Hey Pagan Mamas, better late than never, so lets' talk Altars!
As a modern Pagan mama of 5 boys (ok so only 3 of them live at home, but isn’t that enough mayhem for one location?) time to be part of a practicing circle of Pagans, or even hold my own rituals, is at quite the premium. I’m sure you all know the drill, get the last of the kidlets tucked into bed, run around and do the 30 things that need doing and collapse into bed too exhausted for much anything else! This is one of the main reasons that my Altar(s) are central to my spirituality and reverence for God/dess.
I don’t mean to imply that having any old mass produced gear ever so perfectly laid out on some fancy altar makes one Pagan by any means. But humans have been creating altars to the divine, whatever their perception of it may be, for nearly as long as there have BEEN humans. From cave paintings, stone cairns & sculpted figures that depict what anthropologists have decided are Goddess images, to the altar stone at the centre of Stonehenge, to the altars in modern churches; human beings have always seemed to yearn for a ‘place’ to pay tribute to what they see as the divine, a place where they feel they can call out to the universe/god/goddess, and be heard. In this modern world of concrete, steel & glass I think altars serve their purpose as much (if not more) than they ever did.
Altars take as many shapes as the people who build and use them. My altars are informal and meander across their space.. A lot like me
They also tend to grow (lol also like me!), and gather new bits & pieces as time passes. Your altars are uniquely your own as well, so with that I have no plans to do an altar 101 course and dictate ‘the athame goes HERE, the pentacle MUST go there’ .. because I believe your altar should be a place of comfort & contemplation that appeals to you, not what an author in a book wrote 50yrs ago.
I have little altars here & there throughout my house, or at least did before my 3 yo decided he likes the little bits and started scavenging them I have a small ancestor altar that has a few pictures of people important to our family that have passed on (my momma and dh’s Pa are there at the moment, as well as a small tribute to the babies that were not meant to be that we’ve lost). I also have a small kitchen altar on my window sill.. I believe we created those together in our last PSC! And then I have the family Altar (it gets the capital A because it takes over my entire dining room hutch.. All 3 shelves of it!), this one is redecorated seasonally by me & my little guys to fit the season at hand and a few extra special things get added for the Sabbat as it approaches. When the Sabbat in question arrives, it can be quite a full & festive altar
My altars are little spots where I can stop during the day and pause, have a few moments connecting to nature, goddess, and myself.
(cont...)
As a modern Pagan mama of 5 boys (ok so only 3 of them live at home, but isn’t that enough mayhem for one location?) time to be part of a practicing circle of Pagans, or even hold my own rituals, is at quite the premium. I’m sure you all know the drill, get the last of the kidlets tucked into bed, run around and do the 30 things that need doing and collapse into bed too exhausted for much anything else! This is one of the main reasons that my Altar(s) are central to my spirituality and reverence for God/dess.
I don’t mean to imply that having any old mass produced gear ever so perfectly laid out on some fancy altar makes one Pagan by any means. But humans have been creating altars to the divine, whatever their perception of it may be, for nearly as long as there have BEEN humans. From cave paintings, stone cairns & sculpted figures that depict what anthropologists have decided are Goddess images, to the altar stone at the centre of Stonehenge, to the altars in modern churches; human beings have always seemed to yearn for a ‘place’ to pay tribute to what they see as the divine, a place where they feel they can call out to the universe/god/goddess, and be heard. In this modern world of concrete, steel & glass I think altars serve their purpose as much (if not more) than they ever did.
Altars take as many shapes as the people who build and use them. My altars are informal and meander across their space.. A lot like me
They also tend to grow (lol also like me!), and gather new bits & pieces as time passes. Your altars are uniquely your own as well, so with that I have no plans to do an altar 101 course and dictate ‘the athame goes HERE, the pentacle MUST go there’ .. because I believe your altar should be a place of comfort & contemplation that appeals to you, not what an author in a book wrote 50yrs ago.I have little altars here & there throughout my house, or at least did before my 3 yo decided he likes the little bits and started scavenging them
I have a small ancestor altar that has a few pictures of people important to our family that have passed on (my momma and dh’s Pa are there at the moment, as well as a small tribute to the babies that were not meant to be that we’ve lost). I also have a small kitchen altar on my window sill.. I believe we created those together in our last PSC! And then I have the family Altar (it gets the capital A because it takes over my entire dining room hutch.. All 3 shelves of it!), this one is redecorated seasonally by me & my little guys to fit the season at hand and a few extra special things get added for the Sabbat as it approaches. When the Sabbat in question arrives, it can be quite a full & festive altar My altars are little spots where I can stop during the day and pause, have a few moments connecting to nature, goddess, and myself.
(cont...)
Take time to decide what you want your altar to be like, if you haven’t got one yet. If you do have one, this change of seasons is a good time to give it a clean & cleanse. I’ve put together my usual vinegar & water solution and added some rosemary from my garden to give mine a good wipe down
, though my altar spaces are more Christopagan than pagan. They really need a cleanse and a rethinking....I've been on the CatholicFolkMagic Yahoo group so I'm thinking about lots of the more obscure saints these days, too.
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It's not strictly spiritual, it's also something of a nature table. Pretty much the only visible space available that the kids can't get to - they're little destroyers. So we look at items one at a time. It's also right in the middle of our home so it's always visible - even from the front yard AND the backyard, AND upstairs, and... basically from everywhere!
And aren't those quilt templates just too great!?! I've had them bookmarked forever, and I couldn't quilt my way around a pillow case (I know this.. I tried lol)
: I loved your altar pic... Mine is almost never all natural either... I like a little sparkle & bling 
I think instead of detracting, sometimes it adds a little magick to the scene 
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But I'm having fun, and my altar is getting a much needed spruce up .. and spawning new little altars lol
