Creating An Altar
How to create an altar and why you should have one.
What is an altar?
An altar is a sacred space that you devote to your inner work or spiritual practice. This can range from meditation, prayer, ritual, gratitude, spellwork, and more.
Having this physical space is grounding and gives us a place to keep all of our spiritual tools in one area. Being able to see your altar will also act as a reminder to help you show up more consistently in your practice.
Creating an altar allows you to tap into the feeling of empowerment through designing and maintaining your spiritual space. You also get to exercise creativity and self-expression. Including your self-expression and creativity in your spiritual practice will help you dive a lot deeper into that practice by making it a part of you.
Space:
The space can be large or small. Whatever you have the room for and whatever feels aligned for dedicating to your practice. It can be a table, a whole room, or something small on your nightstand. You can even create a travel altar! I use a mason jar but you can use any box or jar that you can easily take with you.
Another thing to consider when choosing a place inside the home is that you want this space to be somewhere you can have a tranquil, quiet time. You also want this to be a place where other people will not be touching it or moving things around, basically getting their energy all over it. I currently have my altar on top of a dresser in my bedroom. If you have kids, or a cat, you may want to dedicate a drawer to your altar. That way you can close it so no one disturbs it and open it when you want to use it. You could also create a travel altar that you can take out wherever you can find the space. If you’re doing the drawer or travel altar as your main altar I recommend having at least one item out where you will see it daily to remind you to pull out your altar and dedicate time to your practice.
Preparing The Space:
You can do a smoke cleanse with sage, cedar, or incense. You can use sound, air, or the simple act of wiping the space down. The key here is the intention. The intent you want to hold is cleansing the space to rid it of any negative energies that may be there. I also like to give the space gratitude before I use it.
Now you are ready to begin creating your unique altar!
You can start with placing a cloth or tapestry down if that feels good. I like to have something to represent each element. For example a candle for fire, a shell for water, a stone for earth, and a feather for air. You can add pictures of deities or ancestors. You can put offerings here. This is where you get to be creative and have fun with your practice!
Now that you have created your beautiful altar it doesn’t mean you have to keep it the same forever. I like to switch mine up for different seasons and holidays. I use different colors and items to represent these different seasons. This gives me a chance to reevaluate my altar and make sure I only have what feels good on there at all times. Just as the season changes we are also ever-changing beings. What feels good for winter solstice might not feel right for summer solstice. Just remember to use your creativity and intuition and that there is no wrong answer.
