Hestia Altar

[Pan]

Anyone have any suggestions for an altar to the Greek goddess of the HEarth and Home? There were rarely any actual altars in public.. but each family had one in their home.

Keep in mind I do have 2 cats... :(

[Arzhela]

So that means no flame? Well, she was very gentle and protected the home, so perhaps some symbols that remind you of family would be appropriate, along with maybe some kind of donkey picture or figurine (as the donkey was sacred to her) and...this will sound strange...a brick. A brick is not only what one can build a house out of, but it's also a common edging around a fireplace. Perhaps a piece of charcoal?

[Pan]

I can do candles, since they leave those alone. And I could probly pick up a donkey thing or just print one out or make one out of Sculpey.

Bricks may be easy to come by.... and charcoal I'm not sure if I want to do unless it's put in a small box. I don't want the cats to accidentally lick it or something. 8O

[Flar's Freyja]

I have a very simple altar in my kitchen near the stove, and my Hestia representation is a figurine of a woman carrying a jug that I found in a thrift shop! She is surrounded by the herbs I've grown. To honor her, I light a candle and ask her to bless our home, family and food while I'm preparing a meal and meditate on gratitude while I'm cooking and setting the table.

Whenever I practice this, there is always love, good converstation and great food :) without fail.

Someone also recommended just lighting a candle near the stove to honor her and represent the hearth fire, since we don't really have a hearth fire anymore.

[Pan]

Great ideas! I think I might clear out a corner of the counter and set one up on there....

[Amber Ravenstar]

I too found my Vesta/Hestia statue in a thrift shop. She started out as a statue of a saint, I repainted her with a flame colored cloak and changed the sheaf of wheat she was holding to a torch.

She stands on the back of my stove, guarding the hearth.

[Mnemosyne]

Put some of her symbols around your shrine. In my opinion, candles would be good to have around, since Hestia represents fire. Look out for statues of Hestia too. I heard that e-bay tends to have good choices of statues for sale. (people in the gods and goddesses forum told me about this. :) )

Here is an interesting site about Hestia that you might want to check out. I found it to be really informative. http://inanna.virtualave.net/hestia.html#Sign