Do's and Don'ts of setting up an Altar?

[RubyRose]

Are there any? I was talking to Rhyce (fiancee) the other day ... about the fact that I'm finding it hard to find space in my rather cramped room to set up an altar, w/out totally redesigning my room :lol: Um ... I mentioned I had the perfect space (on top of my t.v set ... and he came back with " you don't want to have your altar set up near a reflective surface ... didn't elaborate as to why? So thus spurring this thread ...
Also, what do you think of portable altars? Would a portable altar serve the same purpose as an altar which stays put ...?

[Erincelt]

Hmm.. I need to meet this Rhyce.. he seems to have stolen some of my braincells.. well anyway. :)

Why not reflective surfaces? Simple. Distraction. Having a scrying mirror or some such is one thing... having a screen down by your legs that keeps reflecting the candle behind you, can be distracting. Sure its not a big thing, but keeping that sort of thing in mind will help you learn to avoid as many distractions as possible, making the whole situation a bit better.

As to advice... choose a system, and then stick to it. Even if that system is just "intuition". Also, don't try to read too much into altar arrangement. For the most part, you'll just want the things you're constantly reaching for nearby, and other things away from you, and anything you'll be focusing on near the center, perhaps with a little empty space right in the front middle, for you to work in. That's about all the "rules" I can imagine for altar setup.

As for portable altars... not a problem, not at all. :) Its a good idea, if possible, to keep a persistant altar somewhere as well, but nothing says you can't have one that travels.

[Jenett]

Personally for me, having one on top of the TV would be an issue of space and height, not reflectiveness. (And besides, not all TVs are actually flat on top - a lot of them slope).

I think a portable one for working with is just fine. If you'd like to have a few objects out on top of the TV or wherever to remind you, whenever you look at them, of your beliefs or current focus or whatever, that can work too.

I'm a little cramped for space, too - mine is the top of a space about 1 foot by 2 feet. You can read about what's there at http://limen.gleewood.org/archives/000009.html (my religious/spiritual journal).

Some of the objects there (salt, water jar, bowl, incense, and the candles) are specifically used for cicle casting the way I'm trained. The rest are either general tools or are things I found pleasing.

I haven't changed it around much (last time was nearly 2 months ago, when I got the water jar and mixing dish as initiation presents, before that, it'd had the triune candleholder added, and that was about it.)

I'm hoping for some new deity pictures in a week or two (my other partner is visiting, he's a good artist, and I want to see if I can get him to draw the stuff that's in my head for images.)

As far as setup: it's useful to think on two levels. If symbology and alignment of symbols is important, that's something to keep in mind (determining orientation and where things are placed on the altar). If that doesn't matter to you as much, then practicality is the major dictate.

[Rainx]

For a lot of people that issue would be with having an altar on an electronic surface - most find it works better to stay away from electronic stuff if possible. In a coven you might be required to have a specific arrangement, outside a coven work at your whim - and as Jenett said, by practicality or symbology.

I have a shrine and a few altars, so don't feel tied to one spot either. There are threads on altars here, and they can be as simple as a sacred few items put together or as elaborate as you want with all your tools.

[RubyRose]

Hmm.. I need to meet this Rhyce.. he seems to have stolen some of my braincells.. well anyway.

:lol: Ah Rhyce w/ braincells ... now that would be an accomplishment :lol: I left his place not long ago, he was playing on his X-Box ...

Thanks ppl! Ah so staying away from Electrical stuff might be good ... in the process of cleaning my room (when I say cleaning, I mean ... well ah ... let's just say I get it slightly organised, then I go out ... ah it's a room which contains too much stuff ... )

I was toying with the idea of getting some sort of shelf or something similar and hanging it on my wall ... maybe a little ornate thing w/ a few draws ... or something ... creative art or something ... hhmmm will this project get finished? :lol: (I have numerous projects on the go ... I start one, then start another ... it's utter madness)

Okay once again, I'm going on way too much ... :lol: welcome to the life of ... well me ...

[mol]

Not being distracted is a very important thing. Thats why I would say no to putting any kind of an altar on a TV.

Now, that being said...somewhere..there is a person out there...that would probably work better with an altar on top of a TV.

[Dekora]

Originally posted by mol
Now, that being said...somewhere..there is a person out there...that would probably work better with an altar on top of a TV.

ha! me! LOL

No seriously, I don't know about a TV, but then that's because I don't have any that are flat on top. You could always put a long altar cloth on there that you can roll up or put to the side if you were concerned about the reflection, just cover up the reflection when in use! :) My only concern would be accessibility, but an ottoman or chair in front would probably make it easily reached.

I have had altars and shrines in just about any place I can imagine. I even had one on top of the toilet at one point that I would take down and put up when I needed it because we had a non-pagan person staying with us and the bathroom was the ONLY place I could get some privacy! LOL

Now days I have a coffee table in a little room that has a lot of stuff on it that is personal to my own path which is rather eclectic. I don't belong to a coven or study with anyone who has any set way of doing things so I do my own thing. I have a scrying mirror, I have a bunch of crystals, I have a goddess sculpture I made, candles, a lot of fake foliage and flowers for "prettiness" (I tend to have to decorate everything! LOL) and so on.

I have many shrines around the house. One is to Isis, it's on the table next to our TV in the bedroom. One to Quan Yin in our healing room & one in the living room on a decorator table. One to Brigid right next to me on the computer desk, then here is Jesus and Angels on top of the book shelf, and Ganesh in the kitchen on the wall above the microwave! Phew! I think that's it for now ;)

So my advice, do whatever works for you :) When you try to do everything according to what others tell you, you only end up making yourself unhappy and then you don't want to do anything at the altar so you cut yourself off from the spiritual side of yourself.

As for portable, they are just as easy to work with as permanent. In fact they can be fun because you put them up and take them down as you need them and can be intuitive and spontaneous on what you want to put on the altar for each particular working :)

Good luck!
Dekora

[Theres]

well, i wouldn't want mine on top of the TV.
not only do i think that there might be electro-magnetic interference (not that there is any place in a small apartment that wouldn't be affected this way), but the TV can be a focal point for alot of strange energy coming from you... laughter, anger, sadness, etc... things that you may not want your sacred space to absorb.

i like my altar to remain neutral to anything that i haven't put there with specific intent.

[RubyRose]

Ah ... looks like I will be re-arranging my room :D I have the perfect space (my window sill) but at the moment my bed is situated infront of it ... so anything I put on my window sill is likely to get broken ... so turning my bed around, might actually be the only way to put an altar up ... (I do have shelves in my room, but with the amount of porcelain dolls [13 in total] it's pretty useless)

[ElvenSpirit]

On the subject of TVs, it seems to me that a large part of the population gathers round these boxes and worships them anyway.......:rolleyes::p

I've been wondering about setting up an alter, though I really have no idea where to start, and for the next year (my final year living at home) it'd need to be portable -- my mother would be less than impressed at an alter in my room.

[STarrbRightt]

Are there any? I was talking to Rhyce (fiancee) the other day ... about the fact that I'm finding it hard to find space in my rather cramped room to set up an altar, w/out totally redesigning my room :lol: Um ... I mentioned I had the perfect space (on top of my t.v set ... and he came back with " you don't want to have your altar set up near a reflective surface ... didn't elaborate as to why? So thus spurring this thread ...
Also, what do you think of portable altars? Would a portable altar serve the same purpose as an altar which stays put ...?

YOU HAVE A MAGIC ALL ITS OWN,
Paint your altar with the rainbow
draw from its well

tell all to kiss off and go to WELLLL :smoke:
It is your magic potion that :needcoffe
sits atop the shelf, isn't it.

To ask...my silly... :sick:
makes you seem not well.
I know you are made of spice
so where is it you need my advice.
Magic is in you ...now go spin your web:)

Blessings to you my child of innocents.

[RubyRose]

Aww! That was sweet. Thanks.

[rottencandy7]

Ah ... looks like I will be re-arranging my room :D I have the perfect space (my window sill)
Wish i had window sills.

i haven't made an altar yet. kinda hard to in the folks' home.

[RubyRose]

Wish i had window sills.

i haven't made an altar yet. kinda hard to in the folks' home.

Not as hard as you'd imagine. Just make it less obvious.

[Wiccamagikal]

Ok, here is another question - How often do you move your alter settings around? I know that I tend to "rearrange it" everytime I clean my room...is that - a bad thing?

[wicked_craft]

yah i do the same thing, i have mine on a shelf behind my door and i liekt o move my candles and everythign once in a while. thats another thing i heard someone say u could always put one in like a box u can open up and use and no one wuld know you know?(rottencandy7)

i was hoping that my idea for (rubyrose) is that take a little table which mine is on n put it somewheres. ill post a pic soon of mine for you to see. i think its the best thing for mine i have a self underneath where i can keep all my stuff. it works out....hope that helps anyone..

[Sonic Seamus]

I change mine around with some frequency but usually only when I find new stuff or when the seasons change. For example, during winter the pine cones I had were open, the leaves and twigs were brown/dead and feathers were from what I'd hoped was an adult bird. Now that spring is here I gathered new pine cones that are closed, green leaves and twigs that the wind has blown down from my trees and down type feathers from hatchings. When I went to LA for business I made a point of dragging everyone I'd traveled with to the beach just so I could gather shells and stuff.

My altar is little more than a night stand so it's getting kinda crowded with all this stuff.

[Gabriel Le Chat]

Re: portable alters... I swear by them! The important thing to me is that is all has meaning. I keep all my altar "stuff" in an antique wooden box that my grandfather used and kept on his bureau for most of his life (he passed about 35 years ago). I love to take my portable alter to places that have special meaning to me whenever the mood strikes. Although most of thime, I set it up in the dining room -- it's a quiet, usually clean, peaceful room that I find is most condusive to majick.

Peace,
Gabriel

[RubyRose]

My altar doesn't move, but I do change it periodically.

[MorningDove030202]

Ultimately an altar can go where ever convienent. If you have more than one convienent place, consider witch direction you would prefer your alter to be in and the element that coresponds with it. You might also want to take privacy into consideration, in the living room everyone would see it, in the bed room it would be more private. If you have small kids or pets who might disturb your altar, you might want to put it up high, or on a shelf on the wall. It also should be an expression of yourself, which will evolve, and so should your altar, so have fun with it!

Dove

[Raven Reed]

I change my altar cloth with the seasons and some articles on the altar change, but the main part of it remains the same. I am (still) in the process of finishing up my shelves to put in each of the quarters, and then the main altar will be for dieties and seaonal stuff only. But I have so many crystals and little bowls of stuff that belongs in its own quarter, I want to get that up and away from the main altar so things aren't so cluttered.

[argento_occhi]

mine mostly stays the same, though I will change the altar cloths every now and then when I'm cleaning out the ash and dust and stuff. I have a small portable altar which comes in very handy when i'm going on holiday. Comprises of small statues of the Gods I worship (four -- Aset, Sebek, Djehuty and Bast), an incence holder and a few tealights. and some matches. It's very compact and portable.

My altar takes up a whole shelf of my bookcase, with the shelf below it used for storing incense and stuff I use regularly so it's within easy reach. I have a large wooden chest for anything else. Which reminds me. I must do something about all the spare candles i have that are hanging around my room when they won't light anymore. Some I can trim, others are beyond salvation. Oh well. Must clean my room as well. *looks at pile of clothes near wardrobe*

Argent

[teishabee]

My mum bought me these ace wica baskets for storage of all my altar goods. So I have reuse for seasons and things. I have a table in front of my book shelf.

I wouldn't recommend it tho. My bf always puts his stuff on it, and Im like its not a table its an altar. I actually shout that. It irrates me. No one would hang a coat on a cruafix would they.