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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2013 7:58:38 GMT -8
I'm curious to find out what kinds of altars and shrines people use. If you're devoted to more than one diety, do you have a separate altar dedicated to each them? Do you have one combined altar for all of them, or alternatively do you have a central altar for all your devotional work, with separate shrines to honor each of your dieties?
I'm relatively new to devotional practice myself, and have been experimenting with ways to honor the Gods that I feel drawn to. I'm not dedicated to anyone yet, but I don't want to say "the Gods I work with" because that phrase doesn't fit my practice well... I have two specific deities that I feel drawn to, Brighid and Freyja, and my daily devotional practices are dedicated to honoring and connecting with them. I currently have one proper altar dedicated to Freyja, and two shrines to Brighid (one on the stove, and one on my desk so I can keep her in mind while I work). For the record, I distinguish "altar" and "shrine" based on the size.
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Post by lyradora on Sept 28, 2013 9:50:40 GMT -8
Space constraints are an issue for me. I have one main altar where I keep the icons of Gaia, the Charites, Hermes and Hekate. That's also where I do my journeywork. I have a secondary altar where I keep icons for Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Flora, Isis, and other Deities.  I have plans to add shelving throughout the room to separate out the devotional areas, and give each Deity their due. |
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Post by Phaedra on Sept 28, 2013 10:40:16 GMT -8
As I've got more space I've been able to expand but it's still a bit of an issue as I'm trying not to take over the house entirely... At the moment Hermes and Zeus are sharing my altar. I've got a shrine to Apollo and the muses in the room with my computer where I do most of my creative things. In my spare room where I've got most of my books and crochet/craft things I have a shrine to Athene. Last but not least I've got a small covert shrine to Hestia in my hallway which is the first thing you're met with as you enter the front door and as close to being the centre of the house as it could get without putting her in a cupboard!
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Post by holdasown on Sept 28, 2013 14:22:44 GMT -8
I have an altar for the gods and I do my offerings on it. I am setting up a altar specifically for the ancestors, basically where all the family photos are. I keep all my supplies in the altar but I have been getting pulled to set up a witchcraft space/compass and if I do that my altar will move and I will put a shelf under my god pictures. I have them on the wall cause it's cheaper than statues.
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Post by captainspellingerror on Sept 28, 2013 14:54:01 GMT -8
I have a home altar where I carry out the rites for the Noumenia, Deipnon, and Agathosdaimon celebrations as well as carry out other household observances at this altar. I maintain shrines to five deities Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes, Dionysus, and Apollo and I differentiate between shrines and altars mainly by what is placed upon them. Shrines, in a way and in the modern day, have come to be substitutions for temples, since most of us do not have access to temples our votive gifts that aren't meant to be incinerated generally have to have some place to be place upon, A home altar isn't really the place for this since it has a more utilitarian purpose, whereas shrines are kind of meant to demonstrate and show off the glory and wonder of the deity. That is my understanding of the difference between shrines and altars
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Post by Hester on Sept 28, 2013 15:29:26 GMT -8
I have a large shrine for the Hellenic gods, two shrines for the Kemetic gods (one used regularly, one only rarely), a shrine to Aphrodite, a plaque of Hekate by the front door that serves as a hekataion, and a working altar that I use for daily devotions and some seasonal rites. I have also a small shrine for Freyja and Frey, and one for Sif and Thor.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2013 17:02:21 GMT -8
I have space constraints as well, so mine are all in my bedroom. I have a shrine for Sobek and Heru-sa-Aset by my bed on the east wall, a collective space for Mary, Quan Yin, Ganesha, and a few others on a shelf on my south wall, and a whole bookshelf on my west wall that is my primary shrine. The bookshelf contains my main lararium/festival shrine space. It contains icons for Wesir and Ra, Aset/Isis, and other devotional things. Above that is a space for ancestral things, though it's too high to be practical at this stage. Below the lararium is my shrine to Hekate. Images of Hestia and Hermes also sit there, as I call on them both during new moon rites for Hekate.
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Post by MadGastronomer on Sept 28, 2013 22:02:36 GMT -8
I'm lucky enough to have an entire room set aside for ritual and devotion, so I keep lots of altars (for these purposes: a table or shelf or flat surface on which to make offerings or at which to work) in there, plus devotional images elsewhere in the house sometimes. I keep altars to Hekate, Dionysos, Okeanos and Tethys, Hermes, Artemis (those two are someone else's, actually; I keep them for her because it's not safe for her to have them at home {there's a developmentally delayed young child in the house who simply won't understand why he shouldn't touch things, and no place to put them out of reach}), and a divination and oracular altar at which to study and work. I keep an image of Hestia over the oven in the kitchen, to pray to there, and a small image of Hekate over the front door.
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Post by roguebiologist on Sept 29, 2013 3:02:36 GMT -8
I have two altars - a larger one to the city and the spirits that live in-house in the lounge room, and one to Makani, my patron in my room. That said, as Makani is very much attached to the city, that shrine is made to his tastes as well. The altar in my room in some ways operates more like a storage space for his gear - if I need to channel him, his things are kept there in good condition, and set up in a way to his tastes. The city/house shrine is the one where worship takes place at.
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Post by liadine on Sept 29, 2013 8:33:41 GMT -8
I used to have two shrines and a work space/altar (which has representations of my deities but isn't for devotionals), but since I moved I've only just been able to put up a much-reduced altar, plus the beginnings of a shrine to Persephone (currently constructed out of two cardboard boxes, fabric to cover them, and an ikea shelf - we make do with what we have).
In an ideal world, I'd have an altar, plus separate shrines to each of my deities, but financial and space constraints mean that that's not likely any time in the near future. While I'm dealing with that, I only group deities together if my UPG is that they don't mind; for example, my next project will be a shrine to Brighid and the horned god I work with because I haven't had any evidence that it displeases either of them.
One issue that always bothers me is that I'd love to have statues of my deities, but the majority of them are a) Wiccish and b) too expensive anyway.
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lorna
New Member
Posts: 19
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Post by lorna on Sept 29, 2013 11:58:51 GMT -8
I don't tend to put deities together unless they're related or consorts.
My working altar where I keep likenesses of my guides and tools and objects I'm using is dedicated to Gwyn ap Nudd who guides my shamanic work. A candle inscribed with his name in Coel Bren stands in the centre. Three candles representing ancestors of blood, land and spirit are on Gwyn's altar at the moment. I'm planning to set up a separate ancestors altar when I can find room.
My mantelpiece is dedicated to Belisama the goddess of the River Ribble. A bowl of water with a candle in it is the centre piece with stones from the Ribble and a trophy for a poem that won the Preston Guild poetry competition, which was written in her voice.
The area around my hearth is dedicated to Brigantia as the warrior goddesss of hills of the North of England, the hearths of the Northern tribes and the fire of inspiration- it has a candle, stones from the hills and figures of Celtic warriors.
I also have a candle and mat where I place offerings of butter to my house spirit.
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Gandillon
New Member
This Halloween: to costume or not to costume?
Posts: 15
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Post by Gandillon on Sept 29, 2013 15:18:17 GMT -8
Each of my shrines are for separate deities. I don't really have an altar - if I need to do work that doesn't require the presence of a deity, I just do it at my desk or the dining room table. If it's a big or complicated project and it should be done at a shrine, I just bring the more important pieces of the shrine (some of my shrines are pretty big...) to where I will be working.
I keep Ganesha by the door, Krishna in the kitchen, Parvati and Hestia at the hearth (I keep a family shrine for Dionysos there, too) and Dionysos' main shrine in my bedroom.
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Monica
New Member
Canaanite Polytheist & Unitarian Universalist
Posts: 15
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Post by Monica on Sept 29, 2013 16:45:38 GMT -8
I keep a few shrines, but I only set up a working altar when I'm using it. Typically I set the altar up on my back porch with just the items I'll need (offering bowls & plates, oil lamp, incense burners, etc...)- no deity representations or ancestor images.
I'm lucky enough to have my own personal room where I keep two shrines- one to the Phoenician goddess Astarte and another to the Ugaritic god Ba'al Hadad (still a work in progress- I'm very picky about my shrines and it can take me years until one feels "right"). I have a small fruit orchard that is basically a shrine to Nikkal, Lady of the Orchard, where I pray and pour out libations. I also have an ancestor/beloved dead shrine on my fireplace mantle with photos and candles. And right above that is a small shrine to the Ugaritic sun goddess Shapshu who watches over the dead.
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Post by stubmle on Sept 29, 2013 17:48:34 GMT -8
Being a poor student, all I have is a small wooden Lararium on my desk. But it works well enough.
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Post by AriadneInExile on Oct 1, 2013 17:39:43 GMT -8
I recently moved into a shared living space, but I'm lucky to have a very large bedroom. I have separate shrines for Ariadne and Dionysos on short shelves with a working altar between them - all these are just below a large wall space, so the wall is part of their shrines, to include a painting, masks, and other images. On a shelf along another wall I have a shrine to my husband (who died). Right now it's sort of multi-tiered as I work it out. When he lived, he'd had a couple shrines to personal spirits and many of those sacred items I've integrated into his shrine.
For important festivals or rituals I will set up a larger temporary altar so that there's room enough for offerings and such... sometimes the items usually on the gods' shrine will be placed there for the duration of the festival.
I've enjoyed reading about everyone else's. I know that for me personally, maintaining shrines absolutely deepened my devotional practice in a big way.
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I have plans to add shelving throughout the room to separate out the devotional areas, and give each Deity their due.
