Creating Your Personal Altar - Part One

 Setting Up Your Personal Altar

An altar helps to set your focus for rituals, ceremonies and magick workings. This space should be alive and teaming with energy. In other words, don't use it just for decoration or to display decorative items. Items that are used in each ritual and items that provide you focus and inspiration should be maintained on your altar.

This is your work space and it should be large enough for you to conduct your spiritual work upon. So you don't want to overwhelm your space with unnecessary statues, knickknacks and unused objects. And lastly, the altar should be geared toward your personal beliefs. This is a spiritual altar and you'll want to honor your beliefs and the Divine energies that are present in you space. If your beliefs are aligned with Celtic practices, give your altar a Celtic feeling. If you work with specific Gods or Goddesses, a statue of the appropriate pantheon you align with is a good thing to maintain in your space.

Sacred Cloth

An altar cloth is also called for. You can use more than one cloth in varying colors and patterns, depending on the work at hand. But consider the use of the cloth before you cover the altar. If you are going to be mixing herbs, or creating spiritual objects such as handmade candles, smudge sticks or spiritual tools, then you want the cloth to be inexpensive and practical. If however, you are conducting a ritual to celebrate a holiday, then you might use a more formal cloth, any thing from crushed velvet to black satin or Victorian lace.

The cloth should reflect your personality, your beliefs and one that you feel comfortable with using. A male Witch for instance, may not want to use Victorian lace when casting spells for compassion, healing or love. Rather he might use something that strikes an essence of romance in his heart such as red silk. Whatever you chose to use, the cloth shoul