Making an Altar Master Post
Considering making an altar but don’t know where to start? This long-ass post should cover all the bases of altar building for those of you who are interested but stuck. This post is pretty vague on purpose, altars are an interesting grey area of this practice. When you build an altar you can’t really go wrong, it’s something for you to take control of and decide for yourself.
📖This is all taken from my grimoire so feel free to add any info of your own in a rb or in the comments.📖
🌻What is an altar?🌻
Altars are a magical work space for any witch/pagan/wiccan/other.
Historically altars and shrines were built all over the world in different cultures to house offerings and worship the gods/spirits/ancestors.
The difference between an altar and shrine can depend on the culture you’re looking at but generally an altar is both a work space and a place of worship and a shrine is solely a place of worship (the Theatron of Athens was an altar as it served as a place to house offerings and a communal performance space).
Modern day altars however are more private and unique to the practitioner/s. Altars and shrines can now be created using anything and include many different types.
There are many ways to think outside the box with altar building but don’t think you have to make one just because every other witch does.
🌻Types of altars🌻 (not an inclusive list)
- Home/family altar🏠: This serves as the energy centre of the home that is shared by the entire family. It can be simplistic, change with the seasons, and feature something representing each family member. (this is one that my dad built that lives in our kitchen).
- Personal altar: This altar is usually only connected to 1 or 2 people and kept separate from the rest of the family in a bedroom/box/draw. It can be put anywhere and be of any size (mine used to be on a shelf in my wardrobe and now it sits on the window) This altar is very personal to the practitioner often representing their passions and/or their patron. (this is my own to Dionysus and Apollo but it also includes my desk and bookshelf next to it since the window is so small).
- Working Altar: This altar is very practical. It’s only taken out when it’s needed for spells/rituals and is unique to the spell and it’s intention. If you want this type of altar then when you build it think carefully of what corresponds to the outcome you wish for.
- Shrine: (a form of altar to some, completely separate to other but I’m including it just in case). Created to honour a specific deity/creature/spirit. This is used to house offerings and pray.
-Travel/mini altar: Often stored away in a box/tin. Travel/mini altars can consist of small trinkets to carry around when you’re away from your larger altar or have to conceal your magic (it’s great for witches in the broom closet but depending on the size it could go missing).
- Image altar📷: Less traditional but very creative. An image altar could be a collection of images on Photoshop (for techies), a collage of pictures on a wall or board, or even a drawing of an altar (It’s personal, inconspicuous and it doesn’t matter if you can draw or not). I made this one in my sketchbook using pencil, ink and watercolour.
- Love/self care altar❤: This altar is fully dedicated to self care, loving yourself, or introspection. It includes things that have a lot of meaning to you and make you happy when you’re down (I have one by my bedside and use it when I feel shitty, I also use this space to contact my spirit guide).
🌻Supplies🌻 (again not an inclusive list)
These are some general supplies to have for an altar but this doesn't mean that anything is 100% necessary.
- A flat surface: This can be anywhere with enough space to display everything.
- A cloth: Not just to protect the surface or fragile objects, it can be a sign of respect to your patron.
- Incense/oil diffuser: To smell nice and can be used to cleanse the space.
- Candles: Decoration, to represent fire or your patron, for candle magic, and meditation.
- Bowl/dish: To hold any offerings.
- Cup/chalice/bottles: For drink offerings, to represent water, to hold water for a spell.
- Matches/lighters: If you include candles.
- Crystals/stones: Decoration, could also be elemental/seasonal/represent the chakra.
- Wand/athame: Can be used to direct energy in a spell.
- Bell: To represent air, to call spirits/your patron.
- Mortar & Pestle: To grind up any ingredients in a spell.
🌻Building an Altar🌻
This is part is going to be a simple guide to building a personal altar (I will be using my own preference for deities as an example but you don’t have to).
1- Find a space: Think about where you want to work and consider the energy you get from different spaces (also consider any pets and fragile objects).
2- Find a surface: This can be as big as you like. I’ll be using my art desk as an example, I took everything off it and cleaned it before I did anything else.
3- Get a cloth: Fabric from a craft shop or an old scarf/veil are perfect and come in any available colour and size. In terms of colour you can chose one of your favourites, something seasonal or something to represent your patron.
4- Set your intention: Now this is the time to decide what your altar is going to be used for. You can pick a centre piece that reflects this.
I wanted to connect with the gods so I made the centre of the altar about myself and my deities go on either side. The centre piece I chose is a picture of a fairy scene I’ve had for a very long time.
5- Candles: The next thing to put down are candles (or any source of light). The light acts as the switch to turn on your altar and give light to any patron for when you want to communicate.
6- Tools: If you want to include any tools from the previous list then now is the time to chose where you want to put them (I included a cup of water, an incense holder, a bell, and a wand).
7- Decoration: Next is to add any personal decoration that can go wherever you like. I put mine in the centre piece.
8- (OPTIONAL) Representing patrons: This step is optional because it isn’t necessary to have a patron in your practice.
Because of the intention I decided on in step 4, I places the decoration representing my patrons on either side of my altar (btw these photos were before I switched from Aphrodite to Apollo so I apologies for the inconsistency).
I left a large space empty to use for when i’m writing in my grimoire, performing a spell or doing a tarot reading. I didn’t include this in my real altar because it’s a decorative section.
🌻Tips🌻
- There are templates that you can follow if you really want to. They’re usually for a large traditional elemental altar though (I personally don’t recommend them because it’s boring and not very creative).
- An altar can be as big or as small as you like and you have no rules or expectations and it doesn’t have to be just one surface.
- If you want an altar for a spirit/deity/fae as well as their respective candle, you could include a candle for yourself to represent your own spirit to stay connected with them.
- An altar is a very subjective thing, if it’s personal it should change with your interests (like from light and fire the first year to sea and sand the next year).
-There are hundreds of videos on altars here’s a few I recommend you look at:
The Witch Of Wonderlust- All About Altars: https://youtu.be/p3ysPbvQa7c
Molly Roberts- Sacred Spaces and Kick Ass Altar Crafts: https://youtu.be/_kcki25BY6o
Harmony Nice- My Wiccan Altar II And how to set up yours: https://youtu.be/tGWkNeoE6RY
Green Witch Glamour- How to Build an Altar: https://youtu.be/v3s_etlsUE0