Altars - Speaking to Self and Spirits

Altar - Marigolds, crystal ball and snakeskin, echoes Magic Land, Virginia

Altars are one of the most readily available man made tools to communicate with spirits, or Spirit, if you prefer. You can use altars to create a bond with unseen powers, to celebrate them, thank them and honor them. In a nutshell, to create a personal relationship with spirits and powers. I use plural because I always want to honor all the beings I work with, or simply want to acknowledge, but to use a singular is of course ok too. I leave the dilemma to find the proper noun to you: Source, Universe, Spirit, God, the All, for example.

When you honor spirits by building altars you also honor the spiritual part of yourself. The part of you that you may have difficulty to define, to fit into the mind-body category; your deeper self, your spirit or your soul. You can use the altar to talk to your own spiritual Self. This is not always an easy conversation and you may do well to have spirits to help you.

It is important to understand that this has nothing to do with man made clammy therapeutic tools or psychoanalysis. They are perfectly fine but are ultimately created to define illnesses of the mind. We can of course have many of those and take the time to rip ourselves apart with whatever tools we like, but not on altar time. Spirits most important job is to make you whole, not to dissects you. There's plenty of time to do that, actually any other time in the day you choose.

Altar - Palo Santo, fire and amulets, echoes Magic Land, Virginia

Thus altars becomes a reflection of your Self, your connection to spirits and your work on earth, whatever that may be. This is nice since man made world unfortunately is made up of endless comparisons of worth. Rather tedious is it not?

An altar can look anyway you choose. The difference between a decorative corner and and altar lies in your intention. It can of course be quite obvious an altar from how it looks and how you approach this says something about you, not anything about Spirit. Though the look of it can also be an indication of how your connection fares. Spirit is always there, you on the other hand, will most likely change as the wind over one single day. 

I personally choose a pagan approach, since it is well tested but don't have the limitations of musts that easily follow more structured spiritual beliefs. Or, to put it simply, I use the label of being a witch because I can do as I please and still enjoy a preunderstanding from my surroundings, and work from there.

To use symbols for the elements is a safe bet for an altar. We know them, they speak to us and if we make sure we use one of each we naturally have balance. Balance being of outmost importance in any spiritual work. Lack of balance is one of the most common reasons for spiritual accidents. Lack of clear intent is another. Anyway, a candle for fire, a small bowl of water, some incense or a feather for air and something representing earth: a rock, a plant in a pot or the like, and there you have it; the basis for the altar is created. The elements representing the basis for "all that is."

Altar - Fossil and glass pearls in water, echoes Magic Land, Virginia

The elements are of course represented in most spiritual traditions, occult ones included, even if occult languages are often quite involved. If you are interested in a very complex but surprisingly clear description of how the elements are spiritual building blocks an excellent source for all kind of esoterica is the alchemist, who has a multitude of fun clips readily available on YouTube. Some spiritual traditions use more than the four elements, adding one or several that represent their significance in the place the tradition grew. For example, Old Norse pagans work with fire, water, air, earth and ice, which make perfect sense in a cold climate, even though ice can easily be included in the water element.

Then of course an altar needs a representation of the the Spirit, or as some call it, the fifth element. For some it is included in the other elemental representations (as they represent "all that is,") some like to have a certain symbol or a multitude of symbols if they, like I do, see the spiritual realm inhabited by spirits, large and small. This is highly personal, but one should choose with respect. There is a saying that goes, "Wherever you build a temple a god moves in." You could also say, "wherever you build an altar spirits gather."

By your altar you can talk to spirits and, for example, ask for help with things you cannot solve with your mind and hard work only. You can talk to your deepest Self and see if you find solace or even some deep seated self irony. If you cannot find the latter many spirits will be more than willing to help out making fun of you.

"Isn't this just a psychological tool?" you might ask. Well, perhaps. Does it matter? "Wisdom is what works," said brilliant Jungian psychologist Clarissa Pinkola Estes once. She got that message early one morning drifting in that in-between wake and sleep, after studying the concept of wisdom for months and months and finding nothing but an overload of fancy words. But in my experience that is what altars can do; work when nothing else does.

More than anything altars have to be alive. A three foot tall gold statue of your favorite divinity can be beautiful but will not add to the altar's power. Your intention, time and efforts will. 

Be careful with your candles. I will cut a twig of oakleaves for my altar vase now, in honor of the oak spirits in New Orleans. They helped me greatly once and that kind of help should not be taken lightly, nor be forgotten. 

Altar - Yellow flowers and sage - echoes from the past, Magic Land, Virginia