altar in a corner in the living room. i
kept some of my tools on top of my altar, my athame and some stones,
etc.

one day when i came home from work, my husband had told me that his
friend had been over to play video games. and as i walked past my altar, i
just stopped and then moved closer to it and just blurted out "did he touch
my altar??"

turns out his friend DID touch my athame, but matt (my husband) had
warned him to put it back. it was put back in the same spot i left it in, but
for some reason i KNEW that it had been touched. i didn't FEEL it or
anything, there wasn't a bad vibe or change in energy that i could FEEL but
i just KNEW.

and it made me angry that someone touched my things while i was away.
well, maybe not angry, i can't blame a dude for picking up a "cool dagger"
i'm sure he didn't know. but it was irritating and i had to cleanse everything
on my altar because i felt like everything was contaminated.

also, every time my husband had been cleaning and bumped something on
my altar, and he'd put it back in it's place; i just KNEW it had been
tampered with. again, it wasn't a feeling it was just knowing.

it's weird because i've never thought i was very psychically in tune with my
surroundings, except for a few prophetic dreams and successful tarot
readings...

i've certainly learned to keep my things in a hidden place if i don't want
them tampered with but i've also learned that i have formed a close
bond with my tools without even realizing it :)

[Xirian]

Well, it would be silly for me to get upset with people touching my magical tools because they are mostly my kitchen and cleaning utensils/supplies, and I'm not the only one that cooks and cleans around here. They can even touch my herbs and spices. But as long as they're not using them to cut up animals for sacrifice, I don't mind.

I used to be all worried about others touching my altar tools, but that's because you read in all the books that they are yours and the energy on them can be altered if they are touched by someone else. Which I believe is true. But I trust my boyfriend and my son and I knew they were not going to use my altar tools unless I was around. And I wouldn't get upset if they were cleaning and something got knocked around and they put it back into it's proper place. Things get bumped around here. It's a place where people live.

Personally, I consider my entire house my altar and there are many things in my home that are my ritual tools. If they are touched by my family members, I do not mind at all. Many of the spells and rituals I do are for them. The energy that I have and the energy that the house is infused with is not only mine, but theirs as well. They can touch whatever they like as long as they are respectful that it belongs to me. The same with their items and personal belongings.

[Meirya]

I get angry if someone touches my shrine or anything in it for a somewhat different reason - Kemetic purity rules are fairly strict when it comes to the shrine. Most of the parts of my shrine are Not To Be Touched unless the person in question is ritually pure (cleansed and whatnot). Some parts are okay, like the offerings area, but not the senut ("daily ritual") portion; if that gets messed with by someone who's not ritually pure, I have to purify the entire thing.

And trust me, that's a huge pain. @_@ Wipe everything down with natron at least, though preferably let things sit in the sun for four days as well. Very aggravating. People know not to mess with my shrine. (Fortunately my roommate is also pagan, as are most of my guests. We respect each others' stuff.)

[Windsmith]

We do rituals at the altar in our bedroom, in the middle of the living room floor, and in the kitchen. I don't normally notice the kinds of changes you're talking about, but she sure does. We're moving at the end of May, and every time our management company shows the apartment, my wife feels the energy of whoever's been through. It feels very invasive to her, so we have to smudge every time. I'm extra worried today: this is the first showing where we've been able to have all the doors open (long story - don't ask :rolleyes: ), and, therefore, the first time a stranger's going to be alone in a room with our altar. Yup, I think even I'm going to want to give it a good cleansing after that.

[_Banbha_]

All space is sacred to me. :smile: